With help from Rex, the Bad Batch execute a plan to sneak onto Admiral Rampart's Venator Star Destroyer on Coruscant to obtain proof for the Senate of his involvement in Tipoca City's destruction.
Tropes:
- Action Politician: Senator Chuchi and Senator Organa have many moments of this in both the previous episode and this one.
- All for Nothing: Despite the heroes' efforts resulting in Rampart's arrest, Palpatine immediately manages to turn the situation to his advantage, using Rampart's actions as proof for why the Defense Recruitment Bill is necessary and to paint the Clones in a bad light, making it unlikely that Senator Chuchi's efforts to help the soon-to-be obsolete Clones will succeed. All Chuchi gets from it is that she lives.
- Asshole Victim: It's hard to feel sorry for Rampart when he's made The Scapegoat for the Empire's attack on Kamino. You can even see the sheer level of disgust on Omega's face when coming across Rampart in the Senate hallway. Being a clone herself, she has all the right to be personally mad at him for obliterating her own homeworld.
- Bad Boss: It was clear from Mas Amedda that Admiral Rampart was already on thin ice with the Emperor for the delays in getting the bill passed. The truth being revealed means Rampart fails to maintain the cover up, setting himself up for his ouster by Palpatine.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Although Rampart is discredited and arrested, the real villain, Emperor Palpatine, easily turns the situation to his advantage, betraying Rampart and using his actions to paint the Clone Troopers as dangerously unreliable and push through the Defense Recruitment Bill, ushering in the era of the Stormtrooper.
- Bait the Dog: From the Senate's perspective, they have just exposed a criminal from inside their ranks and the Emperor has entered the scene to condemn Admiral Rampart and to express gratitude to Senator Chuchi, only to then declare that he agrees with Rampart that the Clones blindly follow orders and that they serve no purpose.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: At the start of the episode, Echo opens up to Omega about how it was the Bad Batch that saved him from Skako Minor. Because he now fit better with them than with the 501st, he left his old unit for to join them.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Rampart's previous appearances set him up as The Heavy of the series and a serious threat to the Bad Batch. Here, with evidence of his crimes publicly presented, Rampart is casually tossed under the bus by the Emperor, who uses Rampart's downfall to fulfill his goals with ease.
- Bittersweet Ending: Chuchi successfully manages to expose Rampart for his crimes and get him arrested, and buys herself more time. However, this didn't matter to Palpatine, as he is able to implicate the clones for following Rampart's orders while distancing himself from Rampart. With this, he doubles down on the need for the Defense Recruitment Bill, which ends up getting Senate approval.
- Blatant Lies: Palpatine portrays Rampart's actions as a rogue war crime (the destruction of Kamino was, in fact, fully sanctioned by Governor Tarkin and, implicitly, Palpatine himself), and fakes horror at the Clones' seeming mindless obedience (the heroes and audience are painfully aware of just how much he gained from engineering that obedience into them). Of course, the Bad Batch, Rex, and the two opposing Senators know he's lying.
- The Bus Came Back: Halle Burtoni, who appeared in several episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is sought out by Senator Chuchi as she gathers evidence into Rampart's wrongdoing.
- But Now I Must Go: With the clones needing their help now more than ever, Echo opts to depart from the Bad Batch and stay with Rex on Coruscant in order to help them.
- The Chessmaster: As Rex bitterly notes near the end, Palpatine was always a step ahead during the Clone Wars, and he remains several steps ahead of them now; Palpatine didn't care that Rampart's crimes were exposed, as he had an alternate plan to not only dispose of Rampart and portray himself as a compassionate and just ruler, but to use the obedience of the Clones who followed Rampart's orders as a valid excuse to push forward with the creation of the Stormtrooper Corps, which Palpatine wanted all along.
- Continuity Nod:
- At the start of the episode, Omega is practicing some meditation techniques Gungi showed her.
- Rex bitterly notes that Palpatine was always ahead of everyone during the war, suggesting he’s connected the dots that Palpatine and Darth Sidious, who he learned orchestrated the Clone Wars from Obi-Wan and who gave him Order 66, are one and the same.
- Crazy-Prepared: It becomes evident that Palpatine and Amedda were prepared for the potential of Rampart's destruction of Kamino being revealed as once the news breaks, Palpatine personally takes to the Senate floor within moments.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Rampart was set up as the main villain of the story, but is unceremoniously removed from the board following his being used as a scapegoat by Palpatine and subsequent arrest.
- Doomed by Canon: As seen in Foregone Conclusion, our heroes were doomed to fail since no clones appear as part of the Imperial army in the original trilogy. Furthermore, the homeless 501st Veteran in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Nax, shows that Senator Chuchi's efforts for clone pensions will fail.
