The Bad Batch Spoiler Review: Spoils of War and Ruins of War

 This review contains spoilers for The Bad Batch episodes “Spoils of War” and “Ruins of War.”

The Bad Batch is back with a banger of an opener for season two. Getting a double dose of action with Clone Force 99, we kick off with the episodes “Spoils of War” and “Ruins of War.”

But before I get into the actual episodes, I want to address an important movement happening off-screen. You might have seen the hashtag #UnwhitewashTBB floating around. This movement is from the Twitter user @unwhitewashtbb and is being led by “fans of color, disabled fans, neurodivergent fans, and Jewish fans.” It’s to bring awareness of the racial discrimination that is baked into the very fabric of this show. The Batch is designed to be “elite clones” and yet their skin tones are very white. All clones are designed after Temuera Morrison, who is a man of color. If the only clones that are perceived as white are considered “elite” and “the best” while regular clones who still appear as people of color are seen as “lesser,” these kinds of design choices have very real consequences on young audiences. @UnwhitewashTBB cites in their title card the hurtful implications this has on minority groups. The card, linked here, goes into great detail about how and why this is a problem. Go read it thoroughly.

Here at The Geeky Waffle, while we are fans of The Bad Batch, we are also in support of the Unwhitewash TBB movement. In every review through season two, we will be linking to the above information. We know that readers will search out coverage of The Bad Batch. We are choosing to use our platform to bring awareness to this movement. That said, we also fully support the podcasts and websites choosing not to cover the season.

It’s important that the creators hear the concerns of fans and work to rectify them. To be clear, whitewashing characters of color should never happen in the first place. It’s a choice that begins in the design phase, which makes it faulty and wrong from the start. We will continue to help hold the creators accountable so mistakes like this don’t happen if we get a season three as well as for future Star Wars projects.

Please follow @UnwhitewashTBB for more information.

“Spoils of War” and “Ruin of Wars” was a great opening salvo to get audiences back into the swing of The Bad Batch. These episodes built well on the backs of Andor and Tales of the Jedi touching on similar themes and character beats from those shows. A lot of the corruption that led Count Dooku onto the path of the Dark Side is a similar struggle that the Batch is facing this week. Also, like Cassian Andor, how long can they run to try and nab a comfy life before the Empire eventually catches up with them? All of this made for a wonderful setup for the rest of the season. Also, I’m pleased to find that so much of the trailer footage was put into these first two episodes. Outside of the Crosshair, Rex, Palpatine, and Gungi stuff, we’ve seen the majority of the trailers. This tells me there are so many surprises to look forward to.

These episodes gave me so much of what I wanted right out of the gate. Omega spent most of her time in season one with Hunter. Outside of a few cute scenes with Wrecker, she really had little to no development with the rest of the Batch except in background unspoken moments. By putting Omega firmly with Echo and Tech in an adventure, we got a new dynamic we haven’t really seen thus far. With them driving the narrative, this was by far some of the best development for Tech and Echo in the entire show.

This season very much needs to be Echo’s season. He’s really the dark horse of the show and is probably the most important character outside of Omega. All throughout season one, he was incredibly vocal about fighting back against the Empire only to be ignored by Hunter. He never liked the idea of being mercenaries when the Batch could be using their skills to help people. Once again, he said the exact same thing to Hunter again this week which ended up launching Omega on her plot.

Cid sets all of this into motion. She knows that her operation will eventually run out and the Empire will come for them. Cid wants to hide in a comfy life which is appealing to Hunter. Though, if the Batch only fights for Omega’s future and not the future of everyone, then what good are they? Echo says as much to Hunter. But Omega completely misunderstands Echo's words. She hears it as the Batch’s lives would be better if they never met her. What he’s really saying is that she deserves a good childhood along with every other kid in the galaxy.

