Credit: LucasfilmThe three-episode premiere of Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s third and final season is nearly upon us. To prepare, here’s a quick recap of everything you should know before Clone Force 99 returns to Disney+ and what audiences can expect from the upcoming season.
What Is ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ About?
‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ origins
As fans of the George Lucas-helmed Prequel Trilogy well know, the creation of the Clone Army (otherwise known as the Grand Army of the Republic or GAR) was a turning point for the Star Wars galaxy, marking the beginning of the Clone Wars and, eventually, the fall of the Jedi Order.
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Although the clones, all genetic copies of bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) made their official debuts in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), their individual stories wouldn’t be fleshed out until director Dave Filoni’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie premiered in 2008, accompanied by a TV show of the same name, which concluded its seven-season run on Disney+ in 2020.
While The Clone Wars focused mainly on the going-ons of the Jedi — primarily, the missions of Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) — the series also introduced several new clone troopers into the mix, including the aptly-named Bad Batch (AKA Clone Force 99).
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The specialized team of ragtag clone commandos, each with their own unique abilities, first appeared in the Season 7 episode “The Bad Batch,” in which they accompany Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and members of the 212th to the Separatists’ Cyber Center on Anaxes. The GAR rules the day, but after Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) executes Order 66, the Bad Batch suddenly finds themselves in danger after their inhibitor chips fail, making them a target of the Galactic Empire.
Something sinister is at play
Season 1 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch landed on Disney+ in May 2021, picking up on the titular team in the aftermath of Order 66. After escaping from the cloning facilities on Kamino with an unaltered female clone of Jango Fett, Omega (Michelle Ang), in tow, the stakes are even higher, with Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, Echo (Dee Bradley Baker) now having “lost” Crosshair (Baker) to the Empire as well.
Throughout the first two seasons of The Bad Batch, we’ve seen Clone Force 99 go up against gargantuan monsters, Imperial officers, and even ally with pirates like Phee Genoa (Wanda Sykes) and crime lords such as Ciddarin “Cid” Scaleback (Rhea Perlman) to survive, all while being hunted by the Galactic Empire.
At the same time, we’ve seen Crosshair begin to question his loyalty to the Empire, particularly in the Season 2 episode “The Solitary Clone,” which reunites the ex-Bad Batcher with Commander Cody. By the end of the season, Crosshair fully defects from the Empire by killing Lieutenant Nolan (Crispin Freeman), only to be taken into custody on Mount Tantiss.
For those who know their Star Wars Legends lore, Mount Tantiss is Emperor Palpatine’s secret warehouse that housed his and later Grand Admiral Thrawn’s (Lars Mikkelsen) cloning experiments. In canon, the location has much of the same significance, serving as top-secret labs for the Kaminoans to continue their efforts to develop a Force-sensitive clone led by the kidnapped Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo).
Clone Force 99’s story is coming to an end
Sadly, all good things must come to an end — The Bad Batch included. Lucasfilm announced at April’s Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 that the third season would also be its last, with exclusive footage airing to attendees shortly after. Since then, a full-length trailer has been released to the public, promising an emotional and action-packed finale for the title team.
Check out the full trailer for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 below:
‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Recap: 7 Important Things To Remember Before Season 3
Omega and Crosshair are prisoners on Mount Tantiss
Based on what we’ve seen from teaser trailers, the aforementioned Mount Tantiss will play a prominent role in The Bad Batch Season 3, and it’s not looking too good for Omega and Crosshair. After all, Crosshair was taken into custody after his rebellion in the final moments of the Season 2 episode, “The Outpost,” with Omega being captured on Ord Mantell by Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson) and his team of Clone Commandos, led by Scorch (Baker).
Tech is dead — or so we think
If you’re still not over the tragic death of Tech, then don’t worry — neither are most fans of The Bad Batch. As viewers likely remember, Tech made a noble sacrifice in order to save his brothers in the closing moments of Season 2, Episode 16, “Plan 99,” falling to his death off a cable car on Eriadu and into a cloudy abyss. To taunt the surviving members, Hemlock tosses Tech’s broken goggles to Hunter, saying that they were the only thing he recovered.