- Dwindling Party: Echo leaves to join Rex in his mission to help the regs, and the Bad Batch is down to four.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- The viewers obviously know this isn't the case, but in universe, Palpatine adopts this attitude to Rampart, making a public show of condemning Rampart for his "rogue" actions and expressing (utterly hollow) sympathies for those who have suffered because of them.
- A genuine version with Halle Burtoni. She's as much of a self-centered cynic as ever, not even caring about the plight of her people following the bombing of Kamino. However, she's heavily disgusted by the Empire and eventually comes around to helping Chuchi expose Rampart.
- Perhaps more ignorant than anything, but the Imperial Senate, despite their decay and sliding into fascism, are appalled by the destruction of Kamino to pave the way for the Stormtrooper project. Even the senators who were firmly on Rampart's side are disgusted with his actions and don't come back around to the Stormtrooper project until Palpatine personally vouches for it.
- Evil Is Petty: Palpatine makes no mention of Chuchi’s clone pension despite taking the time to thank her publicly, suggesting he’s leaving it out to punish Chuchi for nearly derailing the stormtrooper program.
- Faux Affably Evil: Palpatine as always. When Rampart is exposed, the Emperor acts like he's disgusted by the Admiral's crimes and has him arrested, while feigning sympathy for the Clones and Kaminoans. He then coldly goes on to accuse the Clones of the same crime as well and throws them all under the bus.
- Foregone Conclusion: Given the prominence of the Imperial Stormtroopers throughout the franchise, it's a given that the Defense Recruitment Bill won't be defeated. Though it's ultimately a Pyrrhic Victory for Palpatine in the long run as the Stormtroopers prove to be more incompetent and poorly trained than the Clones, essentially dooming the Empire.
- Foreshadowing:
- Halle Burtoni dismisses the idea of accusing Rampart to stop the clones being decommissioned, saying that he's a mere cog in the Imperial machine. Once he's exposed, the Emperor simply uses him as a scapegoat and discards him, then turns the situation into support for the stormtrooper program and gets the same result anyway.
- A long-term example when the Imperial Senate reacts in absolute fury, shock and disgust at the Kaminoan genocide, it mirrors how the entire galaxy has the same reaction to the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star twenty years later.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Emperor Palpatine makes his first in-person appearance in the series, and during his brief screentime, he easily turns the heroes' victory to his advantage showing he's far beyond anything the heroes can directly oppose.
- Hard Truth Aesop: As Omega learns and laments, even if you do the right thing and do everything right things can still end badly for reasons outside your control.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Palpatine is able to paint the clone troopers as little better than battle droids, mindless soldiers who'll commit war crimes, or even kill their own creators if ordered to do so. Therefore, as he "suggests" to the Senate, they should all be immediately replaced by conscripted Imperial Stormtroopers, as the clones can no longer be trusted to protect the galaxy.
- Hypocrite: Palpatine says the clones can’t be trusted because they mindlessly followed orders to lay waste to Kamino, but they unquestionably obeyed Order 66, an order he gave that led them to turn on their Jedi generals. Of course, he's just saying that to gaslight the Senate.
- Irony: Rampart's efforts to begin conscripting an army for the Empire to replace the Clones bears fruit... through Rampart's own actions of being exposed and the man himself being made a scapegoat and unceremoniously arrested.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Halle Burtoni is initially cynical about the idea of exposing Rampart, dismissing him as a mere cog in the Empire's machine. Although she comes around at Omega's pleading and is willing to help, her initial attitude is proven right; exposing Rampart does bring about his downfall, but it doesn't even faze the Emperor, who casually twists the truth to his advantage and easily fulfils the goals he'd had Rampart working towards all along.
- Just Following Orders:
- Rampart tries saying as much as he's arrested, but the Clone troopers of the Coruscant Guard doing the arresting don't let him finish.
- Used against the clones en masse. Palpatine declares that since they followed orders so unquestioningly, they can no longer be trusted.
- Knight of Cerebus: You know the tone immediately changes when Emperor Palpatine himself makes an appearance, and the heroes now know what they’re REALLY dealing with.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Burtoni got a sense that the extermination of Kamino was a possibility, so she got off-world well before the hammer came down.
