Crosshair and the Empire catch up to the Bad Batch on Bracca.
Tropes:
- Always a Bigger Fish: Crosshair and his three shuttles of infantry end up being the least of the Batch's problems when Cad Bane turns up to collect the bounty on Omega.
- Apologetic Attacker: Cad Bane apologizes to Omega before hitting her with a stun bolt.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Echo suggests to Hunter that they should have joined Rex, negating the need to repay their debt to Cid. Hunter responds that their path is different from Rex's. Echo points out that they're all soldiers, so what other path is there for them? Hunter is left stumped by that.
- Badass Boast: Bane, of course.Bane: I've taken down so many clones over the years. Once you've figured out one, the rest are easy.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Cad Bane easily captures Omega and escapes.
- Batman Gambit: Crosshair knows exactly how the Bad Batch think so he lets them think that they are outsmarting the regular troopers and has them walk right into his trap.
- Blatant Lies: As Wrecker is dragged off by the Scrapper hover platform, he insists he has the situation under control. Tech lampshades it on the spot. When the driver is disabled by Hunter, Wrecker claims he was waiting to make his move.
- The Bus Came Back: Clone Wars fan favorite Cad Bane makes his grand return at the end of the episode to capture Omega for the Kaminoans.
- Cassandra Truth: Hunter and Omega try to convince Crosshair that he's being forced to do everything the Empire wants under the control chip's influence. Either due to the chip or due to his own stubborn personality, he refuses to believe it.
- Character Tics: Crosshair was envisioned as "What if Cad Bane were a clone?", hence they both have a love of toothpicks.
- Chekhov's Gun: The explosives the Bad Batch salvage from the ship's armory come in handy near the end of the episode.
- Chekhov's Skill: Averted with Omega being taught how to disarm a bomb. We expect her to use this new skill during the episode but it never comes up.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title not only refers to the Bad Batch's reunion with their former and brainwashed teammate Crosshair, but the audience being reunited with a character they haven't seen in years—Cad Bane.
- Downer Ending: Omega is captured by Cad Bane at the end of the episode, and Hunter is wounded by Bane trying to protect her. The Batch still have no idea who put the bounty on Omega, so they don't even know where to look.
- Eye Scream: Crosshair gets a face full of weaponized exhaust, and the bandages he gets cover his left eye.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Crosshair has the Venator's engine activated to force the Bad Batch to choose between being fried alive inside and getting picked off trying to escape. The Batch instead blow the engine's cowling off, causing the engine to tilt down and give Crosshair a face full of Weaponized Exhaust.
- Hope Spot: It briefly looks like Wrecker is actually pulling the Scrapper Guild platform out of the sky, but they're just turning to fly away and of course he's not able to pull a flying ship out of the sky.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Hunter and Omega unsuccessfully attempt to convince Crosshair that he is under the influence of the compliance chip and to resist. Crosshair's response is to order his men to shoot the child.
- I Want Them Alive!: Lama Su tries to get Rampart to capture the Bad Batch alive, but he dismisses them as mere rogue clones and orders them killed. Instead, Lama Su hires Cad Bane to retrieve Omega.
- Improvised Weapon: Wrecker chucks the proton torpedo he's carrying at ES-04, who is laid out by the sheer weight of the thing.
- Lured into a Trap: Crosshair anticipates Tech hacking the comms and deliberately says he'll be heading to the hangar, knowing the Bad Batch will try to detour through the artillery room, where he's waiting in ambush.
- Made of Iron:
- Hunter takes a direct blaster shot in the chest, and is only groggy and lightly wounded. Maybe justified, as he's wearing Katarn-class armor, much tougher than the standard Phase II of the average clone trooper.
- Downplayed with Crosshair. He survived short-range exposure to the engine flames of an interstellar cruiser, plus a violent impact on a metal wall immediately afterwards. But he is seriously injured and needs urgent medical attention.
