In the search for information on the mysterious bounty hunter pursuing Omega, the Batch strike a deal with an old informant to retrieve a hostage.

It was a genuine pleasure to see Ming Na Wen’s Fennec Shand turn up in last week’s instalment. Though there will undoubtedly be those who decry the galaxy far, far away feeling a bit smaller every time one of the same faces turns up, I’ve always felt it’s these little touches which give a nice sense of continuity to what could otherwise feel like a sprawling and disconnected IP.

So this week, we get to see some more familiar faces, and one of them is a distinct surprise indeed. On the run and desperate to find out exactly who the bounty hunter they encountered is and who hired them to go after Omega, the Batch stop off at Ord Mantell. Echo knows of an old informant who used to supply information to the Jedi there, and hopes they may be able to help.

Of course, when they do find them, the information they’re seeking won’t come for free. Turns out the informant has a job for them, a retrieval mission involving a youngster captured by slavers. This gives the show the opportunity to restate what slavery is for the benefit of any younger viewers, though of course in the Star Wars universe, that’s always been a slightly tricky subject. Droids are well-established as sentient beings but are also bought and sold as property and arguably the heart of the whole economy in Star Wars is based on slavery, from the tolerated practices of the Outer Rim in the Republic Era through to the outright enslavement of entire species by the Empire. It therefore feels curiously simplistic to have characters (and clones created specifically to wage war with no choice in the matter) extemporising on the evils of slavery, but you can’t have everything in a twenty five minute episodic show structure I guess.

In terms of narrative structure then, it’s fairly conventional. There’s a basic fetch quest, the bad guys are slavers, making them unquestionably and irredeemably bad  – all very straightforward. But then the episode reaches a certain point at which nothing is quite as it seemed to begin with, and the whole moral universe of the show becomes a little more nuanced.

In terms on ongoing stuff, Omega continues to grow as a character – this week she gets her own comm and once again she proves quite pivotally helpful to the gang in getting stuff done. Wrecker is continuing to have occasional headache issues as well and I can only imagine that’s going to become a relevant and important plot point sometime very soon. No Crosshair again this week, but in fairness that’s the kind of character and arc that could be overused if done poorly, so I’ll forgive it for now.

Verdict: Another solid instalment which works on establishing and expanding the world of the characters even as it reminds us of characters we’ve seen elsewhere in the franchise. 8/10

Greg D. Smith