The Bad Batch S3 E9 Breakdown: “The Harbinger” Brings Back a Character We Haven’t Seen n a Bit
One of our favorite characters made an appearance… to tell us something we already knew this week on The Bad Batch.
This week’s episode of The Bad Batch was one that had to happen. And now that it’s out of the way the series can start moving towards its end game. But that doesn’t mean it was an unenjoyable episode. The Batch has one of their most pressing mysteries solved, and we get to catch up with one of the fandom’s favorite characters.
As always, in order to break down this episode we will have to spoil large portions of what happens. If you haven’t watched this episode yet, proceed at your own risk.
The Harbinger
A harbinger is a person or thing that signals the approach of something else. And while it’s a neutral word and there can be positive examples of harbingers, it’s probably one of those words we naturally associate somewhat negatively. ‘Harbinger of death’ is a fairly commonly used phrase. So when Asajj Ventress showed up this episode we quickly knew who Fennec had called and that she probably had some news the Batch didn’t want to hear.
Personally, I didn’t think Asajj was going to be the mysterious caller. It seemed implied that Fennec’s connection would have worked for the Empire, and why would Asajj when she too has such a high M-Count. But it made more sense when it was revealed that Asajj wasn’t looking for a fight, she legitimately just wanted to chat.
M-Count
What she has to reveal is exactly what we all already assumed. A high M-Count indicates somebody with lots of midichlorians and a stronger connection to the force. Omega immediately spills that she has a high M-Count and therefore must be a force user. Asajj offers to give her a test and the Batch is suspicious of her intentions.
From their perspective, she’s a war criminal and can’t be trusted with a lothcat let alone their smallest big sister. And their fight is an interesting one because Asajj is working twice as hard to not seriously hurt any of them. They’re not enemies. They’re not friends. But both of them have an enemy in the Empire and that makes them decidedly not enemies.
Force Test
Asajj runs Omega through a few basic tests to see how strong her connection to the force is… and it seems unimpressive at best. But I’m dubious. One of the tests was a connection to animals, and we know that Omega is almost as good at connecting with animals as Ezra Bridger. We’ve seen her effortlessly befriend beasties over and overtake Batcher, for example. And when she tries in front of Asajj she gives up after about two and a half galactic seconds.
Whether this was Omega sabotaging herself by trying too hard and not letting the flow of the force come naturally, or Asajj purposefully trying to convince the clones that Omega’s M-Count is low is unknown. But I’m pretty sure what we’ll see by the end of the season is a decisive display of natural force ability. And maybe Omega will find one of those Jedis-in-hiding to teach her the ways of the force. Being deep in hiding for a few years would explain why we haven’t seen her in any Star Wars stories that take place after this point.
What did you think of this week’s episode of The Bad Batch? What do you think is left in store for the clones as the series comes to an end? Did you know it was going to be Asajj, or did you think somebody else would be making an appearance? Let us know in the comments!
May the force be with you, Adventurers!
