The Bad Batch stumble upon a conspiracy involving monsters and Kaminoan cloning technology when Cid sends them to loot a crashed freighter.
Tropes:
- Admiring the Abomination: Tech finds the infant Zillo Beast to be a fascinating sight.
- Almost Dead Guy: Well, almost dead droid. While investigating the crashed research ship, Tech is Jump Scared by a damaged droid that only manages to repeatedly stammer "Danger!" before shutting down.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Lama Su is revealed to have not been eliminated by the former Admiral Rampart.
- Palpatine's plans to clone the Zillo Beast are followed up on after over a decade, and a clone of the Beast itself appears.
- Canon Immigrant: We get our first good look at Weyland and the Mount Tantiss facility, one again the home of some shady Imperial cloning projects.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The only reason Nala Se isn't dead after denying the Empire her services is because the Empire simply needs her that much. She even seems to recognize as much, being perfectly willing to snark at Hemlock and ignoring his threats. Lama Su mocks Hemlock for it, as he's been in a similar predicament.
- Continuity Nod:
- The monster is a clone of the Zillo Beast, and Tech mentions the previous beast's rampage on Coruscant.
- Scorch is still serving in the Imperial Army, but has transferred from Daro to Mount Tantiss on Wayland.
- Deadpan Snarker: Most of of Nala Se's lines are said with complete calm, and just dripping with bitter sarcasm.Hemlock: Why does someone so talented prefer to rot in a cell instead of using your gifts to better the galaxy?
Nala Se: I am not especially motivated to continue my work after the Empire destroyed my civilization. - Destroy the Evidence: Two Imperial V-Wings destroy Transport 904 to prevent anyone else on Silla from knowing its purpose.
- Dirty Coward: Lama Su quickly tries to broker a deal with Hemlock in exchange for his own freedom, Omega and Nala Se be damned.
- Dissonant Serenity: Hemlock is extremely soft-spoken for a man threatening torture and death so freely.
- The Dog Bites Back:
- A rare passive example; Nala Se adamantly refuses to aid the Empire's cloning programs. Since the Empire needs her expertise, she knows they won't kill her, so all they can do is keep her imprisoned while she insults Palpatine's cronies.
- Lama Su isn't taking his predicament lying down, taunting Hemlock with the fact that if he fails to get Nala Se to cooperate, he's next in line for a cell. Hemlock doesn't lose his composure, but his brief pause shows he knows Lama Su is right.
- Downer Ending: The Empire retrieves the cloned Zillo Beast (and may have more based on the arrival of several ships), and has taken the residents of the town on Silla attacked by it into custody, with Scorch implying that those that witnessed the beast will be executed. Lama Su has been brought to the lab, and spills the beans to Dr. Hemlock about Omega, putting Clone Force 99 back on the Empire's radar.
- Do You Want to Haggle?: Cid's idea of negotiating payment for her newest job is thirty percent, until Tech points out that's her default percentage anyway. She grudgingly ups to forty, then fifty when Hunter continues glaring at her.
- Dramatic Irony: Hemlock orders the ship that escaped the Imperial round-up found, and from Lama Su, learns that finding and capturing Omega would be the best way to force Nala Se's cooperation; unknown to Hemlock, the two seemingly separate objectives amount to the same thing (finding the Bad Batch).
- *Drool* Hello: The Zillo Beast's appearance is heralded by a line of drool coming from the ceiling.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted; while Cid seems to expect this to be in play, the Bad Batch, even Omega, are still angry at her for failing to help them after the theft of the Marauder.
- Energy Absorption: The Zillo Beast feeds on electricity and uses it to grow.
- Everyone Has Standards: Nala Se is no saint, but she straight-up refuses to do anything to benefit the Empire after the destruction of Kamino. She willingly chose imprisonment rather than cooperation.
- Faux Affably Evil: Dr. Hemlock is very soft-spoken and he makes a token effort at politeness, but Nala Se has his number, refusing to help him. Hemlock also takes a moment to remind Lama Su of the loss of his title.
- Funny Background Event: With every tight-fisted offer Sid offers, Wrecker can be seen excitedly looking at the others, clearly not getting that she's short-changing them.
- Harmful to Minors: Tech casually mentions that the Zillo-larva probably ate the crew of the ship, which freaks out Omega quite badly. Wrecker is quick to reprimand him.Wrecker: Not helping!
- He Knows Too Much:
- A non-lethal variant is discussed; the Batch are understandably angry with Cid for leaving them hanging after the Marauder was stolen, and they're none too keen on resuming a working relationship with her, but as Tech points out, she knows too much for them to simply cut ties with her without at least settling things on a high note.