This is very much the personal conflict of the Batch at this point. Echo lets his frustrations at Hunter’s choices come out in front of Omega. In turn, it leads her to be too reckless because she feels like a burden to Echo. Echo realizes his words had very real consequences on Omega’s emotions. I like that they’re all still figuring out their family dynamic. Echo takes responsibility for his mistake, apologizes, and assures her he doesn’t regret meeting her. They chose this life because of her, not because she was thrust upon them like some burden. It was really Echo’s best scene in the entire show.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the Indiana Jones parallels. As someone who just watched all the Indiana Jones movies for the first time over the holidays, I can finally do the Captain America point and yell, “I understood that reference!”

We meet a new character named Romar, voiced by Hector Elizondo, who played a pivotal role in the episodes too. I’ll get into his plot with Tech in a moment, but I love his scenes with Omega. It infers so much about the Batch as a whole. Romar gives her a toy, saying the price is what you put into it which is her happiness. All the treasures in the world mean nothing if they don’t bring joy. Put that in comparison to the opening scene.

Tech and the Batch have Omega on a tough study regimen. Tech mentions it’s not time for her scheduled breaks while Hunter is later testing her on the information. They are raising her the way that they were probably raised on Kamino. In their mind, this is a way to protect her. It gets her up to their speed so she can best aid in the group. This is where Romar’s influence is just as important. The Batch are still very much learning how to be normal. Romar provided something as simple as a toy for that normalcy that the Batch lacks. It builds on those little influences from season one where Omega met Hera Syndulla and Trace and Rafa Martez. She needs people outside of the Batch to help her grow which is just as important.

This was just as much of Tech’s episode as it was Echo’s, and I’m all here for it. My boy Tech freaking CARRIED this episode on his broken leg. He’s always been my favorite member of the Batch. Clearly coded as neurodivergent, again showcased in “Ruins of War” as he hyperfixated on Romar’s data core, he doesn’t always say things in an amicable way. I always point to his actions as proof of who he truly is at heart. All throughout season one, he’s one of the people in the background along with Echo who is the most mindful of Omega. In “Spoils of War” and “Ruins of War,” we got to see the length of his care on full display.

My boy broke a leg and never stopped fighting. He threw himself into brawl after brawl, because he needed to save Omega and Echo. Outing his position to draw troops away, he fought tooth and nail on a broken leg to get to his family. He fought to the point of exhaustion until the pain overtook him and he passed out. That right there is Tech’s love. He might not always say the right things, but he loves his family. My boy freaking shined this week! I AM SO PROUD OF MY NERD BOY!

Tech and Romar’s discussion said so much about the state of both the Batch personally as well as the rest of the galaxy as a whole. Talking with Romar gave a unique glimpse of where these clones are as people. Tech and his brothers were made with one goal in mind and that was war. They were raised on black-and-white propaganda: Republic is good and the Separatists are bad. Before Order 66, they never had to consider anything outside of that framework. Yes, they did have one mission in season one saving a Separatist senator that started these thoughts, but Romar pushed Tech even further than that.

When Romar shows him the data cube, he rightfully corrects Tech that it is the history of his planet and people well before there were clones, Separatists, and war. There was life, culture, and people that were important to the galaxy. The blanket of war turned everything into a ‘them vs us’ mindset. It forgot that the first victims of Dooku and the Separatists were, in fact, the people the Separatists ruled. If the Batch is going to help save the galaxy, then they have to lose that mentality.

Tech recognizes this right away once it’s pointed out to him. It’s an important paradigm shift that pushes him far more in line with what Echo has been saying since season one. They can’t just save the people they like. There is no freedom from oppression unless everyone is equal. This will be a big moment for Tech and it was a huge jump in his character development. It also does a great job fleshing out the Separatists in a way that we never got in Clone Wars.

“Ruins of War” was also a nice setup for the only Batch member not in the episode being Crosshair. But boy, was his influence felt all over those final scenes!

Everything with Captain Wilco was a clear setup for the other big storyline for the season with the clones. The trailers showed us Commander Cody voicing to Crosshair that other clones are having doubts about the Empire. While the Batch is probably going to fight more and more for the galaxy, I have a feeling the focus will be specifically on saving their brothers.

