‘The Bad Batch’ 1×02: Old friends and beyond

“Cut and Run,” the second episode of the “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” reveals that J-19 is the planet Saleucami and the guy that the Batch knew is none other than fellow Clone trooper, Cut Lawquane. 

Spoilers ahead

Lawquane was a clone trooper who deserted the Clone Army and wanted to make a life for himself. The clone became a farmer,married a Twi’lek named Suu and adopted two twi’lek children. The episode is centered around the Bad Batch’s mission to help get their fellow clone brother and his family off the planet Saleucami which is now under the authority of the Galactic Empire. However, the totalitarian Empire is preventing people from getting off-planet by impounding ships and people unless they have a chain code.  

Cut Lawquane is a clone who was programmed to be a soldier but he became a free thinker who left a life of servitude to the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. In a sense, he dodged the proverbial bullet (or, in Star Wars terms, the proverbial blaster bolt) when deserting. Had he not deserted, he would have been under the control of Emperor Palpatine when the words “execute Order 66” were muttered.

Lawquane made his debut in the Clone Wars Season Two episode “The Deserter” Where he and his family meet an injured Captain Rex. In that episode, Rex is dumbfounded at the revelation that Cut, a clone trooper like himself, had decided to leave a life that he was originally bred and programmed for.

Cut reveals to Rex that the reason why he deserted the army was because he witnessed the Seperatist Droid Army killing his fellow troopers who were wounded after an ambush. He made the decision to run which still haunted him but he told Rex that he would fight to his last breath to protect his new family. After helping Lawquane fight off a group of battle droids that attack the Lawquane Farmstead, Rex decided to not report the idealistic clone to the Clone Army and turned a blind eye. 

I feel that Feloni used Lawquane as a device to propel Rex’s into becoming more of the open-minded clone that fans know him to be and also being more receptive to Clone Trooper CT-5555’s (Fives) discovery of the inhibitor chips controlling the clones. In fact, Cut reveals that Captain Rex stopped by at his farm to tell him about the inhibitor chips and Order 66. This scene made me wonder if Lawquane somehow got his chip removed or perhaps, if it was defected by the time he and his men were ambushed. 

Like in “The Deserter,” Feloni once again uses Lawquane as a device to make a fellow clone, Hunter,  learn that there is more to life than being a soldier. Hunter, being a defective clone himself, is still programmed to be a soldier. During the beginning of the episode, Echo asks Hunter what the Batch is going to do with Omega now that she is with them. When meeting reuniting with Cut, Hunter is advised that when it comes to taking care of Omega, the clone is going to have a lot on his hands.

Proof of this shows when Hunter harshly reprimands Omega for almost getting killed after almost getting eaten by a Nexu (the same creature that Padme Amidala fought in “Star Wars: Episode II-The Attack of the Clones”). Knowing that Omega is only a child, Cut comforts the young clone and tells Hunter that she is not a soldier. 

Throughout the episode, we see that although she is a clone and someone born into unusual circumstances, Omega is a very curious child. The scene where she plays around in dirt and with Cut’s children symbolize her amazement and something so mundane as opposed to the sanitary life she lived on the rainy planet of Kamino. Omega is also not afraid to go on dangerous missions as we see when the Batch’s ship is getting impounded by the Imperial authorities as part of Tech’s plan to get chain codes for Lawquane and his family to escape. When it comes to the enigma that is Omeg,, Lawquane mentions that like all the other clones, the Kaminoans had to make Omega  for a purpose. 

Speaking of that purpose, Youtuber Star Wars Theory made a video about the scene where Omega is aboard the Bad Batch’s ship and looking down at her pendant while crying. Star Wars Theory mentions she was probably thinking about Nala Se, the Kaminoan who is probably the closest thing she has to a mother. Theory postulates that the reason why Omega mentioned to Echo that she hated being connected to machines in the last episode was that she was being extensively tested on.

Those tests could mean that Omega is a Force-sensitive clone. Theory also postulates that due to the mother-daughter relationship that Omega has with Nala, this might prompt her to travel back to Kamino to rescue her. Another theory that Star Wars Theory mentions is that Omega and the Bad Batch could go back to Kamino and find a reverse code to Order 66 to start a rebellion against the Galactic Empire which, through Grand Moff Tarkin, threatens to get rid of them in favor of recruiting people from various planets throughout the galaxy. 

Hunter believes that he and the Bad Batch cannot be the family Omega needs to be with. He sees that Omega would have a better life with Cut and Suu’s family. In the scene where Omega follows the Lawquanes to the transport ship, we can see that she is clearly saddened by the revelation that Hunter wants her to live a normal life. But we know that Omega sees that Bad Batch as her family.

Despite playing with Cut and Suu’s children, Omega has more of a bond with her fellow defective clones, especially Hunter who she clearly sees as an older brother, or perhaps a father. While the Batch is fighting the clones, Omega reunites with Hunter and the Lawquanes safely escape Saleucami despite a clone nearly recognizing Cut. 

The episode ends with both Omega and Hunter acknowledging that they both have a lot to learn. Hunter also tells Omega that her place is with him and the Bad Batch. I felt that Feloni added the dynamic between Hunter and Omega to remind us that the current situation is new to both of them and the rest of the Batch. This is a group of soldiers adjusting to not only becoming a group of mercenaries or rogue soldiers; the Bad Batch is a family of misfits and outcasts. Omega was added to remind the Bad Batch of the close bond they have together as not only soldiers but as brothers. 

Overall, it was great to see the independent-thinking clone Cut Lawquane. Cut is one of my favorite supporting characters in the Clone Wars due to him being a free thinker and one of the few clones to see life outside the Grand Army of the Republic which will later become the Imperial Army. I hope to see more of him in future episodes. 

And speaking of the next episode, where will the Bad Batch end up next? Will they bump into Captain Rex and possibly find other clones like Gregor and Wolfe (seen on Star Wars: Rebels with Rex)? Will we also see what Crosshair and Tarkin are up to when they go after the Omega and the Bad Batch? 

“Star Wars :The Bad Batch” can be watched on Disney+.

Rating: 4.5 Daily Planet Globes out of 5