Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Episode Twelve review

Sometimes you have to do what’s right, even if those in power label you a traitor.

That’s what our protagonists find out in the latest episode of “Star Wars: The Bad Batch.”

Episode Twelve, “Rescue on Ryloth,” picks up where “Devil’s Deal” left off.

Hera Syndulla’s parents, Cham and Eleni, have been captured along with their supporters after Imperial Admiral Rampart framed them for killing Senator Taa.

 

Rampart plans to turn the Ryloth people against Cham by making it look like he killed Taa, who was a political enemy of his.

 

This strategy is the same one Democrats, Big Tech and the Legacy Media used against President Donald Trump and Trump supporters since the January 6 Capitol “Riot.”

 

Trump’s enemies perpetuated the lie that Trump encouraged physical violence during his January 6 rally speech, even though he used “fight” in a figurative sense and told his supporters to peacefully protest in Washington, D.C.

 

They even claimed Trump himself orchestrated the Capitol “Riot,” which was also a lie. The FBI and the DC Capitol Police knew the riot was gonna happen, but did nothing to stop it. It is clear there are many anti-Trump officials at the Capitol Police, the FBI and the Intelligence Community.

 

It is ironic that the same people who blamed Trump for the Capitol “Riot” are the same people who praised and encouraged Black Lives Matter and AntiFa when they rioted, looted, and burned cities during the 2020 “Summer of Rage.” 

 

If Trump had actually told his supporters to literally fight, then that means every sports coach and player who has ever given a version of the “go out there and fight” speech is guilty of “inciting violence.”

 

Like President Trump, Cham knows his supporters won’t believe the Empire's lies. He tells that to Admiral Rampart, which is fine with Rampart because he thinks that will make it easier for the Empire to take out Cham’s “loyal followers.”

 

Hera herself is on the run, with Clone Captain Howzer, Cham’s friend, and the Imperial forces looking for her.

 

Howzer, however, opposes Rampart’s efforts to round up and arrest all of Cham’s “sympathizers.” He saw with his own eyes that Cham and his supporters didn’t kill Taa and that Rampart ordered the hit. Howzer points out that the people had nothing to do with with Cham’s actions to rescue Hera and that he and his supporters were framed for killing Taa.

 

Just like the Democrats and their allies, Rampart views all of Cham’s supporters as enemies and thinks they’re all guilty of treason. He is using Taa’s death as a means to justify tyrannical actions against the people of Ryloth, just as the Democrats use Big Tech, the Intelligence Community and the Department of Justice to go after Conservatives and other Trump supporters in the United States.

 

In Rampart’s mind, Cham is a “menace” and everyone who supports him is guilty of treason. He intends to crack down on the people of Ryloth and their rights.

 

Maintaining his position as an officer, and perhaps to keep his own life, Howzer tells Rampart he doesn’t know who killed Taa. After all, this is the Empire and he doesn’t want to get arrested or executed by Rampart for “treason.”

 

Rampart, probably suspecting Howzer’s conflicting loyalty, sends Crosshair’s squad after Hera. It explains why he refused to let Howzer go off to find her on his own.

 

Hera and Chopper send a transmission to the Bad Batch for help. She informs them that her parents were captured and sends them her coordinates.

 

Hunter doesn’t want to help Hera because they can’t go around helping people in need, but Omega reminds him that’s exactly what soldiers do.

 

That is enough to bring the Bad Batch to Ryloth and to help Hera. She gets them up to speed on what happened and asks them to free her parents.

 

The Empire cracks down on Ryloth, going after Cham’s supporters. Rampart falsely tells the people that Taa is recovering from his injuries.

 

While the Bad Batch scouts out Ryloth capital city, Tech recognizes the Imperials’ presence as a military occupation, just like what they saw on Raxus. Even though Ryloth isn’t a Separatist planet, it is clear that the Empire is attacking their own citizens.

 

Returning to her father’s old base with the team, Hera is shocked that her world is changing on Ryloth. She doesn’t understand why the Empire is doing this because her father just wanted peace.

 

As Echo points out, Cham is “a voice the people stand behind,” which makes him a threat to the Empire.

 

President Donald Trump was a voice for the American people and the Democrats, Big Tech, the Media and the Washington Establishment knew he was a threat to them. They have been working to undermine him since he first ran as a Republican candidate in 2015.

 

Trump pushed “peace through strength,” but the Democrats and the Empire push a “peace through force” by going after anyone who threatens their power.

 

Howzer grows restless as the Empire continues arresting actually peaceful citizens, knowing that an uprising could break out. Rampart’s solution is to arrest those people as well, pushing the Empire’s “peace through force” agenda. His conflicting loyalties to the Empire and to his Ryloth friends strains his relationship with Cham and Eleni. When Howzer goes to see them I’m prison, they don’t trust him to save Hera.

 

For his part, Hunter thinks it’s too risky to rescue Hera’s parents because they don’t have a strategic advantage.

 

Hera and Omega can’t accept that. They agree to work together for a plan. And since Hera lives on Ryloth, she has a strategic advantage because she knows it better than the Empire. using Hera’s knowledge, the Bad Batch decides to attack the Imperial refinery near the Capital. This attack will act as a distraction while Hunter and Echo rescue Hera’s parents.

 

Since Chopper got captured before he could disable the cannons around the refinery, Hera and omega take an Imperial shuttle to blow up the control system.

 

Crosshair, knowing his former teammates, deduces the Bad Batch’s plan and stays in the Capital to ambush them

 

Knowing that his friends and the Bad Batch are in danger, Howzer warns them that they are walking into a trap. He knows what the Empire is doing is wrong and he can’t stand by and do nothing about it anymore.

 

Hunter, Cham and the others trust Howzer and offer to take him with them. Howzer refuses because the soldiers in his squad are good men  and he has to try to reason with them.

 

Like the National Guard troops ordered to occupy Washington D.C., Howzer knows his men are being used as pawns to attack the very people they swore to defend. He won’t be a part of the Empire's game and throws down his blaster.

 

Howzer inspires a handful of his men to lay down their arms and join him, prompting Crosshair to order their arrests and Howzer’s.

 

Being an honorable man, Hunter refuses to accept payment from the Syndullas, knowing that they need it more because the Empire is occupying more worlds.

 

Now that the refinery has been destroyed, Rampart sees that the Bad Batch is a threat and grants Crosshair’s request to hunt them down.