Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Episodes 10-11 review

‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ has hit fans with two brilliant episodes, with “Identity Crisis” and “Point of No Return.” Both significantly ramp up the stakes for the final few episodes and add momentum to the end of the season.

The first episode, “Identity Crisis” follows Emire Karr as she struggles to keep up with the moral toll working for the Empire exacts. She takes Nala Se’s place as Chief Scientist at Mount Tantiss, and finds out more about Project Necromancer. In this episode, this means learning more about the Force-sensitive children the Empire has locked up, something that tests Karr’s moral boundaries. It’s a truly chilling episode for the audience.

It’s a test of Karr’s character and in this episode, even though Karr sees the immorality of it all, she fails this. Karr is simply resigned to her fate and those around her, something that audiences have seen her give up to time and time again. Escape is futile, and working against the Empire is futile, even though Omega and Crosshair escaped. She’s doing small bits here and there arguably to make herself feel better than to make the hard choice and improve the situation.

This episode also shows the moral depravity of the average citizen, as one tips the Empire off about a Force-sensitive baby, which is then captured by Cad Bane, who is the most morally corrupt bounty hunter. It’s an episode that showcases the galaxy itself is having an identity crisis, giving in to the dark times and engaging in tendencies geared to self-preservation.

Scorch has some moments where he gets to shine and show how far gone he is. Unlike Karr, he’s unwilling to question what the Empire is doing and is content to simply follow orders. He’s fallen further than Karr and shows what happens if you give up all morality.

Hemlock has a great scene with Tarkin in this episode. The Governor demands knowledge of what Hemlock is doing under the guise of the project costing too much and threatens Hemlock if he doesn’t succeed, but Tarkin just wants to take control. Tarkin isn’t in the know about Necromancer, if he was it’s unlikely he would so boldly challenge Hemlock. It’s amusing in that sense. There is also a tease that the CX troopers will eventually evolve into Dark Troopers.

Episode 11, “Point of No Return” shows the Empire catching up to Omega in a truly brutal fashion. After Ventress’ warning that the Bad Batch aren’t safe on Pabu, Hunter and the group make preparations to flee. Omega rather emotionally gives up Tech’s goggles and her Lula doll, a sign of her growing up. Unfortunately, CX-2 finds them and destroys the Marauder, a shocking moment. Gonky lives though.

A Venator arrives, and Commandos and TK troopers start oppressing the village. They destroy boats harass villagers and threaten to burn homes, all in the name of preventing Omega’s escape, but they use such overwhelming force to do it, once again showing the need to dominate all others in the galaxy is systemic within the Empire. It’s horrific to watch unfold.

Hunter attempts to use an out-of-the-box tactic to signal Echo, but CX-2 prevents this in another ruthless display. Omega proves she’s growing up even more, when she convinces Crosshair to let her get captured and taken back to Tantiss, in the hopes Crosshair can shoot a tracker on CX-2’s ship. In a gut-wrenching twist, Crosshair misses the tracker shot. It’s a horrible moment, one that will likely send his confidence spiraling and Hunter’s trust in him even more so. It does prove that Tantiss’ location is being treated with the reverence it deserves.

This is where the episode leaves the Batch, who will likely be broken after losing Omega again. It’s their lowest point all season, so it will be fascinating to watch how the Batch find her. These episodes most of all reminded audiences of the brutal and horrible nature of the Empire, and how important resisting it is.