Review: ‘The Bad Batch’ Episode 5 – ‘Entombed’ Has Mysteries and Ancient Relics Explored
The fifth episode of The Bad Batch season 2 dropped on Disney Plus today. It was written by Christopher Yost and directed by Nathaniel Villanueva. The mystery adventure follows Clone Force 99 along with Phee Genoa as they hunt for an ancient treasure.
While I can already hear the skeptics calling out “filler episode” (like last week’s), this adventure undeniably explores and expands the lore of the galaxy at large. From ancient artifacts to secret doors and booby traps, it wouldn’t have been out of place for Indiana Jones himself to make an appearance. We’ll have to wait and see how this adventure impacts the rest of the season.
The heart of this episode of The Bad Batch is the relationship between Phee and Omega as the pirate teaches the young clone about the life of a pirate or as she puts it, “liberator of ancient wonders.” It’s easy to draw the comparison of this dynamic relationship to that of Ezra Bridger and Hondo Ohnaka from Star Wars Rebels. And it’s refreshing to see Omega living out the adventurous life she clearly longs for as a young child lost in a galaxy of turmoil.
Spoilers ahead…
The story begins with Wrecker and Omega scavenging a junkyard on Ord Mantell. They’re searching for a spare compressor, which they find in addition to Omega discovering an oval shaped object. The two return to the crew to hear a boastful Phee Genoa recounting the story of how she recovered the Grand Pearl of Novak.
Wrecker and Omega show the rest of the Bad Batch what they scavenged, and Phee’s attention is drawn to the oval shaped object as soon as she recognizes it as a compass with coordinate markings. She has her droid, Mel, shine light on the object. She believes the coordinates to be from the uncharted system of Kaldar Trinary, prompting her to tell the crew that the best treasures are off-grid.
While Hunter and the rest of the crew are reluctant to search out such treasure, Omega’s enthusiasm quickly sways them. Phee and the clones travel aboard the Marauder. It is on this journey that Omega and Phee become more than acquaintances as the pirate shares her past adventures with the young clone.
The Bad Batch and Phee land to find their destination to be a scorched and uninhabitable world. The compass activates and points south, leading to a dead end until Wrecker uses his strength to move a boulder revealing an ancient, secret entrance. Our treasure hunters then enter the mountain, but are unknowingly being watched by a beast from above.
At the entrance, etchings on the walls are noticed. Tech points out that these writings date back thousands of years, to which Phee responds they date back even further. She’s convinced that this is the entrance to Skara Nal, a legend that predates the Jedi.
With the help of the compass and some puzzle-solving skills, the crew finds themselves deep within the mountain. Before they can continue on, the beast watching from above strikes. It grabs Wrecker, prompting the crew to fight off the fanged beast. While they are able to fight it off, the retreating animal causes rocks to fall, separating the crew into two parties.
The group eventually reunites at the final door before reaching the heart of the mountain. They enter and Phee retrieves the diamond from the stone structure without hesitation. In classic adventure story fashion, this sets off the structure’s security mechanism.
In a wild turn of events, the “mountain” the crew believes they’re in is actually a kaiju-like mech. It begins using its massive energy weapon on the terrain below them. Phee’s droid, Mel, falls victim to this weapon, and the crew now worries for their ship and only way home. Phee reluctantly agrees with the clones to place the treasure back where it belongs to disengage the mech.
At the same time, the fanged beast returns, and this time Wrecker gets the final laugh as he grabs a hold of the creature by the tail and launches it off the mech through a window. Phee nearly loses her life falling while trying to recover the loose treasure before being saved by Hunter. With seconds to spare before the mech lets go another explosive energy emission, the crew screws the treasure back on the mount, completely disengaging and destroying the giant machine from the inside out.
The crew heads back to the ship, unscathed, with no treasure… and no Mel. But Phee reassures Omega that Mel will be just fine as she keeps her memory data stored on her ship — she’ll be rebuilt before they head to Vadnay for their next treasure hunt. An eye-rolling Hunter scoffs at the idea of another hunt with Phee, but for a pirate like Phee, the fun is just beginning.
We’ll see in the coming episodes of The Bad Batch how this adventure shapes the crew and how much of a role Phee has moving forward. Although there was no real plot movement this week, who doesn’t love Indiana Jones in space?!
Matt’s a lifelong Star Wars fan with a passion for storytelling. When he’s not working his day job in tech, he can be found writing, playing guitar, or spending time with his family and 4 legged son, Loki.
