The Bad Batch: Juggernaut Thoughts
A successful mission is pulled off and sinister intentions are revealed.
Sometimes, between the emotional abuse the writers inflict on Bad Batch viewers, one can forget how effective the Bad Batch members are as soldiers. And with Omega captured and no way to track CX-2’s ship, Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair needed a win. Phee returns with some tricks of her own to assist.
“Juggernaut” delivers a stunning action scene that showcases the peak of Star Wars animation, cinematography, and score for a short and sweet mission that purposedly harkens back to the Clone Wars.
But this episode also shows far more about Hemlock than one might think.
Crosshair’s Fear
Whenever someone mentions Mount Tantiss to Crosshair this season and asks about his experience, he quickly shuts the conversation down. His unwillingness to discuss Tantiss, combined with his shaky hand, indicates extensive trauma tied to the facility. So, it is no surprise that Crosshair has yet to be forthcoming with all the information. He was slow to give details about the Clone special ops division run by Hemlock, causing doubt from Howzer.
Now, Crosshair admits another secret: an additional way of finding Tantiss via Admiral Rampart. Previously, Emperor Palpatine threw Admiral Rampart under the Imperial bus and blamed him for the orbital bombardment of Kamino. It makes sense that he would factor into this last act, as Rampart is closely tied to the Clones.
Rampart put pieces in place to decommission the Clones, causing many to be transferred to Tantiss. He can now help save those Clones by getting the coordinates to Tantiss. It is the kind of full-circle character arc that Star Wars animation favors (think Kallus in Rebels).
But that does not mean old wounds would be forgiven. Crosshair has been used and abused, and now he has to face the man primarily responsible for that but also a reminder of the things he has done for the Empire.
Since he was introduced along with the rest of the Batch in season seven of The Clone Wars, Crosshair has rarely shown emotion. One notable moment of sorrow is during the first episode, “Confined,” when Omega sees him in a hallway, visibly frowning and slumped while walking, wholly defeated.
Omega starts to change this, and Crosshair starts cracking smiles and talking more. But he still has the trauma of what happened on Tantiss holding him back. Facing Rampart is a step towards facing his past with the Empire and as a prisoner/test subject.
Repurpose and Reclamation
As Lucasfilm shows more of these transitions from the Galactic Civil War, they have sprinkled details like repurposed equipment (and people) from the Republic to the Empire. In The Mandalorian, the New Republic also tried to rehabilitate former Imperials, which left them open for espionage (“The Convert”).
In “Juggernaut,” the team commandeers turbo tanks repurposed from The Clone Wars. They were first seen in this series during Hera’s arc in the first season (“Devil’s Deal” and “Rescue on Ryloth”). During the Clone Wars, their predecessors, the HAVw A6, first appeared during an attempted siege on Feluscia by a young Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Tano was stubborn and could not see that she and her Clone troopers were walking into a Separatist ambush.
While this particular situation is vastly different from that of “Holocron Hiest,” there is an unsuspecting Imperial Officer, voiced by Steve Blum (Zeb from Rebels), who clearly has not seen much action and does not even realize the capabilities of the turbo tanks. But the Bad Batch does and utilizes that knowledge to take down a pursuing tank by shooting the tires out and using it as a ramp to catapult over the bridge blockades.
The whole scene is another example of the value the Clones have with their battle knowledge from the Clone Wars that Imperial Officers and Stormtroopers lack. It also demonstrates why discarding the Clone troopers but keeping the equipment might not be the wisest decision.
Of course, the most significant example of repurposing is the Clones, the crux of storytelling for The Bad Batch. Everyone in the Empire is disposable, including Admirals. But if Admiral Rampart knows how to get to Tantiss, why would the Emperor keep him alive? Is it a twisted way to realize Rampart’s worst nightmare of irrelevance? And now that Rampart has a chance to reclaim his life, what will he do with that opportunity?
Crosshair makes a Clone Wars joke about Rampart calling him by his Clone number. It is impressive that the former Admiral remembered that Crosshair was CT-9904. The Clone sharpshooter may have made an impression on the Admiral after all.
This is Your New Home
“Juggernaut” is bookended by Tantiss scenes, which include Emerie, regretfully but not defiantly, taking Omega’s blood to confirm the positive result.
In a lesser show, Emerie would already be willing to do something crazy after one episode of character growth. As it stands, Emerie is resigned and unable to answer Omega’s question of whether she is safe on Tantiss.
When Hemlock takes Omega to the vault, Emerie takes a deep sigh that bursts through the speakers and is as somber as the always fantastic score from the Kliner family.
Hemlock is a mixture of honey and vinegar, making him one of Star Wars’s most eery villains. He compliments Omega, congratulating her on the wise decision to turn herself in and calmly leading her to the lab.
Once the positive is confirmed, Omega asks what that means, and Hemlock, as excited as he can be, tells her he will show her, and they walk to and through the vault. Hemlock explains that M-counts cannot be cloned and that Omega’s blood has given them the final piece of the puzzle to transfer M-counts to another being before showing her the area where the Force-sensitive kids from “Identity Crisis” reside. When Omega asks who they are, Hemlock simply replies:
“They are the rest of the puzzle. And this, this is your new home.”
The doors shut behind them, trapping Omega in her new reality. Omega is no longer a part-time prisoner like in the first three episodes, shadowing Emerie; she is a full-time test subject. And Hemlock did not drag her in shackles against her will; he treated her with a morsel of respect before revealing the severity of her situation.
These small scenes with Hemlock have done wonders in getting across how manipulative he is, and one wonders if he used these tactics on Emerie when she was younger to illicit such loyalty/complicity. After all, Omega is a younger version of Emerie.
But she is also, at this point, stronger and has a sense of self to persevere. Hemlock’s weakness is underestimating the Clones, specifically underestimating Omega. The Bad Batch will likely show us the outcome of that underestimation and will not favor Hemlock.
Originally published at http://creditsandcanon.com on April 14, 2024.