It’s worth noting that we don’t actually see Tech’s corpse — this is a PG-13 show, after all — which led some fans to speculate that the beloved clone isn’t actually dead. Star Wars fans are well accustomed to the “no body, no death” line of thinking, so there’s certainly a chance that Tech survived the fall and will reveal himself further into The Bad Batch Season 3.
Palpatine is replacing clone troopers with stormtroopers
A particularly heinous arc that played out in The Bad Batch Season 2 saw Palpatine betraying Vice Admiral Rampart (Noshir Dalal) after his new “Defense Recruitment Bill” that would stop the production of clones in favor of a civilian-military was proposed to the senate only to be shot down by Senator Riyo Chuchi (Jennifer Hale).
Palpatine, however, found a way to manipulate the bill in his favor, saying, “The fact that the clones under his command so blindly followed orders inflicting such carnage without hesitation gives me pause. Perhaps it is time for a change, now more than ever. Building a strong galaxy requires protection and security.” Therefore, a new era has officially been ushered in, with clones being replaced by the Imperial stormtrooper for good.
Hunter and Wrecker are on their own
Sadly, Clone Force 99 has seen its numbers dwindle to just two: Hunter and Wrecker. Based on previously released footage and teaser trailers, it looks like The Bad Batch Season 3 will see the two rogue clones continuing to plot Omega’s escape, all while dodging the Empire. A newly unveiled clip also sees Wrecker and Hunter walking with a pair of younger clones who had been imprisoned by the Empire, teasing a major plot point for the final season as we don’t know their post-Order 66 fate.
Rex and Echo are forming a Clone Rebellion
There have been more than enough hints that Echo, who went off with Captain Rex (Baker) towards the end of The Bad Batch Season 2, will lead some sort of clone uprising against the Empire. After all, the first Season 3 trailer included an interesting soundbite in which Rex says that he “can’t walk away from the fight,” suggesting that the duo will go on a campaign to save their brothers.
Given how Rex’s story in Star Wars Rebels plays out, however, it seems like this potential clone resistance won’t prove successful in stopping the Empire. Regardless, if Echo lays down his life to save his fellow clones from slavery, then this would be an extremely fitting conclusion for his character arc. Rex and Echo could also enlist the help of Cody, who went AWOL in Season 2.
Omega has a sister
Although she didn’t get much of any screen time, Dr. Emerie Karr (Keisha Castle-Hughes), an Imperial scientist working under Hemlock at Mount Tantiss, could be one of the most important characters in The Bad Batch Season 3 after she was revealed to be another unaltered genetic clone of Jango Fett, thus, making her Omega’s big sis.
While it’s hard to tell where Emerie Karr’s allegiances will lie in Season 3, she could potentially help Crosshair and Omega escape the cloning facilities if she comes to her senses. If her blind loyalty to Palpatine gets in the way, however, she could prove to be an especially dangerous adversary.
Somehow, Ventress returned
One of the more head-scratching elements of the first official Bad Batch Season 3 trailer occurred toward the end when a familiar foe from The Clone Wars appeared, seemingly resurrected from the dead. This is, of course, former Sith assassin Asajj Ventress, who seems to have had a change of heart in the new clip, if her yellow lightsaber is anything to go by.
Ventress was believed to have met her demise in the canon Star Wars novel “Dark Disciple.” In the book, the Nightsister partners with Jedi Shadow Quinlan Vos to hunt down Count Dooku, and the couple forms an unlikely romance. Their tale ends in tragedy, however, after a bolt of Force lightning intended for Vos strikes Ventress instead, killing her.
It’ll be interesting to see how The Bad Batch Season 3 retcons Ventress’ death, despite producer Brad Rau reaffirming to fans that “any new storytelling with Ventress will align with the events of Star Wars: Dark Disciple.” The show will have to jump through some serious hoops to explain her return, but in any case, it seems to be setting up her role in future Star Wars movies and TV shows.
The three-episode premiere of Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 arrives on Disney+ tomorrow, February 21, 2024.
Are you sad to see Star Wars: The Bad Batch go? What are your hopes for the third and final season? Let us know in the comments below!