The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2, Episode 5, "Entombed," now streaming on Disney+.
Omega's growth is an important part of The Bad Batch, and she just picked up another role model in Phee Genoa. The galactic treasure hunter is a walking Indiana Jones homage who can teach the show's main character a new kind of fearlessness.
The Bad Batch often endures criticism for episodes that don't seem relevant to the overall saga. Yet, of all the Star Wars animated series, this one is the least connected to the Jedi and Sith shenanigans that spawned so much storytelling. The heavy hand of the Empire is present but, like with Andor, The Bad Batch presents it as just something to be avoided and outsmarted, rather than fought directly. The fate of the Clones, and Omega's importance to cloning's future, is the saga part of this series. Spending time with Phee on the treasure hunt is an entirely new way for this show's Chosen One to find new ways to risk her life. As good as her group of dads are, they are all soldiers. Phee is not. She takes no orders, except from legends and weird artifacts. She is spontaneous and unconcerned with preparing for every eventuality. It's a risky way to approach things, from a certain point of view.
Phee Is Unlike Anyone Omega Met in the Galaxy
Omega is delighted to go on this adventure with Phee, while the rest of the team is skeptical. The episode proves Phee to be a generally good person despite her main motivation being fortune and glory. She doesn't want to hurt anyone and may not even be armed. The only lives she's reckless with are her own, her companions and her poor droid Mel, who is destroyed "all the time." At least she backs his memory up on her ship, just like R2-D2 started doing for C-3PO after he was erased in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Yet, what makes Phee unique among the characters in Omega's life is that she isn't hunting for a mission or a payday. She's chasing legends.
Life with Clone Force 99 is a military one, even though the team is currently unaffiliated. Technically her Clone brothers, the motley crew of military archetypes are Omega's parents. They try to teach her in the ways they know, with military discipline and redundancies. Phee, on the other hand, is perhaps the most unbothered person to appear on the show thus far. When Omega first met her, she was aloof and offered a cryptic warning about the Batch's ally, Cid. During this adventure, Phee naturally takes Omega on as a kind of Padawan learner. While she doesn't mention the Force, Phee embodies the idea of surrendering oneself to its will.
Still, the Force helps those who help themselves. Phee is crafty and quick-witted. In this way, she's not unlike Hunter, Tech and the rest. However, they try things and have backup plans in case those things go awry. Phee simply does, and Star Wars fans know how the Force feels about that. If Omega is lucky, she will emulate the best parts of Phee's approach to problems, while also calling on the lessons she learned from the others, even Cid.
The One Element of Phee's Philosophy the Bad Batch Will Need to Adopt
Throughout the season, the various members of Clone Force 99, even Crosshair still in deep with the Empire, face the question of what life after the war will be like. Ultimately, for the ones charting their own path through the galaxy, a good life for Omega is the primary goal. Despite their various levels of concern with the government they were born to fight for becoming the villains, they all agree Omega deserves a choice and a chance to settle down. Phee, it seems, lives her life on the run, flitting about from one ancient ruin to the next. She also has a blast doing it. Perhaps instead of thieving and smuggling, the group chooses this new, third option. Could this group of soldiers, the most proficient and highly trained in the Republic Army, go forward without a plan?
The season began with another Indiana Jones reference, where Omega had to learn the lesson of when to let it go. Phee's philosophy of seeing where the Force takes her would lead to immediate execution at the hands of Imperial security. Yet, that's not a prize she'd ever chase. She seeks her fortune and, more importantly, her purpose in chasing down things that are valuable but forgotten. Her approach to problem-solving, especially if she sticks around, will influence Omega in ways that no one else in her life can. She will be a more versatile and dangerous operator because of it. Omega will choose the outlaw life for herself because, like Phee, she's just too good at it to stop.
Phee and her stress-free approach to life is just one part of the person Omega will grow to be before the show's series finale. Through the strength of Sykes' performance alone, Phee is a character who should stick around. Whether she does or not, she's made an indelible mark on Omega and the adult she will grow to be.
The Bad Batch debuts new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.