Star Wars: The Bad Batch finally delivers the goods in “Metamorphosis”

The latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, “Metamorphosis,” opens on a damaged ship with multiple systems failing. A clone commando is running away from something on board and is attacked by an unknown creature and dragged offscreen while screaming.

We then cut to a secret facility located at Mount Tantis on the planet Weyland. This is the same facility we saw Kaminoan scientist Nala Se escorted to at the end of season 1. A ship similar to the one in the opening scene is being escorted by multiple Imperial transports. A doctor orders the “cargo” be loaded off the ship. A large group comprised of dozens of clone commandos see to it.

The Doctor then visits Nala Se in a jail cell. Nala Se greets him as Doctor Hemlock. He says he is disappointed that she is not more motivated to continue her work after the Empire destroyed her homeworld. Se says she knows what Palpatine wants to do with the research and will not cooperate. Hemlock threatens something worse than rotting in a cell and leaves her to think.

Hemlock is then told that one of the transports has gone missing, presumably the same ship we saw in the opening scene. He orders it to be found and contained, and then asks if any other Kaminoans were taken off-world before Tipoca City was destroyed. The scientist reveals that Prime Minister Lama Su is still alive and being held prisoner on Coruscant. Hemlock wants Su brought to Weyland to speak with him.

The Bad Batch uncover a conspiracy

We then see the Bad Batch back on their ship talking with Cid via hologram, and she doesn’t seem to care that they are frustrated with her. Earlier in the season, the team was stranded on a planet and Cid refused to send help. Cid tells them to get over it and gives them intel about about the cargo ship. This time, she promises to split the loot 50/50 to make up for her flaky behavior.

The Bad Batch find the ship crashed on an unknown planet and make their way inside. While Tech goes to check the bridge records, the rest of the team finds a lab with Kaminoan equipment. Tech is able to get the power working but comes across a droid that warns him of danger on the ship. They begin to hear clattering in the vents and see residue on the walls. They see a large creature with electric currents in its mouth and begin shooting, but it gets away.

They find the creature seemingly ingesting power from the ship’s reactors; it evolves/grows from the energy. Omega explains that she heard rumors about secret Kaminoan experiments happening off-world, but Nala Se kept the data about it away from her. Tech finds out that the creature is the same species as the Zillo beast from The Clone Wars, and that it has gotten a lot bigger from feeding off a nearby town’s power supply. The Empire arrives with a fleet and sends a wave of gunships and fighters to the surface to subdue the beast.

While some of the Imperials go after the Bad Batch, the rest of them surround the beast and one of the larger ships uses a beam to weaken the creature and take it captive. Meanwhile, a crew of commandos lands in the village led by Scorch, a Clone Commando we saw last season. They proceed to take the entire village away on transports, probably due to the secrecy of the Zillo beast project.

The latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch deepens our understanding of the Emperor’s plans

Hunter is able to get Tech and Omega back before they escape the area. Tech analyzes the data he extracted from the ship and finds out Palpatine ordered the cloning and weaponization of the Zillo beast before he was even Emperor. Tech theorizes that the destruction of Kamino had nothing to do with ending cloning, but with the Empire’s desire to control the process. Hunter tells Tech to send the data to Echo and Rex.

Back at Mount Tantis, scientists inform Hemlock that they recovered the lost creature, and that Lama Su is arriving. Hemlock gets a report from Scorch that the villagers were apprehended but that a military ship escaped. He orders Scorch to find the ship.

Hemlock presses Lama Su on how to motivate Nala Se to continue her work, and he informs Hemlock that he needs to find Omega in order to threaten Se. He then takes Su inside to get more information from him.

Verdict

This was far and away the best episode of The Bad Batch this season. Not only did we get an intriguing new villain with Hemlock, but Dave Filoni finally paid off the Zillo beast arc from The Clone Wars, which has been a loose end for over 10 years at this point. We got more insight on the destruction of Kamino and what Palpatine’s goals are. The Bad Batch are linking up with Rex and Echo again, and they will be pursued by Scorch in coming episodes.

Scorch is a main character from the Republic Commando video game; hopefully we get to see the rest of Delta squad join Scorch in his efforts against the Bad Batch. All in all, this was a banger episode that had me on the edge of my seat and clamoring for more.

Episode Grade: A

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