The latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 featured the return of a popular intergalactic sport, podracing. It’s been a while since fans saw the beloved sport invented by George Lucas. Safe for a few glimpses here and there in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, fans haven’t seen a complete podrace since Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace. It was well worth waiting for it.
What Is Podracing
Star Wars fans first saw podracing in The Phantom Menace, where young Anakin Skywalker showcased his racing skills from the podracer cockpit, upsetting the favorite Sebulba. The races usually featured a bunch of podracers competing to win the competition after completing a few laps of the podracing track. People usually flocked to watch the races since anything could happen since there were virtually no rules to cross the finish line first and win. Sabotaging the opponents during a podrace was ordinary and betting on podracing was pretty popular too.
In fact, Anakin — who was still Watto’s slave at the time — obtained his freedom thanks to Qui-Gon Jinn winning his bet with the boy’s master on Tatooine. Over the years, podracing still popped up from time to time in the Star Wars universe, especially on tavernas’ screens. Still, the sport was pretty popular and spurred a video game focused on it, 1999’s Star Wars Episode I: Racer.
What Happened in The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 4
“Faster” put the main storyline aside to focus on Ciddarin “Cid” Scaleback, who got into a sticky situation before being saved by Wrecker, Tech, and Omega. While Hunter and Echo were busy on another mission, Cid and the remaining Clone Force 99 members visited Safa Toma, a planet where people enjoy watching the dangerous yet thrilling podracing — here called “Riot Racing.” Cid introduced the Bad Batch clones to TAY-0, her new racer, who also happened to be a droid. Not all people were happy to see Cid back on Safa Toma, including a Dowutin mobster called Millegi. The episode didn’t go into details, but it appeared Cid and Millegi have some history. After Cid and Millegi bet on a side wager, Cid’s TAY-0 and Millegi’s Jet Venim went head-to-head on the podracing track.
Ultimately, Jet Venim won the race thanks to a sneaky trap and TAY-0 ended up smashed into several pieces. When Cid showed she had no credits on her to pay Millegi, the Dowutin mobster accepted Omega’s offer to make a deal for another race but took Cid as collateral damage. Next, Tech took part in the podracing, showing he was quite a racer and winning after making it through a dark and twisted tunnel, besides nullifying all Jet Venim’s tricks. When the Clone Force 99 members went to take Cid home, Millegi ominously warned them to watch their backs as Cid might not be as loyal as she appears.