‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Season 2 Episode 13 “Pabu” – What We Noticed
This week The Bad Batch finally get a taste of peace in the Empire’s galaxy. But we all know it can’t last long.
This week The Bad Batch got some much-needed rest and peace, and maybe even a preview of a life where Omega is allowed to have a childhood. But how long can this peace last and where will the batch go from here?
As always, in order to break down the episode and explore Easter Eggs, we will need to spoil the entire episode. If you haven’t watched it yet, proceed at your own risk.
Club Lao Che
The episode opens on a street lined with neon signs, and one of them reads Club Lao Che in Aurebesh. This is a reference to the gangster of the same name who Indiana Jones faces off against in Temple of Doom. The batch is doing another job with Phee who is trying to buy one of her famous ancient artifacts. Negotiations go south, somebody shoots first, you know the drill. The whole opening scene is actually a pretty close recreation of this scene to the gangster scene in Temple of Doom …
Which is Fitting Because–
Phee is definitely made out to be an Indiana Jones character. When we first meet her we are made to believe that she’s your average pirate and selling these artifacts on the black market for a hefty sum. In reality, Phee isn’t looking to make a profit on artifacts at all. We see her bring them back to her home base where the artifacts can be safely appreciated by everybody living on Pabu.
Kouhun
After the artifact negotiations start to deteriorate, the gangster Phee is doing business with attempts to poison her. When that doesn’t work he gets out a kouhun to do the job. We’ve seen these assassin bugs before when one was used in an assassination attempt on Padme in Attack of the Clones. Neither of these attempts was successful.
Pabu and the Tsunami
After learning that the Batch has cut ties with Cid, Phee brings them back to her home base of Pabu. It’s a tiny, remote island where refugees from the Clone Wars and the Empire seem to have collected to live peaceful lives. And for the moment it looks like the perfect place for the clones to settle.
Omega finally spends time with a child her age, Wrecker manages to eat his fill, Hunter is able to let his guard down a little, and even Tech seems to be having a good time. But this episode needed an adventure and it comes in the form of an earthquake-caused tsunami.
In the grand scheme of Star Wars, it’s such a mundane problem. And with the help of Clone Force 99, every citizen of Pabu gets to safety.
How Long Can Peace Last?
This episode was a complete 180 from last week’s focus on Crosshair and the Empire. And at the end of this episode, the team is talking about staying on Pabu for the foreseeable future. Personally, I would love to see the rest of the season turn into a slice of life where everyone is allowed to be happy and Omega gets to be a child. But if we’re being honest, they won’t make it through another whole episode before the Empire (or Cid, or both) come knocking.
What did you notice this week on The Bad Batch? Do you think the batch will ever get the opportunity to settle down for real? What do you think is in store for the rest of the season? Let us know in the comments!
May The Force Be With you, Adventurers!