- The entire village on Silla is rounded up simply because they were nearby when the Zillo Beast escaped, with the implication that anyone who saw it will be executed. Hemlock also orders the Bad Batch tracked down (without knowing it was them, specifically) because their gunship was there and remains a loose end.
- Helpless Kicking: The clone commando the young Zillo beast kills flails his legs as he's subjected to a Vertical Kidnapping.
- Heroic BSoD: Omega does not take the news that the Zillo Beast devoured the ship's crew well.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Lama Su was the prime minister of Kamino, which enjoyed prosperity and wealth for who knows how long, particularly thanks to their contract with the Republic. He's now just another prisoner of the Empire, whose people have been all but wiped out, with it being a miracle he's still alive.
- I Have Your Wife: Discussed. Lama Su tells Hemlock that the only way to force Nala Se's cooperation is through Omega.
- It's All About Me: Lama Su scarcely hesitates to tell Hemlock how to coerce Nala Se if it means his own freedom.
- Killed Offscreen: The fate of the Clone Commando that the infant Zillo Beast grabs during the opening. If Tech's guess was accurate, the Beast also presumably ate the Commando.
- Mêlée à Trois: The Bad Batch attempt to neutralize the Zillo Beast, but then they end up having to engage the Empire, who also arrived to contain the monster.
- Metamorphosis Monster: The Zillo starts out with no visible eyes, four, short reptilian limbs, a compact build, and is about the size of a bear. As it grows, its anatomy becomes more worm-like, its third arm starts to grow out from the crest on its back, and its eyes open.
- Miracle-Gro Monster: The monster starts about twice the size of a man when first seen, but by the end of the episode has reached the smaller Kaiju sizes by absorbing energy.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The cloning project was turned over to a man called Dr. Hemlock.
- Non-Answer: Lama Su says the price of his help is his freedom, but Hemlock simply says he's listening without actually confirming that he accepts his terms. It's likely this will come back to bite Lama Su later on.
- One Last Job: Having fallen out with Cid, the Bad Batch decide (but don't tell Cid) that this will be the last job they do for her, in the hope of parting on more amicable terms.
- Plot Archaeology: The Zillo Beast arc from The Clone Wars is finally revisited a hair under thirteen years after it first aired.
- Sequel Episode: To "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back", an episode not from this series but from its predecessor.
- Shout-Out:
- The cloned Zillo beast spends the first half of the episode as a Xenomorph Xerox. The intro to the episode heavily homages the original Alien with the derelict, dark, gritty ship with violently hissing steam vents. The last surviving clone ends up suffering a fate similar to Brett, being pulled into the ceiling while screaming helplessly (coincidentally, Dee Bradley Baker also manages to hit much of the same intonations that Harry Dean Stanton hit when he screamed). Finally, Wrecker finds some sticky resin from the creature, a trademark telltale sign of the presence of a Xenomorph.
- Also, it's a creature that starts in one form as a larva, then grows and metamorphoses into a more familiar form over the course of the story. Just like a recent movie starring its forebear.
- Tech encounters a droid with a circular head shouting "Danger!"
- Tempting Fate:
- After Cid sends the Batch to scavenge the crashed ship for cargo, Omega cheerfully asks how hard such a job could be, prompting an exasperated sigh from Hunter.
- Tech assures Omega that he'll be fine on his own when he heads to the bridge. He's actually right, because the Zillo Beast is prowling around the specimen lab and is more of a threat to everyone else. When it does actually take off in his direction, he has ample warning and his quick thinking drives it out of the ship.
- Took a Level in Badass: Being stranded and then helping bring down Mokko in the last two episodes has galvanized the Bad Batch, who let Cid have it about her lack of help when they needed it, and haggle her into giving them 50% of the profit from the next job she offers. Once she hangs up, the group makes clear they're ready to leave her employ and only haven't yet because they want to part amicably, minimizing the risk that she rats them out in retaliation.
- Trailers Always Spoil: On the day the episode was released on Disney+, the banner advertising the release of the new episode was the cloned Zillo Beast, spoiling the return of the creature for longtime fans.
- Vertical Kidnapping: The last surviving clone on the transport gets yanked upward by an unseen adversary, setting the tone for the kind of experiments Hemlock has been running.
- Wham Shot: A strand of goo falls on Wrecker. The Batch slowly point their lights at the ceiling… and alight on the unmistakeable jaw structure of the Zillo Beast. It gets followed up mere minutes later when the creature gets access to a generator and mutates into a form nearly identical to the one seen in the Clone Wars.
- Xenomorph Xerox: Before it matures into its more familiar appearance, the cloned Zillo Beast is an eyeless, snarling monster that lurks out of sight on a spaceship.
