The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 6 Review
Credit to: Disney and LucasfilmWookiees are back!
Welcome back, y’all! This time around, we’re taking a look at the sixth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2! I can already say that this episode was my favorite. Is it because I love Wookiees? Maybe, but doesn’t everybody? And if you don’t, we have a real problem, you hear me? Ahem. You got me out of character there for a moment, excuse me. But anyway! I’m really happy with the way these past two episodes have gone, and I’m excited to talk about it with y’all. So, without any further ado, let’s just jump right into it.
Episode 6: Tribe
We start the episode with the crew landing the Marauder on board a space station to meet a group called the Vanguard Axis, who Hunter explains, as told by Cid, are a group known for their illegal smuggling… which seems to be like, 50% of the entire Star Wars universe. Anyway, Echo and Omega stick with the ship while the rest of the Batch go to meet the leader of the group to make a sale, specifically of some forged chain codes (identification for those who aren’t familiar). As Echo and Omega wait, Omega notes how there’s something off about the place, which Echo agrees with. He goes back inside the ship to prepare it, leaving Omega on the ramp. She hears a clattering sound and the roar of a creature in the distance. Omega being Omega, goes to check out the sound, where she finds a very familiar young Wookiee being hit with electric staffs by some Axis droids. Omega yells out to them, causing them to focus their attention on her, giving the Wookiee enough time to disarm a droid, using the staff to take out one, while Omega shoots down the other, protecting him. Omega has the Wookiee follow her, fleeing from the incoming droids. She hides behind a shipping container, but as she thinks the coast is clear, she attempts to run, running straight into another guard. The Wookiee jumps down on top of the droid, killing it with the electrostaff. Echo eventually finds the two, with the Wookiee immediately growling at him thinking he’s a threat, but Omega reassures him. Regardless he runs off, forcing Omega and Echo to chase after him. Back over to the rest of the Batch, they’re about to make the sale until the Axis leader gets a transmission requesting backup. He and his guards go to find the problem, where they find Omega, Echo, and their new friend taking cover behind some crates. As they draw their weapons, Hunter shoots the leader’s blaster out of his hands, informing him they’re with him and the Batch. As the exchange words, the Wookiee notices a wooden object on the leader’s hip. He drops his blaster, and reaches out. The object shakes, and flies straight to the Wookiee, where it ignites, actually being a wooden lightsaber. If you can’t tell by now, the Wookiee is in fact the fan favorite character, Gungi, the Wookiee Jedi Padawan from the animated series, The Clone Wars. The crew engage in a heated shootout with the Axis, where they shoot down the leader while Gungi deflects blaster fire. The Batch and Gungi run to the Marauder and safely escape the smugglers, flying off into the galaxy. On the ship, Omega and the crew engage in some trust building with their new friend, where he reveals his name and gets some food from Omega. He explains how he tried to return to the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, but was captured by the Axis. After some discussion, the crew makes their way to Kashyyyk to return Gungi to where he belongs.
They land on the planet and make their way through a dense, webbed up forest. Wrecker leads the way, cutting through the webs, when suddenly, a swarm of massive spider-like creatures called Kinrath descend to the ground, shrieking at the group. Wrecker almost opens fire, but is stopped by Gungi, who, translations provided by Tech, explain that they won’t attack if they’re not threatened. The group remains calm, and the creatures pass them by. Jumping ahead a bit, we see the group finding a group of Trandoshans (reptilian creatures that enslave and hunt Wookiees) with a Wookiee survivor handcuffed as they burn the forest around them. Gungi, enraged, charges in with his lightsaber, forcing the Batch to support him. They make quick work of the slavers with the help of their new Jedi friend, free the Wookiee slave, and clear the forest fire. Moments later, Wookiees descend from the trees on top of giant, tiger-like creatures to greet Gungi and friends. We cut to the Wookiees and Batch reaching a small Wookiee home at the base of a massive tree, where they greet an elder Wookiee named Yanna, the leader of that particular group of Wookiees. The Batch explain to her Gungi’s situation, as he doesn’t know his family or tribe. We cut to the Trandoshans, who continue to ravage the forest in their tanks with the help of some Imperial clones. After investigating the chaos the Batch left behind, a trooper notices lightsaber slashes on the tank that Gungi destroyed. With that information, the Trandoshans make it top priority to hunt down the young Wookiee. We cut to the Batch, sharing a drink with the Wookiee tribe as they discuss their next move against the Trandoshans and the Empire, where Hunter assures Yanna that they don’t have to fight alone. A few moments later, we see the Wookiees kneel in front of their tree, praying to it, as a way of asking it for guidance. After they listen to it, they come up with a plan of attack. Jumping ahead, we see the attack in play. The Wookiees and the Batch open fire and charge in on the clones and the slavers, forcing them to deploy their tanks. Before the tanks can even do anything, the tiger mounts pounce on them, taking out their drivers. As the skirmish continues, Gungi lures the Trandoshan leader deep into the forest, where the slaver creates a ring of fire around himself. Foolishly, he alerts the local wildlife, who almost attack Gungi until he lowers his defenses, showing that he’s not a threat. They swarm the Trandoshan and web him up, pulling him up into their territory, spelling the end of his days. Gungi and Omega regroup with the rest of the forces, and get the fire under control, and we eventually see everyone celebrating back at the hut, with drinks in hand… minus the young ones. End of episode.
On paper, the episode doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but really, we were able to see so much. We got to see a slightly more mature Gungi post Order 66, we got to see Kashyyyk and the state of it right after the rise of the Empire, we got to see more of the wildlife, we got to explore more of the Wookiee’s beliefs, and we got to see the classic rivalry between the Wookiees and the Trandoshans. There were sad parts, happy parts, interesting parts, fun parts and good action. This really was a solid episode. It would’ve been nice to see a bit more of Gungi’s potential in the Force and maybe even a proper sword fight between him and the Trandoshan leader to demonstrate his current capabilities, but that’s okay. I love Wookiees, and I love Gungi so much, so I really hope this means we’ll be seeing Gungi in not only more episodes, but more projects as well. Who wouldn’t want him to pop up in something like The Mandalorian and even a couple of new Star Wars films and TV series? Him and his fellow Wookiees made this episode perfect for me.
Final Thoughts
This episode was yet another indicator that we’re moving in the right direction. I’ve been extremely vocal about how worried I was for this series, and I’ll continue to do so if they continue to slack on some of these episodes, because that’s the whole point of my final thoughts. But I will say that they’re on the right track. We can definitely get back into the Imperial stuff, the Cad Bane and Fennec Shand stuff, we can get more Gungi, and more. There’s a lot of potential for the series, so I really hope that they continue to play their cards right. But what did you all think? Let us know on our Instagram, and make sure you’re following us there to stay up to date on the latest entertainment news and reviews. But that’s all from me, this has been The Wolf Den!
