Club Lao Che was a cantina in the galaxy. Clone Force 99 joined the pirate Phee Genoa on a mission to the club to meet with the criminal Lanse Crowder.
Description[]
Club Lao Che was a cantina that was commonly frequented by a variety of patrons. The club was dark inside with many bright lighting elements, including three signs in different colors spelled out the establishment's name in Aurebesh.[1]
History[]
Around 18 BBY,[2] Omega and Phee Genoa met up with the criminal Lanse Crowder and his associates at the cantina to purchase a tree-shaped artifact. When Crowder insisted that they pay first, Genoa countered by insisting on checking that it was not a "knock-off." When Crowder noticed Omega and asked if she works alone, Genoa explained that she was teaching Omega the "art of negotiation." Crowder offered drinks but Genoa refused, dismissing it as poison. Genoa admitted that he was impressed but secretly released a kouhun under the table.[1]
The interior of the club
Meanwhile, Omega's fellow Clone Force 99 member Hunter sensed movement. Omega responded that Genoa was not a pirate but a liberator of ancient wonders. Genoa agreed while Hunter played a game of sabacc with a Bith, and proceeded to grab the Bith's hands before they could reach for a card. Before the kouhun could pierce Genoa's neck with its stinger, however, Hunter impaled the creature against the wall with his knife. Crowder's helmeted henchmen raised their blasters at Hunter. Crowder believed that he has the upper hand but Genoa revealed that Hunter was not her sole "muscle."[1]
At that, Wrecker, another member of Clone Force 99, made his presence known and took out several of Crowder's henchmen, triggering a gunfight. Omega jointed the gunfight and fired her energy bow at Crowder and his men, before grabbing the artifact and shooting down the hanging ceiling lamp over Chowder. Hunter requested pick-up from fellow team member Tech, who readied the Marauder away from the club. Genoa and the clones made a getaway by using smoke bombs to disorientate Crowder and his men. They escaped the cantina and fled aboard the parked Marauder.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The club is named after Lao Che, the opening antagonist from the Lucasfilm production Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The name pays back a Star Wars reference in the movie, where the opening scene takes place in an establishment called Club Obi Wan,[3] named after Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars saga.[4] The scene in the cantina is heavily similar to the opening of the film,[3] in which the titular character and Lao Che negotiate over an artifact, the negotiations turn violent, the titular character has a poisoned drink placed in front of him and reveals that he secretly brought back-up; much like what happens one between Lanse Crowder and Phee Genoa in this episode.[5]
Appearances[]
Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Pabu" (First appearance)
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Pabu"
- ↑ Per the reasoning here, the seventh and eighth episodes of The Bad Batch Season 2, "The Clone Conspiracy" and "Truth and Consequences," can be placed in 18 BBY. Therefore, all Season 2 episodes proceeding "The Clone Conspiracy" occur between 19 BBY, which features the end of The Bad Batch Season 1 according to Star Wars: Timelines, and 18 BBY. The Galactic Empire, the formation of which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 19 BBY, sent Mayday's squad to Barton IV over a year prior to the events of the twelfth episode, "The Outpost." As it occurs over a year into the Imperial Era and is set shortly after the events of "Truth and Consequences," the events of "The Outpost" occur around 18 BBY. Following that logic, the ninth through eleventh episodes ("The Crossing" through "Metamorphosis") are also set around 18 BBY because they occur between the events of "Truth and Consequences" and "The Outpost." Finally, all season 2 episodes set after "The Outpost" occur shortly after its events, thereby placing those episodes around 18 BBY as well.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
"Pabu" Trivia Gallery | The Bad Batch on StarWars.com: "The opening scene where Phee tries to make a deal with Crowder for a precious artifact is heavily inspired by the opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Aurebesh signs outside the club reads "Club Lao Che," which pays back the Star Wars reference in Temple of Doom, where the club was called "Club Obi Wan."" (backup link) (Slide 2)
- ↑
Club Lao Che by Seastrom, Lucas (May 23, 2019) on D23.com (backup link) ("Club Obi Wan" is a tribute to the Jedi Master. No, you aren't seeing things. That famous Shanghai nightclub at the beginning of Temple of Doom really is named "Club Obi Wan" after the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars saga.)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Bad Batch Brings More Indiana Jones References And Sets Up A Major Confrontation/ by Young, Brian on /Film (March 15, 2023): "This episode opens up with an exchange patterned after the one at the beginning of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" inside the Club Obi-Wan. Phee, with Omega at her side, is negotiating with a ne'er-do-well named Crowder over the price of an ancient artifact of some sort. It looks very much like a ceramic banzai tree, but there's no telling if it's real or not. But Crowder wants to turn the tables on Phee. Like Indiana Jones, Phee has a glass placed in front of her, but she refuses to drink knowing it's poisoned. A fight in the club breaks out and Phee has backup, just like Indy, in the form of the rest of the Bad Batch and they tear the place apart, making off with the credits and the artifact. The best part of this entire sequence is that when the Bad Batch pulls out, you can see a sign in Aurebesh for the club, and it reads "CLUB LAO CHE." Lao Che was the man who tried to poison Indy in the Club Obi-Wan, crossing that reference back in on itself in a really fun way." (archived from the original on March 18, 2023)
External links[]
Club Obi Wan on the Indiana Jones Wiki- Lao Che on the Indiana Jones Wiki
