Hello and welcome to Laughing Place’s regular recap of Lucasfilm’s animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch on Disney+. This week’s installment, entitled “Rescue on Ryloth,” is the twelfth episode of the show’s first season.
“Rescue on Ryloth” begins with Cham Syndulla (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes), and his wife Eleni (Ferelith Young), and the resistance leader Gobi Glie (Corey Burton) in an Imperial holding cell on Ryloth. Vice Admiral Rampart (Noshir Dalal) visits him and accuses him of attempting to assassinate Senator Orn Free Taa. “How unfortunate for your people to see you fall,” Rampart says, noting that he believes their daughter Hera will be even easier to deal with. He asks Eleni where Hera is, but she refuses to tell him. Rampart orders Captain Howzer to find and arrest all of Syndulla’s sympathizers, but Howzer (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, as are all the Jango Fett clones) seems to be having second thoughts about his allegiance. “The people are not insurgents. We have no cause to arrest them.” Howzer also says he knows Syndulla wasn’t responsible for Senator Taa’s attempted assassination.
As the two Imperials walk away, we see the droid Chopper (voiced by series creator Dave Filoni) spying on the area and reporting back to Hera (Vanessa Marshall), who is watching Crosshair and his troops search the Syndulla home through macrobinoculars. Hera tells Chopper to meet with her so they can send a transmission. In space aboard the Havoc Marauder, Omega (Michelle Ang) is trying to repair the Gonk Droid’s power source. Hunter calls it a defective unit, but Omega counters that they’re “defective” as well. Tech reports that they’ve received a transmission on an unknown frequency, and plays a hologram of Hera asking Omega to return to Ryloth and help her. “The Empire’s taken my parents, and they’re after me now too.” Tech suggests that Hera may be overreacting to the situation, but Omega insists that they rescue Hera, and continues to put up a fight when Hunter argues against it.
With Clone Force 99 apparently having relented, the Havoc Marauder lands on Ryloth. The Bad Batch meet with Chopper and Hera at an old command outpost and ask why the Empire is after them. “Because my father is Cham Syndulla,” replies Hera. “The Empire’s been targeting anyone loyal to him.” She asks them to free her parents from the Capitol where they’re being held. “They can pay you if you get them out,” she promises. Omega stands by Hera’s side, but Hunter refuses to make any guarantees. In the city, Rampart addresses the citizens of Ryloth, saying that Orn Free Taa will make a full recovery and that he’s captured the perpetrators of the assassination attempt. Hera and the Bad Batch watch from afar and listen to the speech over Chopper’s receiver. Omega spots Crosshair among the guards and tells Hunter that his old squadmate is part of the garrison. “Great, just what we need,” says Wrecker.
Clone Force 99 has a meeting about how they should approach the rescue operation, though Tech is still hesitant. Out of the corner of his eye, Hunter spots an Imperial probe droid watching them. He sneaks up on it and tackles it, taking it out with his knife. Now that the Empire evidently knows they’re on the planet, they move into action. On the ground, Crosshair watches the footage of his former team hiding in the cliffs overlooking the city. At the base, Hera tells the Bad Batch that she just wants her parents back. Hunter says Crosshair is now expecting an attack, so there’s nothing they can do. “I told you no guarantees.” He offers to get Hera off-world, but she offers to pay them double. “All the money in the galaxy won’t matter if we’re dead,” Hunter replies, and Omega is not happy about this development. In the prison, Rampart and Howzer continue to argue about the idea of rounding up peaceful citizens.
“It will incite an uprising,” says Howzer, but Rampart just replies, “Then they will be arrested too.” In Rampart’s office, Crosshair tells him Clone Force 99 is on Ryloth, but the vice admiral tells Crosshair to stay on task locating Hera. Back at the base, Omega consoles Hera, telling her that Hunter will come around. She explains that all the clones are her brothers, and she trusts them, so Hera should as well. Howzer visits Cham and Eleni in their cell, telling them that he’s trying to protect Hera. “If you know where she is, tell me.” Cham says he won’t make the mistake of trusting the clones again. On the Havoc Marauder, Hera tells the Bad Batch her new plan to attack the Imperial refinery and divert reinforcements from the Capitol. She explains that they can use Chopper to take out the cannons around the facility’s perimeter. Hunter agrees to the mission, and sends Hera and Omega to back up Chopper at a distance.
They do so, and Chopper stows away on a ship full of workers entering the refinery as Hera and Omega watch from afar. Chopper fries a fellow droid and links into the facility’s computer system, but has trouble disabling the cannons. He’s discovered by a clone trooper and immediately surrenders. Omega says they’ll help him, but only after they take the console offline. Meanwhile, Echo and Hunter scale the walls of the Capitol, taking out some regs along the way. Omega helps Hera hijack the transport shuttle, and tells the Bad Batch not to shoot it down. Hera flies the shuttle (poorly) around the refinery and uses its blasters to destroy the weapons control system, and Chopper incapacitates some troopers as well before flying up to board the ship. Omega reports to her team that the cannons are down, and Wrecker destroys them from the Havoc Marauder.
Alarms start blaring in Rampart’s office, and he tells Howzer he’ll handle the situation while the clone captain guards the Capitol. Hunter and Echo break the Syndullas out of prison, telling them that Hera hired Clone Force 99 for this task. Hera starts to get the hang of flying the shuttle, while on the landing platform at the Capitol, Crosshair realizes that the attack is merely a distraction. He sends a battalion of troops to guard the building’s exit just before Hunter and Echo leave with the Syndullas. Fortunately, Howzer shows up at the last moment to warn them they’re walking into a trap. “Why should we trust you?” asks Gobi. “Because I’m on your side,” responds Howzer. “What the Empire is doing is wrong.” The Syndullas head off to find an escape ship, and Howzer says he will try to get through to his squad. Hunter orders the Bad Batch to meet at a rendezvous point, and Crosshair is surprised to see Howzer exit the Capitol.
Howzer addresses his clone brothers and attempts to convince them that what they’re doing is wrong. “I will not be a part of it any longer.” He throws down his blaster rifle, and some of the others respond in kind. “Arrest those traitors,” orders Crosshair. A ship leaves through the Capitol’s hangar, and Howzer watches it escape as he is arrested by other troopers. At the base, the Syndullas give the Bad Batch the payment Hera promised, but Hunter turns it down and tells them to use the money to fight the Empire. Cham decides they’re going to organize into a rebellion, but Hunter says Clone Force 99 can’t help with that. “I have my own people to look out for.” “If a war is coming, it will be their fight as much as ours,” says Eleni. Hera says Omega showed her how to scramble a ship’s signature, and then the two new friends say goodbye as Chopper and Hera depart with her parents.
At the burning refinery, Rampart tells Crosshair he’s underestimated the Bad Batch. “If only they were fighting for us instead of against us.” “Request permission to hunt them down,” says Crosshair. “Granted,” replies Rampart.
New episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch are released Fridays, exclusively on Disney+.