The Bad Batch has answered its central question: “What happened to the clones during the Empire?” As with many things in Star Wars, the answer is that a lot ended in fire. Like most of the show, it’s fun but inconsequential, a bingeable, cinematic adventure that is lovely to watch on a big screen the first time and starts to get stale on the second.
Part 1 of the finale saw the Batchers return to their former home, and the Empire open fire. “Kamino Lost,” directed by Saul Ruiz and written by Jennifer Corbett, returns to them in an even worse spot. Now, they need to escape a crumbling city that has fallen all the way to the ocean floor (or at least an outcropping of the underwater tunnels). As they make their tense way toward the surface, they’re forced into close proximity to team traitor Crosshair, who tries to convince them of his righteousness while the team wonders whether he’s still under the influence of the chip that made Order 66 work.
Kamino is the clones’ homeworld, and its loss signals another one of the many ends of the Prequel era. This is the place where they all were born and trained, where they made friends. It’s not a bad choice for a finale that maybe knows some of Star Wars‘ best lately (The Clone Wars, Rogue One) ended in tragedy. But I wish we saw a bit more of the clones reacting here initially instead of the show using music and distant views to rather artificially create that sense of loss.