Warning: The following article contains spoilers for episode nine of Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 3.
After weeks of anticipation, the return of Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) is upon us in an episode that more than greatly improves upon the middling side quest of episode eight. At least it had a purpose, with Ventress arriving on Pabu at the request of Fennec Shand (Ming Na-Wen) to give the Bad Batch information on the M-Count. According to her, the M-Count is in all of the humans’ blood (so…another name for midichlorians, which gets name-dropped shortly after Ventress’ exposition dump). The higher the M-Count, the higher their sensitivity to the force may be.
However, Ventress explains that she has never seen a clone with force sensitivity, but it may be the reason why Dr. Royce Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson) is looking for Omega (Michelle Ang), who may be trained (and understand) the ways of the Force if she chooses to. Ventress subjects Omega to a series of tests, which she fails, but one tells me Omega will begin to experience force sensitivity as her story continues. While the Clones don’t recognize Ventress at first (a new hairdo seems to forget her war crimes), Hunter (Dee Bradley Baker) runs her face on a database, to which they discover her identity.
A fight ensues, and it doesn’t take long for Ventress to top them all. Man, as much as I’ve commented on the problems with ‘weaponized nostalgia’ in modern media, it felt so great to hear Futterman as Ventess again and have her continue her story in a different direction than expected. She’s no longer a Sith assassin, likely after Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) formed the Empire and adopted her own ideology, which she clearly says to the Clones. Of course, they don’t trust her, leading to the fight, but Omega does. Why would Ventress come were it not to help the Clones and Omega on their journey? That’s what she thinks, and she’s actually right.
Ventress does help Omega in figuring out if she’s force-sensitive, even if the Batch still doesn’t trust her, and the results aren’t as conclusive as she thinks. As they go to sea in an attempt to summon some fish, Ventress accidentally summons a large sea monster, which leads to another exciting set piece in which we see how refined her skills have been since the last time we saw her in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The energy added by Ventress’ presence in an action scene feels almost cathartic, with her cutting the tentacle off the monster through her (now) yellow lightsaber and saving Omega from drowning.
Because of this, she tells Omega that her M-Count is low and she won’t be force-sensitive. However, this raises suspicions for Omega because this doesn’t answer why the Empire would be after her. Clearly, her M-Count is high, but Ventress doesn’t want to tell her, as that will mean separating her from the Clones and Pabu. The Clones pick up on this, and Ventress tells them it won’t be safe if they continue living in Pabu for long. The Empire is already on the clones’ tail, and they must plan an escape fast before things worsen.
As she leaves Pabu, it certainly won’t be the last time we’ll see Ventress, and what a reintroduction it was. Director Steward Lee and writer Jennifer Corbett brilliantly subvert audiences’ initial expectations of her role in the series, but I doubt her journey will be as clear-cut as she was introduced. Time will tell in what direction the series will take her and the Bad Batch, as we’ll get another (and last) two-episode drop next week before slowly ramping up to its finale!
The ninth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 3 is now available to stream on Disney+.
