Ryloth Makes a “Devil’s Deal” on Episode 11 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch by Adam D. Slobodzian
Episode 11, “Devil’s Deal”, continues the theme of the rising rebellion in the wake of the expanding Empire. The Bad Batch played only a supporting role in this episode, as the focus was on the growing rebellion on Ryloth, and the moral conflict within the famed “Hammer of Ryloth” , General Cham Syndulla.
The shows creator, Dave Filoni, must see Ryloth as a significant location in the Star Wars universe as it has been the focus of important story-lines in The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and now The Bad Batch. It is clear that the Syndulla Clan have played an important role for both the Republic and the Rebellion.
THIS WEEK ON EPISODE 11
This week’s story followed the conflicted General Syndulla as he copes with Imperial occupation at the end of the Clone Wars and his optimism that the Twi’lek people will no longer need to be at war. This however is not the case as the Empire is increasing its occupation of the planet, and Syndulla’s Admiral, Gobi Glie, is attempting to organize a rebellion of his own.
Setting the stage in a very similar fashion to Episode 10, this week opened on Ryloth with the unpopular leader of the Twi’lek, Senator Orn Free Taa, and the popular General Cham Syndulla addressing their people in the shadow of the Empire’s influence. This series gives us a very different look at General Cham Syndulla who is conflicted about the new Empire’s occupation of Ryloth but maintains an almost uncharacteristic open-minded attitude given his experience and struggles alongside the Clone Army and Jedi Master Mace Windu during The Clone Wars. This episode also gave us important insight into why his character is so distrustful and acts in the way that he does in the Star Wars: Rebels series.
A Young Rebel Captain
“Flying, it’s about the feeling.” – Hera Syndulla
Hera Syndulla and Chopper are back! One of our favorite Rebel Captains makes an appearance as this episode gave us a fascinating glimpse at Hera’s youth and ambition to be not only a pilot, but also a rebel that fights against the tyranny of the Empire. It was fitting that we got another great Star Wars: Rebels connection as the first episode of The Bad Batch set up the story with a surprising appearance by our other favorite Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume turned rebel leader and Jedi Knight, Kanan Jarrus a.k.a. Hera’s future partner.
As this episode showed again, The Bad Batch has been a very fun bridge between the Clone Wars animated series and Star Wars: Rebels, and has built on how the Empire has risen across the galaxy.
Hera’s ambition for the sky ended up causing issues for Cham Syndulla as Gobi took advantage of her eagerness to learn how to fly by convincing her to accompany them on their weapons run. The Empire already was looking for any excuse to implicate General Syndulla, and when Hera was captured, they allowed the Twi’lek scouts to report her capture and lure General Syndulla into conflict with the Empire.
This was all part of the Empire’s plan to handle both General Syndulla and Senator Orn Free Taa and exert more control over Ryloth, as Crosshair eliminates Orn Free Taa and General Syndulla is accused of treason and arrested.
The episode concludes with the escape of Hera Syndulla and Chopper.
The Stand Out Scenes
Hera Syndulla and Chopper – Getting to see a young and aspirational Hera in a politically complex situation was an interesting insight into her character’s backstory. This gives us even more detail into the contexts that have shaped her motivations and values, and helps us relate even more to her decisions and actions in the Star Wars: Rebels series. It was also brilliantly fitting that her introduction and character theme music had distinct similarities to John Williams’ Princess Leia’s Theme.
A Brief Appearance of the Batch – It was interesting to see the Bad Batch play a supporting role in the narrative this week, but we did get some intriguing interactions. It was great to see Hera’s fascination with the Bad Batch’s ship and her interactions with Omega. We also found out that Cid had sent the Bad Batch on the mission to deliver weapons to Gobi, meaning that even though they are no longer in debt to Cid, they are still working missions for her.
Crosshair Back in Action – It looks as though the Jedi Cruiser Ion Engine didn’t slow Crosshair down too much aside from some serious scarring as he is back in action with the Empire, and eliminates Senator Orn Free Taa from a distance.
Stunning the Clones – As we saw last week, the Bad Batch still do not kill their former clone brothers and stun them rather than kill them; we see a similar situation with Cham Syndulla who gives the clone soldiers the benefit of the doubt because of their former partnership and opts to stun them and not kill them while rescuing his daughter.
We can’t wait for FRIDAY to see where the story leads us from here!
Star Wars: The Bad Batch streams every Friday on Disney+
Adam D. Slobodzian
Not only is Adam, aka Darth Slobo, a lifelong Star Wars fan, he is also PhD a Candidate in Marketing at Smith School of Business.