Wilco is a representation of this story. For the majority of the two episodes, he is following orders and leads his men to try and capture the Batch. Then, they quickly humanize him in the simple act of taking off his helmet. We see he’s pained over the death of his men. He’s not emotionless despite knowing that he’s probably under Order 66’s programming. The power of Order 66 is wearing off the clones, again pointing back to Cody in the trailers saying exactly that.

It all culminates in the final moments of “Ruins of War.” The big baddie Vice Admiral Rampart arrives because he heard the Batch was here. Rampart is under the impression that the Batch is dead from the season one finale and wants to keep it that way. But when he tells Wilco to falsify his reports to say the clones didn’t see the Batch, it’s this moment when Wilco gets a small instance of rebellion. He knows it’s wrong to change a report. He flat-out tells Rampart no. And then Wilco is killed by Rampart for it. That scene alone is setting up the overarching story for season two for the clones. I believe more and more, they’re going to realize this whole Empire thing is not what they think it is. Like Ramor’s people under Dooku’s rule, the clones are the first victims of the Empire’s machinations.

And now Crosshair is suddenly the most interesting character and he’s not even in the episode. As a reminder for the season one finale, Rampart knows that Crosshair double-crossed his Imperial troops and killed all of them except the one that got away to report Crosshair. Rampart says this week he is under the impression the Batch was dead at the end of the finale which means one of a few possible scenarios:

1.      Crosshair lied, telling Rampart the Batch was dead.

2.      Rampart is lying to Wilco and knew the entire time the Batch is alive.

3.      All of the above which is a lot of fun drama!

Either Crosshair is playing Rampart, Rampart is playing Crosshair, or they’re both playing each other. This is a fascinating setup overall for Crosshair for the season! One of the biggest lingering questions from the finale was his role going forward. Is he going to aid his brothers from inside the Empire? Does he still believe in the Empire but want to protect the Batch? It’s so unclear but that’s why it’s great!

Some random thoughts to round out Spoils of War and Ruins of War:

-I really enjoyed the team-up of Hunter and Wrecker as a B-plot. One of the things I wanted to see this season was the Batch paired off in different groups to give us different dynamics. And Wrecker really got to shine! He’s not an idiot. He knows how to take pieces of a tank and engineer them together to make a weapon. My boy knows what he’s doing. They were a fun duo working off of each other.

-AZI is okay! Look at him living his best life working in Cid’s parlor! After all of his trauma from the Fives arc in Clone Wars and the season one finale of The Bad Batch, I’m so happy to see him hanging out and doing good!

-We are totally going to see more of Phee Genoa. There is no way they would hire Wanda Sykes just to have her for a minute-long bit part. She’ll be back.

-Look, while I don’t trust these writers to do any kind of meaningful queer representation given their history, I am here for Tech being coded as Asexual. Phee openly flirts with him, and his reaction is essentially, “….Cool. Anyway…” Romar also gives Tech the nickname “Ace” throughout the episode. I’ll take my coding where I can because again, I don’t trust this crew. It’s very clear they have no clue how much they wrote Omega as a trans character and from what I can see, they’re not embracing that aspect either to do real, meaningful, important representation. So, I’ll keep on reading these characters as coded queer characters.

-I’m wondering if they’re going to phase Cid out over the course of the season. Her opening scene talking about knowing the end of her parlor is coming makes me think so. Though, I could see them give her a badass death by siding with the Batch and going down fighting so they can get away! That would be awesome and emotionally wreck me.

-It’s always great to see Bolo and Ketch. I love those two lovable goofballs.

The Bad Batch is back, and it feels so good to be in the realms of Star Wars animation again. Next week is titled "The Solitary Clone" and my guess is this is where we’ll check back in with Crosshair again. I’m excited to see what he’s been up to. See you next week, and please go check out Unwhitewash TBB until then.