The twelfth episode of the Bad Batch’s second season, The Outpost is a very emotional episode. It shows more of the process of how the remaining clones are being mistreated. We also finally see an important character realize what the Empire is all about and do something about it!
Recap of the story so far
After finally recovering their ship, the Bad Batch are sent on a mission to salvage whatever they can from a mysterious ship. What they didn’t know is that this ship was carrying a cloned specimen of the virtually invincible Zillo Beast.
The Empire arrives to retrieve the Zillo Beast. A group of Clone Commandos led by Scorch take the witnesses as prisoners.
Dr. Hemlock wants to “convince” Nala Se to continue her investigation. He calls Lama Su to ask him how to control the Kaminoan scientist and the former prime minister of Kamino tells him about Omega. Now, she’s officially an Imperial target.
The next part of this review contains spoilers from The Bad Batch S2 Episode 12.
Back to work
The remaining Clone Troopers are now being forced into retirement. It happened a lot faster than I anticipated, the urgency of the Empire to completely remove them is more evident than ever.
But at least Crosshair isn’t one of those clones, yet. Despite isolating himself from everyone else I’m sure that he’s heard many comments and concerns about the Empire’s plans for him and his brothers.
It might not look like it, but Crosshair is someone that is trained to be hyper-aware of his surroundings so I’m sure that he understands why everything feels so tense.
To be honest, I’m surprised that he’s still on active duty. He’s a very efficient soldier but that doesn’t make his failed missions disappear, and the Empire has disposed of other members for less than that.
The only thing that I can think of is the fact that he is an enhanced Clone. It can’t be denied that like the Clone Commandos, Crosshair is still an elite soldier with abilities that very few in the Galactic Empire possess.
Imperial leadership
Lieutenant Nolan is the commanding officer for Crosshair’s new mission. One of the first things that he does is complain about clones, calling them “used equipment”. As soon as that happened I knew that it was going to be an interesting episode.
Once they arrive at Barton-4 we see an almost empty depot that’s only occupied by two droids, Hexx, Veetch, and Commander Mayday. The squad had more members but since they were basically on their own that number fell drastically.
A planet as cold as Hoth, malfunctioning equipment, and locals that want to steal what’s inside of it? I’d say it’s a miracle that there’s anyone left. Clones are resourceful and clever, their training has prepared them for many difficult situations but this flies over the head of Lieutenant Nolan.
He’s the typical Imperial officer that loves to give orders and doesn’t care about the implications of said orders, no matter how counterproductive or dumb these might be.
As we saw in the first minutes of the episode, his comments about Clones are everything but nice. Mayday doesn’t give much importance to it, instead, he exposes Nolan’s lack of experience. This is a common trait in the Imperial ranks, hundreds of men that have little to no experience are granted positions of significant importance.
I can understand their logic, the war is over and there are not going to be many that can threaten the Empire. Replacing the clones with less trained but fully obedient men isn’t a crazy idea. They’re easy to manipulate and even more expendable than clones, and we’re not even considering the aging factor.
Ironically, all of this will allow the future rebel cells to obtain key victories. Having a snowball effect that ends in the destruction of the first Death Star and eventually the Empire itself.
An Empire destined to fail
The people attacking the Imperial depot are called insurgents or raiders by the Imperial forces. It’s almost as if they completely ignore the fact that they are the ones invading, raiding, and destroying these planets.
Systems like Mandalore, Kamino, or Kashyyyk suffer bigger consequences than others but it doesn’t that the fist of the Empire is absent from almost every corner of the galaxy. I feel bad for Mayday’s soldiers for perishing in a place like this, but they’re part of this invasion. It might not be on a big scale but they’re still trespassing on the territory of the people that live here.
You can tell by their looks that they’re not mercenaries or pirates attempting to enrich themselves by stealing. They’re locals trying to expel invaders that have a history of bringing conflict with them.
These locals and clone troopers are the ones that really pay the price of having a new ruling power in the galaxy. The Empire is willing to exterminate anyone that opposes their authority and the troopers are nothing but canon fodder.
Just like the Clone Troopers are expendable now, the Stormtroopers will become even more expendable later. It’s a never-ending cycle of using others until they have served their purpose. Everyone is replaceable and expendable, from the Stormtrooper recruits to Darth Vader himself.
I consider this to be one of the biggest flaws of the Galactic Empire, this idea of acquiring power by doing whatever’s necessary is something that if not regulated can turn into a cannibalistic practice.
A government that is full of people who put first their self-preservation is destined to fail. It happened to the great Sith Empire and eventually, it would have happened to the Galactic Empire.
Brotherhood
Crosshair has one of the coldest hearts, he never shows mercy for his victims or regrets for his fallen brothers. For him every mission is just another work, it doesn’t matter if the objective is to blow up an entire village full of innocent people. Orders are orders.
As a former member of Clone Force 99, Crosshair always had the support of his squad. But those times are long gone. When the depot is attacked Hexx and Veetch are killed, Lieutenant Nolan orders him and Mayday to recover the cargo.
Despite their feelings towards the Lieutenant, both of them are still obedient soldiers and against all possibilities, they manage to find and defeat the men that attacked them.
However, due to an explosion a snow avalanche falls over them, burying both of them under several inches of snow.
The cargo happens to be equipment for the new Imperial troopers, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Mayday is severely injured and without a medic, he’s going to die. To my surprise, Crosshair helps Mayday and does the impossible to keep him alive.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think we’ve seen him care about anyone that much since Clone Force 99 first appeared in Season 7 of The Clone Wars. His desperation is almost palpable, for a brief second it looks like he wishes for his old squad to be around.
Walking under the extreme weather conditions while also being wounded himself, Crosshair finally manages to make it back to the base but it’s now too late.
Crosshair’s breaking point
When Nolan notices that they’re back he simply acts as if they disobeyed an important order. Crosshair doesn’t care about his manners and begs him to help Mayday but to no one’s surprise, Nolan refuses the medical aid.
Mayday dies just a few seconds after getting back to the base, Crosshair gets so frustrated but he still doesn’t understand. Lieutenant Nolan points out that Clones are expendable so there’s no point in wasting any resources on him, Mayday, or any other Clone.
It’s just after the sad death of Mayday that Crosshair finally understands that no one in the Empire cares about the clones. He’s just an instrument with a purpose that’s as disposable as a battle droid.
It’s hard to imagine what’s going through his mind. All of those years of service and devotion, parting ways with the Bad Batch, and the fact that he almost died on multiple occasions mean absolutely nothing.
He can’t take it anymore and pulls the trigger against his incompetent boss. It was a cathartic and point of no return for Crosshair. After killing an Imperial Officer I doubt a promotion awaits him, but the researchers at Mount Tantiss still have plans for him.
I feel bad for him, he has suffered in silence for a long time and it looks like the suffering is all but done. I just hope that whatever awaits him isn’t worse than death.
Easter Eggs in The Bad Batch S2E12 “The Outpost”
This week’s easter eggs are related to some of my favorite Star Wars games from the 2000’s and also to the most popular Star Wars series; The Mandalorian.
Rhen Var
The installation where Mayday and his men are stationed looks very similar to Rhen Var, an ice planet that appeared in games like Battlefront and Clone Wars.
Imperial scientists
The uniform of the scientists on Mount Tantiss has the same marks as Dr. Pershing’s, the man that took blood samples from Grogu in Season 1 of The Mandalorian.
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