The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 13 Summary

This recap of The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 13 “Pabu” contains spoilers.

Clone Force 99, like all clones, was bred for a single purpose: war. But that begs the obvious question of what soldiers born and raised do in peacetime. Where do you live? How are they coping? Can they even imagine living a life free of conflict, without someone to serve, even if it is only themselves, and have they ever considered using their skills elsewhere?

According to “Pabu” it could be time now.

The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 13 Summary

Lest we forget, we are nearing the end of the second – and probably final – season. Disney seems interested in retiring The Bad Batch, both literally and figuratively, as the show hasn’t been very popular and has felt propulsive in terms of plot and continuity for basically this entire second outing. But if it has been around So far it has definitely been about the function of the clones in a larger post-war galaxy. We’ve touched on the Empire’s version of sending them out to pasture in favor of a new Imperial army Defense Recruitment Actbut this is where we begin to consider and unpack the options for more voluntary retirement planning.

The title Pabu is the homeworld of Phee, the pirate we briefly met a couple of times earlier in the season. The Bad Batch ends up there after performing a job at Phee’s as they are no longer working for Cid – who seems primed to become an antagonist – and need to find employment elsewhere. It’s an idyllic, tropical paradise hidden from the prying eyes of the Empire, built on a foundation of community, respect, and kindness. all things that Clone Force 99 is mostly unfamiliar with.

There’s action, of course, but this episode is really about the inwardness of these characters, both individually and as part of a larger collective that has always had a single purpose. Cid was one of the few characters they interacted with regularly. Phee still bothers her, but she represents a new perspective, one based less on what the Bad Batch can do for her and more on what they can do with her. She becomes a surrogate mother to Omega almost immediately and is the first person I know to highlight how potentially unhealthy it was for her to be surrounded by adult males with the same genetic makeup who are totally focused on developing their fighting skills have .

This is one of the first times an entire episode has been devoted to challenging Clone Force 99’s beliefs rather than physically compromising them. There’s little chance they’ll die in this episode, but what they grapple with is something they’ve never had before – the potential for home, for security, and for a community beyond the broad label of just “clones.” or even “soldiers”. “. They could finally belong to something bigger and bigger than themselves, and they all have to deal with that idea in different ways.

That’s why I think the episode doesn’t have a conventional villain, instead revolving around a natural disaster, giving the bad batch an excuse to fight in for something instead against someone. They gather to protect Pabu, while acknowledging the importance of community and the sacredness of the place, which is visually presented as paradise – far removed from the stark industrialization of Imperial facilities or the filthy darkness of alien caves and desolate planets – as well thematic. It’s a welcome change from the arguably faltering series, full of nuance and character and a real sense that it could actually be going somewhere – or maybe already has.

You can stream The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 13 “Pabu” exclusively on Disney+.

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