Credit: LucasfilmLucasfilm just dropped the first full-length trailer for Season 3 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and from the looks of it, we’re in for some pretty big surprises.
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After leaving viewers on a massive cliffhanger, the third and final season of the Disney+ Star Wars: The Clone Wars spinoff, The Bad Batch, has an official release date, and it’s coming sooner than expected. Co-created by Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni and Jennifer Corbett, the show follows the adventures of Hunter, Wrecker, Echo, Tech, and Crosshair (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) after the events of Order 66. Over its two seasons, the series has seen the titular team divided, with Crosshair willingly joining the Empire even though his inhibitor chip initially failed.
Things get all the more complicated when Omega (Michelle Ang), an unaltered genetic copy of Jango Fett, comes into the picture, leading the Empire on a wild goose chase across the galaxy to hunt down the Bad Batch and capture Omega for experimentation on Mount Tantiss. Season 2 sees Crosshair ultimately defecting like Commander Cody in the episode “The Outpost,” though unfortunately, his actions are too little, too late, and he and Omega both end up in Imperial custody.
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In an especially tear-jerking moment, Tech also falls to — presumably — his death during the Season 2 finale, titled “Plan 99,” while the Bad Batch stages a daring rescue mission to save Omega, only to fail at the last second. Of course, Star Wars fans are well accustomed to thinking in terms of “no body, no death,” meaning the computer-savvy clone could still be alive. And as the third and final season nears its release date, we could finally get some answers about his fate.
On Monday morning, Lucasfilm took to social media to debut the first full-length trailer for The Bad Batch Season 3, and it’s jam-packed with Clone Wars callbacks, intense action, and even the return of several iconic Star Wars villains. Most notable, perhaps, is the appearance of Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), alongside other fan-favorite characters like Captain Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) and Cad Bane (Corey Burton), who made his live-action debut in The Book of Boba Fett in 2022:
Check out the full teaser for the final season of The Bad Batch below:
In the short clip, we see the emotional turmoil the Bad Batch is experiencing in the wake of Tech’s noble sacrifice, as well as hints about Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) plans for Omega and the clone subjects on Mount Tantiss. As for Captain Rex, he’s no stranger to the Disney+ series, but it’ll be interesting to see if he has a more prominent role in the third season now that so much is at stake.
Asajj Ventress’s return, on the other hand, is slightly more unexpected, as she was thought to be dead — well, according to the canon Star Wars novel Dark Disciple, which stars the former Sith assassin herself and Jedi Shadow Quinlan Vos. In the book, which was published in 2015, Asajj sacrifices herself for Quinlan, with whom she’s formed a romance, when Dooku attempts to kill Quinlan via Force lightning. She takes the brunt of the attack and dies in his arms, motivating the Jedi to return to the Light.
Although her death didn’t play out onscreen in The Clone Wars, the decision to bring Asajj Ventress back for The Bad Batch Season 3 comes as somewhat of a surprise, indicating that she could play an essential role in future Star Wars storytelling — possibly, even beyond animation. It’s hard to tell if she’ll be a friend or foe to the Bad Batch, but given her long-standing beef with Palpatine, she could be a valuable asset in the fight against the Empire. Plus, her yellow lightsaber suggests that she’s had a change of heart.
There are many loose plot threads the final season of The Bad Batch will need to tie up, including the big reveal that Royce Hemlock’s (Jimmi Simpson) aid, Doctor Emerie Karr (Keisha Castle-Hughes), is, in fact, a clone, meaning she’s technically Omega’s sister. She could be a potential ally to Omega, but her proximity to the Empire could make her particularly dangerous if she so chooses to manipulate Omega into following Hemlock’s orders, using their shared heritage as leverage.
For now, it looks like there’s certainly a lot in store for the third and final season of The Bad Batch, and it’ll be bittersweet to say goodbye to such a stellar addition to the galaxy far, far away. Hopefully, the show will lay the foundation for future animated outings in the Star Wars universe and will give the titular team a proper send-off, because if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s these guys.
The three-episode premiere of The Bad Batch arrives on Disney+ on February 21, 2024.
How do you feel about The Bad Batch coming to an end? Is it time to bid farewell to Tech, Hunter, Crosshair, Omega, Echo, Wrecker, and the rest of the crew, or was their time cut short? Let us know in the comments below!