- Laser-Guided Karma: It's fitting on several levels that Rampart is arrested by clones following Palpatine's orders. And to rub salt in the wound, his vision for the Imperial Army is achieved... with the harsh truth about the Empire's unspoken doctrine: Everyone is disposable for the Emperor, just like the clones.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Bad Batch's evidence of Rampart's role in the destruction of Tipoca City does end up getting the Admiral arrested, but Palpatine is able to use it to paint the clone troopers as mindless soldiers who'll fire on anyone if ordered, setting them all up to be forcefully retired and replaced by new Stormtrooper conscripts. Though this isn't so much the Batch's fault as it is Palpatine taking advantage of the situation, as he is well known to do. The thing is if they didn't, then the bill still passes and seals all the clones' fates.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: A long term example. In spite his victory in this episode, Palpatine didn't do himself any favors either. By ushering in the era of the Stormtrooper, he replaced the far more effective and competent clones with an army of hapless, unthinking klutzes who couldn't hit the broad side of the Death Star and easily trounced by knee-high furballs. While the effects of this decision aren't immediate in this episode, it would play a key role in his downfall since the incompetency of the minions he heavily pushed for here kept them from stopping the Rebellion.
- No OSHA Compliance: The tunnels underneath the Imperial shipyards have an access ladder that is dangerously close to a spinning generator of some kind. While Hunter's team is infiltrating the shipyard to sneak aboard Rampart's ship, Wrecker gets his backpack grazed by the generator partially as a result of his size.
- Put on a Bus: Echo leaves the squad to join Rex in helping save the clones from their fate at the hands of the Empire.
- Put on a Prison Bus: Palpatine orders Rampart to be arrest and taken away to prison for his "rogue crime" against Kamino.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The Bad Batch successfully proves Admiral Rampart's guilt in the destruction of Kamino, forcing Palpatine to have him arrested in order to save face. Unfortunately, Palpatine smoothly uses the clones blindly following Rampart's orders as justification to implement the Stormtrooper program anyway, making the Batch's victory hollow in the grand scheme of things. However as stated above, Palpatine's decision to discard the clones for the Stormtroopers would come back to bite him in the following decades.
- Right Under Their Noses: Where does Rex choose to hide? Right in the middle of Corusant, the seat of galactic power. The Empire would never think to search for him in their own capital.
- The Scapegoat: After his actions are exposed, Palpatine and Mas Amedda throw Rampart under the bus, claiming that he went rogue to level Kamino and having him arrested.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Senator Burtoni is a lot less of a Jerkass here than she was during the Clone Wars.
- Uncertain Doom: Normally, "rogue" Imperials would be executed for treason, but Rampart was considered to be a lowly cog that no one would remember, so it's also likely that the Empire wouldn't even bother to execute Rampart because he's that unimportant. Thus, his fate remained up in the air until Season 3 elaborated on the details.
- Unperson: Rex finds the clone assassin's ID code has been wiped, which is supposed to be impossible.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Emperor Palpatine and most of the Imperials at this point are this, as no one has truly lived under the Empire's rule long enough for them to realize that the Empire is not there to make things better. As such, he's praised as a good ruler for pulling the Republic through the Clone Wars. Those like Rex, however, who've more or less learned the truth, can see the Emperor for who he really is.
- Wham Episode: Emperor Palpatine makes his first direct appearance, Admiral Rampart is arrested, the bill to begin the Stormtrooper program is passed, and Echo decides to leave the Bad Batch to assist Rex in helping rebellious Clones.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Omega rips Burtoni a new one for not caring about what happened on Kamino.Omega: I was there, and I saw, and I'm angry. Why aren't you?!
- Xanatos Gambit: Palpatine used a good one here. Either Rampart would succeed at covering up Kamino's destruction and get the Senate to pass the Defense Recruitment Bill on his own, or if he was exposed, Palpatine would throw both Rampart and the clones under the bus to get the bill passed anyway.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Sidious does it again. He lays the pressure on Rampart to have the clones decommissioned or else, but even when Rampart is discredited, he's able to effortlessly spin it so the clones get decommissioned anyway. Additionally, once his coverup of the bombing of Kamino is destroyed, Palpatine manages to turn Rampart into a scapegoat, continuing to avoid Imperial responsibility for the atrocity.
- You Have Failed Me: A non-lethal version, but ultimately, Palpatine and Mas Amedda pull this on Rampart once he has been exposed to the Senate, as the latter did warn him his future wouldn’t look good if he fails to advance the legislation. But, we all know an Imperial Officer receives the mandatory death sentence for committing treason.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: With the Clones having completed Order 66, this episode shows the moment Palpatine pulled the plug on them, paving the way for the Stormtroopers. Rampart's downfall and arrest also happened in the same scene, serving as an indirect reminder to all ambitious Imperials that they too are disposable once deemed no longer useful.
