The Short Take:
A memorable character clash, filled with elaborate action and odd couple humor. At its core, though, is a choice I cannot contemplate.
[Spoiler Alert: You’re not as safe as you think you are if you have not seen The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 9, “The Harbinger.”]
Image Credit: StarWars.com
The Long Take:
So…is Omega Force sensitive or not? This episode toyed with the audience in a big way, but I think that’s for the best.
Different fans have different feelings about the idea of Omega being Force sensitive. I know some would prefer that she rely on her own wits and training from her brothers. Others are excited by the idea that she could be the first and perhaps only Force user who is a clone. I’m somewhere in between, as I think it depends on the story told around that fact. Regardless of an individual viewer’s opinion, though, I think that it’s still smart for The Bad Batch to leave it a little ambiguous, for now, and not rush the reveal if there is a reveal to be made.
As I watched our favorite “weird little clone” go through Asajj Ventress’ “tests,” I kept waiting with bated breath. When would she start to show signs? Would she levitate something? Would she commune with the giant squid crab to calm it down? Then I realized that nothing like that was going to happen, and I was relieved. As fun as it was to see Sabine Force push Ezra across a huge chasm and onto Thrawn’s ship in Ahsoka, it still seemed like too much, too fast. Especially for someone who had already been established as having the lowest possible aptitude for The Force. And especially when the series seemed to previously set up that by the end of the series Sabine would mayyyybe be able to move a tea cup. Omega, of course, has been presented to us as much more of a gifted anomaly, but still, I think having her suddenly use The Force so demonstrably without any training and, more importantly, without any prior “oopsie, I used the Force without realizing” moments, would be a stretch.
In the absence of visual confirmation of Omega’s Force sensitivity, I naturally look to our exam proctor, so to speak, for answers. We don’t have much better luck here, unfortunately, as there’s a lot of back and forth that obscures the truth more than unveils it. Asajj Ventress is intentionally coy about her assessment of Omega. First, she flat out tells Omega that she does not have a high M-Count. But then, Hunter asks her if she’s lying. This implies, of course, that Omega did pass the test but Ventress doesn’t want to tell her. Ventress’ sassy reply to this accusatory question is a non-answer: “About which part?” The episode refuses to show us or definitively tell us what Omega’s status is.
Image Credit: StarWars.com
While I maintain that this is just ambiguous enough that we still can’t call it one way or the other, if I had to choose, I would say that this obtuse exchange leans more towards a positive confirmation that Omega is Force sensitive. We’re just not ready for her to know that yet. It is technically possible that the Empire values Omega’s ability to maintain her M-Count when cloned (the clean transfer they’ve referred to in other episodes) rather than how high her M-Count is. This would explain why she’s valuable to Project Necromancer but not able to use the Force. But realistically, that’s pretty technical and nuanced and I think it’s much more likely that we’re going through all the trouble of this entire episode because Omega is the only clone who could potentially, if trained, use the Force.
If everything is left nearly as clouded as it was before, what did we actually learn in this episode? Not much. I have had this hang-up all season that we, the audience, already know too much, much more than the characters in the show, which renders any narrative revelations for the characters a little inert. Initially I was frustrated with this episode because it seemed to continue this trend. It is a big deal for the Batch that they learn that M-Count means natural ability to use The Force. It is a big deal that this is the first time they hear the word “midi-chlorian.” But I knew this the second Hemlock (I think? Correct me if my memory is hazy.) said M-Count for the first time several episodes ago.
Then I stopped to think, as I often do when I have an adverse reaction to something I’ve seen, about how I can look at this from a different angle. How my reaction might have more to do with my framework rather than anything right or wrong the show is doing. And, after some thought, I arrived at this notion: maybe the point of this episode was not actually to learn what M-Count was. Or to learn why the Empire wants Omega.
Maybe it was to expose Omega to The Force more.
To give her a taste of what she could become, and to broaden her sense of what her life could be like. One of the greatest joys of this episode — aside from the hilarious banter between Hunter/Wrecker/Crosshair and Ventress — was thinking of Ventress and Omega as potential master and padawan, even if it’s only for a brief moment. The series has honed in on a personality combo that really works. Just as the grumpy Crosshair/peppy Omega show has been highly entertaining, the odd couple paradigm between brooding, seething goth Ventress and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Omega whose open heart wants to love everyone and never stop smiling makes for a really fun dynamic.
From this odd couple humor emerges a wonder and awe at how powerful The Force can be. Following Omega follow Ventress onto that boat and watching her facial expressions as she witnesses Ventress reach out into the ocean gave me a shot of that classic Star Wars childlike wonder adrenalin. Even though we’ve now seen numerous Force users connect with majestic beasts (the OG being Ezra Bridger and the purrgil), the shot of her communing with the creature as it grips her in is tentacles took my breath away. (What a perfectly composed frame!)
Image Credit: StarWars.com
In retrospect, it now makes prefect sense that we ended last week’s episode with Omega and Crosshair mediating. The influence Gungi has had on her is just a precursor to the impression that Ventress makes. As Omega comes of age, every corner of the galaxy she encounters will mold and shape her in some way. But after this week’s episode, it seems more and more likely that Omega’s development is on a more Jedi-centric trajectory.
The title of the episode is “The Harbinger.” That seems very clearly to be Ventress, who arrives and leaves in this one episode. I’ve seen some reactions online (I’m thinking of a post the Skytalkers Podcast made in particular) that indicate that she is the harbinger of Pabu’s doom. Or perhaps even The Batch’s doom too, as she tells them that they are not as safe as they think they are. I interpret the title more to mean that Asajj Ventress is the harbinger of Omega’s fate. That she is going to be faced with a choice: to say goodbye to her brothers in order to learn the ways of The Force or stay with them and fail to realize her full potential.
Ventress, in fact, very empathetically tells Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair that if Omega were to harness her powers (which, to be clear, she may or may not have), she would need to leave them behind. Earlier in the episode she says something to the effect of “Omega’s three protectors are holding her back,” so it’s clearly a theme that this is an either/or situation. I inferred from this comment that Ventress may have lied to Omega to spare her this tough decision and to spare the rest of Clone Force 99 from losing Omega. Not to the Empire. But to her own growth and development.
Image Credit: StarWars.com
This, of course, wouldn’t be the first time a child has faced an impossible choice: abandon their family or commit themselves to Jedi training. We just saw this play out in The Book of Boba Fett/The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Would The Bad Batch really retread that storyline so soon? If it did, perhaps it would be intentional, to create a diverging path from one we’ve already seen. While Grogu chose Mando and The Mandalorian Way over his Jedi training, perhaps Omega would choose to go with Ventress or another Force user who could train her.
Considering all the history Omega has with The Batch, I have such a hard picturing her making that choice. But maybe that’s just the heartbreak intrinsic in growing up and letting go. That’s the heartbreak of parenting. And now I’m thinking about my own kids and dealing with some big emotions I didn’t think this episode would force me to confront.