THE TEMPLE OF SPOILERS!
“Entombed,” the fifth episode of The Bad Batch’s second season, is another discrete edition of the series, a seemingly self-contained adventure. Much like last week’s episode was an homage to the podrace from Episode I (which was an homage on Ben-Hur), “Entombed” is an homage to Uncharted which is an homage to Tomb Raider, which are both homages to Indiana Jones, which itself was an homage the serials of the 1930s. There’s even what feels like an homage to Horizon Zero Dawn. If you’re looking for homages with those eggs, you’ve come to the right diner! (Dex’s Diner, of course.)
I love how the Star Wars galaxy is pieced together out of references and riffs. That music cue sounds like John Williams! This puzzle feels like the Path of the Righteous Man from The Last Crusade! I’m sure the young audience that The Bad Batch caters to isn’t having that experience in the same way, they’re just enjoying cheering on the Clones and Omega as they unlock secrets and escape danger. I hope episodes like this one will inspire them to become archeologists of what’s beneath the surface their favorite cartoons and characters. (For example, why is he called Commander Cody?)
Whatever connections those young fans make, I also hope they will spare themselves from thinking too much about the logic of booby traps. Why would someone hide a sacred item in a display case that can only be accessed by riddles and a special compass…which, when removed, activates a dinosaur robot and then, I guess, is also the only thing that can turn it off? Whatever! Treasure hunters don’t ask why! Let’s get Tomb Raiding! We’ve got debris to dodge! There’s spoiling yourself and then there’s spoiling your own fun, after all.