By George Bate & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following review contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Episode 6
What’s more Star Wars-y than a Wookiee Jedi and a group of rogue Clones teaming up against the Empire and Trandoshans? That’s the wonderful premise of the latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, titled “Tribe.” The sixth episode of season two follows the Bad Batch as the crew rescues the kidnapped Wookiee Jedi Gungi during a botched smuggling mission and attempts to return him to his tribe on Kashyyyk.
“Tribe” is another standalone installment of The Bad Batch Season 2, but one that greatly surprasses its predecessors in a number of key areas. The episode starts off with an interesting smuggling mission – deliver forged chain codes (introduced in The Mandalorian) to a villainous gang known as Vanguard Axis. While Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker make the trade with these unsavory characters, Omega comes across an imprisoned, helpless Wookiee child. This is the same Wookiee child whose appearance in the trailer for The Bad Batch Season 2 led to rousing applause at Star Wars Celebration. Of course, this is Gungi – the young Wookiee Jedi padawan introduced in the Season 5 episode of The Clone Wars titled “The Gathering.” With his appearance in this week’s The Bad Batch, Gungi joins the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Quinlan Vos, Cal Kestis, Kanan Jarus, and Ahsoka Tano as a survivor of the Great Jedi Purge.
In line with the warmth and empathy of her character seen throughout the series, Omega develops an immediate bond with Gungi and selflessly sets aside the goal of their mission to prioritize the safety of a stranger. “He’s a friend,” Omega claims shortly after rescuing Gungi. In a series full of exciting action and adventure, The Bad Batch ultimately excels best when it sets aside the blaster fire and leans into its more intimate themes, often through the character of Omega. This endearing side to the series, and to Omega’s character, take centerstage in “Tribe” and make for an episode more emotionally engaging that previous mission-of-the-week installments.
“Tribe” continues to tap into the emotions of Omega and Gungi when the crew boards their ship and heads to Kashyyyk. While trekking to their destination, a scared Gungi whimpers and sits alone before Omega comforts him by bringing him food. As Gungi is surrounded by Clone Troopers, he can’t help but feel scared after such troopers all but eliminated the Jedi Order. Hunter remarks, “He’s a Jedi. He’s not safe anywhere.” Seeing a young, whimpering Jedi like Gungi fearing for his life, with no Jedi Order to protect him and relying on rogue Clones to rescue him from vicious smugglers, is heartbreaking and conveys the effects of Imperial rule in yet another devastating way.
Upon arriving on Kashyyyk, Clone Force 99 and Gungi come up against Trandoshan hunters working with the Empire to round up Wookiees. Things get dicey for a moment until they are rescued by a group of Wookiees, who take them back to their tribe where they meet the Wookiee leader Yanna. What ensues is a collaboration between Clone Force 99, Gungi, and the Wookiee tribe to fight off the Trandoshans and rescue imprisoned Wookiees. In the end, the bad guys are defeated and Clone Force 99 leaves Gungi with his new tribe.
If there’s one word to describe the latest episode of The Bad Batch, it’s wholesome. In one of the episode’s closing moments, Hunter silently looks upon Gungi and Omega in a manner similar to Din Djarin looking at Grogu interacting with other children in Chapter 4 of The Mandalorian. Here, Hunter comments on how Omega and Gungi are children, but they don’t get to enjoy being children given the state of the galaxy, a devastatingly true statement that taps into another horrible outcome of Imperial rule. In a contemplative final discussion, Hunter and Tech discuss their place in the galaxy with Yanna, one that is hopefully far away from the war and violence that has dictated so much of their lives so far. Finding a sense of purpose and direction remains a central theme in The Bad Batch, and one that even contained mission-of-the-week episodes like “Tribe” can interestingly explore.
Verdict: 8.5/10
An endearing installment about growing up under tyranny and finding a purpose in life, “Tribe” is the best episode of The Bad Batch’s second season to date. The return of The Clone Wars fan favorite Gungi lives up to expectations and affords plenty of intimate moments for the Wookiee padawan and Omega to interact with one another. While it doesn’t move the season forward in any significant manner, the latest episode of The Bad Batch features an engaging story with plenty of stunning action to make it all the more difficult to wait until Clone Force 99’s next mission.