WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 10, “Common Ground,” streaming now on Disney+.
Clone Force 99 wants to lay low for a while after rescuing Omega from Cad Bane and Fennec Shane, but Cid already has another mission for them in “Common Ground.” While their job is simple enough -- go to the planet of Raxis and extract Senator Avi Singh from Imperial custody -- the problem is Raxis was the capital world for the Confederacy of Independent Systems, aka the Separatists, which doesn’t sit well with some members of the team.
Unlike the Clones, the Empire has decided not to hold the events of the Clone Wars against the Separatists. Since the war had been between the Separatists and the Republic, this newly formed galactic entity is treating both sides with equal opportunities to bend the knee.
“Common Ground” opens with Imperial Captain Bragg addressing the people of Raxis from a balcony. She begins by praising the Empire for giving fair opportunity to the Separatist world before scolding the people for not complying with their utmost loyalty. To fix the problem, Bragg convinces the highly esteemed senator, Abi Singh, to coax the people into compliance, but when he begins his prepared speech, he cannot follow through. He knows that the Empire’s “generosity” is not in his peoples’ best interests, and when openly defies the Empire, he's arrested.
This shows that the Empire treats everyone with equal hostility. After arresting Senator Singh, the Imperial occupation ups its pressure on Raxis. As always with Imperial officials, intimidation is the most important tactic, and they use that in several ways on Raxis, including by imposing a curfew, increasing the military presence, arresting planetary leaders, interrogating people and displaying a willingness to kill any dissenters.
The Empire’s desire to avoid conflict with the Separatists just boils down to its desire to forcefully quell any and all resistance. In truth, the Separatists are given the same ultimatum as everyone else: if they comply with unquestioned loyalty, they can be enveloped into an unfairly run Empire, but if they refuse, they will see their way of life destroyed.
That was the decision that Senator Singh had to make, and he chose to stand up for his people. Of course, he knew what his fate would be if he decried the Empire, so he set a contingency plan in motion before doing so, leaving instructions with his protocol droid to contact Cid and arrange for his extraction.
That’s how the Bad Batch got the job, and while they originally didn’t like the idea, they eventually complied for the credits. As the episode went on, however, they began to see more of what the Empire is like and how it treats civilians. Things are so bad, in fact, that Senator Singh debates staying on Raxis, hesitant to abandon his people. Echo and the rest of the team convince him it would be better “live to fight another day, however,” setting the stage for the senator to join the ever-growing fight against the Empire.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.