- But played straight with the third Scrapper. He takes a theorically non-lethal blaster shot, but this provokes the Star Wars' equivalent of a truck accident, followed by the Scrapper falling into a ravine lined with rusty metal parts. The fact that he is later seen handcuffed and alongside the two other Scrappers deeply implied he is unconscious but still alive.
- Mythology Gag:
- While trying to avoid detection after the Empire first shows up, the comm chatter sound effect from Star Wars: Republic Commando can be heard.
- When the squad place explosives in the Venator's engine cone, the same sound is heard as when one places land mines in the game, and when Wrecker detonates them, the ringing chime of a mine detonation is briefly heard.
- Likewise, Hunter’s P.O.V. Shot reveals his helmet has the same head’s up display as the clone commandos in the game. The POV shot is also very reminiscent to having a squad mate revive you after going down in game.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Tech forgot to shut off the power grid before they left, and that's what allows Crosshair to order the engines turned on to fry them.
- P.O.V. Shot: When Hunter wakes up after being shot by Cad Bane, the scene is shot from his helmet until the Bad Batch gets on their ship.
- Quick Draw: Cad Bane and Hunter do this. Bane's a much quicker shot, hitting Hunter square in the chest while Hunter, sent reeling by the shot, misses Bane and only succeeds in blowing one of Todo 360's thrusters off.
- The Reveal: The Kaminoans are behind the bounty on Omega, as was hinted in the third episode.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Wrecker gives Omega a quick overview of how to disable a bomb, then activates it and gives her ten seconds to she if she remembers correctly. She cuts the wrong wire, but it's just a smoke bomb and Wrecker has a good laugh.
- Special Edition Title: The music that plays during the end credits is sadder and more somber than the show's upbeat theme, since the episode ends with Omega being kidnapped.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Wrecker is training Omega to disarm explosives and gives her a ten-second timer on the device. Omega cuts the wrong wire and triggers the detonator, so he tells her to run for cover. The explosion is much quieter than expected, whereupon he reveals that it's just a smoke grenade and even he isn't so reckless as to test her using an actual bomb.
- Wrecker tries to pull down a Scrapper Guild surveillance platform before the driver can escape, only to be pulled along with it when the platform accelerates away. It doesn't matter how strong Wrecker is, the platform is designed to lift well in excess of his weight and he has nothing to anchor himself with.
- In a moment of improvisation from Wrecker, when cornered by ES-04, Wrecker elects to simply toss the proton torpedo he's carrying at her. While far from its intended use, it is still a heavy piece of ordnance and the trooper lacks Wrecker's strength. She's instantly laid out by the mass of the torpedo.
- Took A Levelin Badass: ES is no longer just a squad; Crosshair has command of a full platoon.
- The Worf Effect: Much like Wrecker during his fight with Fennec Shand, Hunter falls victim to it during his standoff with Cad Bane. Despite being a highly trained and experienced commando in Katarn-Class Armor, he gets taken out with a single shot, while only managing to lightly wound Todo 360.
- Weaponized Exhaust: Crosshair has the engines on the Jedi cruiser activated to either force the Bad Batch out of the engine or fry them if they choose to stay. They Take a Third Option by blowing off the engine cowling and allowing themselves to roll away inside it while the now-exposed engine nozzle sends Crosshair flying and gives him some decent burns.
- Wham Shot: Hunter and Omega find the clones guarding their ship all dead, and none other than Cad Bane waiting at the entrance.
- Wire Dilemma: Wrecker tries to teach Omega how to disarm explosive charges. When she is tested on what she thinks is a live explosive, she panics and cuts the wrong wire. The bomb turns out to be a smoke bomb, since even Wrecker isn't stupid enough to train her on a live one.
- Would Hurt a Child:
- Crosshair makes it clear that he wants Omega dead just as much as the others, and she is the first one he orders killed.
- Cad Bane, who stuns Omega before taking her to parts unknown, though he at least apologizes for having to do so. This wouldn't be the first time he's been sent to kidnap children.
