After last week’s filler mission, we get to dive into the lovely world of Midichlorians!
“Star Wars: The Bad Batch” Season 3: Episode 9 takes Omega (Michelle Ang), Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) face-to-face with ex-dark Jedi Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), whom Fennec Shand sent to explain what M-counts (Midichlorians) are to Omega.
Midichlorians, first introduced in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” are microorganisms that determine if someone can use the force. Everyone has them to some extent, but only force users have high levels of them. The more midichlorians you have, the more raw power you have as a Jedi or a Sith.
The concept was almost universally rejected among “Star Wars” fans as it measured what was otherwise a mystical part of the “Star Wars” universe. However, it’s necessary for the “Bad Batch” showrunners to bring it up, as it’s a term that the Project Necromancer cloners would 100 percent use given the presumed goal of their research (to give Emperor Palpatine a force-sensitive clone body he can transfer his consciousness into) and this show’s proximity to the prequel time period. Thus, they are referred to as M-counts only, as if it’s some sort of compromise with the “Star Wars” fanbase that hates them so.
The clones don’t trust Ventress, but she proves to be an unlikely mentor to Omega. We don’t get a clear answer one way or another whether Omega is force sensitive, but I think it’s likely. If she is, she’ll need to be trained.
This is a fine, slow episode. What has happened with Ventress since “The Clone Wars” is intriguing, as in this she has completely abandoned the dark side, trading in her red blade for a yellow one. It’s clear that she’s changed, but to what extent, I’m not sure.
“Star Wars: The Bad Batch” Season 3: Episode 9 gets a 7/10
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