Credit: LucasfilmIt’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the third and final season of Star Wars: The Batch Batch. But even though the animated Disney+ series may be coming to an end, some things, including the mystery behind the Empire’s new shadow agents, are just getting started.
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Ever since The Batch Batch first hit Disney’s streamer in May 2021, one thing’s for sure: the events of the show directly correlate to the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, specifically, the development of Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) Project Necromancer.
What Is ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Season 3 About?
Aside from following the adventures of Hunter, Tech, Echo, Crosshair, and Wrecker (Dee Bradley Baker), otherwise known as Clone Force 99, The Batch Batch dedicates a lot of screen time to Omega (Michelle Ang), an unaltered Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) clone who we’ve come to find out is more important to the Empire’s plans than initially expected.
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However, the latest two-part arc, Episode 6, “Infiltration,” and Episode 7, “Extraction,” might’ve just revealed a far more sinister cloning plot.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3.
As revealed in the first half of the season, we now know that Omega’s DNA is compatible with midi-chlorians, AKA the “intelligent microscopic life-forms that lived symbiotically inside the cells of all living things.” A high “M-count” could allow hosts access to the Force, with Jedi like Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) having over 20,000 per cell.
This makes Omega essential to the experiments being conducted on Mount Tantiss, as we know that Palpatine’s contingency plan of making a Force-sensitive clone of himself is well underway. With Omega being an invaluable asset to Doctor Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson), Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo), and Emerie Karr (Keisha Castle-Hughes), her blood is the key to Project Necromancer.
But something else is awry at Mount Tantiss: the Empire’s newest Shadow Agents, a new type of soldier created with the sole intent of completing dangerous missions, often at the cost of their lives. And what makes this new breed of Imperial operatives so sinister is the fact that most of them — at least, the ones we’ve seen — are re-conditioned clones who have been stripped of their identities.
Star Wars fans already got a look at an Imperial Shadow Agent last season, who was “activated” to hunt down Clone Force 99. And now, a mysterious new operative known as “CX-2” has made his Season 3 debut, promising to be a dangerous adversary to the remaining Bad Batchers.
As mentioned, Lucasfilm only refers to this assassin as CX-2. So who is this new enemy, and what does his presence mean for the future of Star Wars?
Who Is CX-2, or “Clone X?”
In Episodes 6 and 7 of The Bad Batch Season 3, we see CX-2 facing off against Captain Rex’s squad after Clone Force 99 travels to their base on Teth with strict orders to capture Omega and return her to Mount Tantiss alive. Commander Wolffe also makes an appearance with a team of CTs, Clone Commandos, and stormtroopers, though he ultimately lets Rex and the Bad Batch escape.
CX-2 is — temporarily — defeated, but in the final moments of the episode, we see him pulling himself out of the water, still alive. While his helmeted face and modified voice conceal his identity, we do see him squaring off with Crosshair, telling the rogue clone, “You had your chance to be one of us. You chose the wrong side,” confirming that the two were, at one point, both prisoners on Tantiss.
With this in mind, there appear to be three leading theories as to who CX-2 really is, with a popular choice being Tech, who was thought to be dead after the events of The Bad Batch Season 2 finale — or not, given we haven’t technically seen a body just yet.
After all, CX-2 does appear to have more of a British twinge, even through his voice modulator. Again, we don’t have much proof that Tech didn’t survive his fall on Eriadu, and given the explanation that these Shadow Agents are brainwashed and stripped of their pre-existing identities, plus the fact that he’s got some serious sharpshooting skills, they seem to allude to the fact that Tech is alive — just wearing different armor.
Another popular theory is that CX-2 is Commander Cody, who we caught up with last season. His guilt about Order 66 and the understanding that he killed his friend and Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) allows him to bypass his inhibitor chip, though it might have been too little, too late.
At the end of the Season 2 episode “The Solitary Clone,” it’s revealed that Cody has gone AWOL following his mission with Crosshair. Still, this could be a lie — after all, Cody directly disobeyed Imperial orders by not killing Governor Tawni Ames (Tasia Valenza), meaning he could be a major risk factor to the Empire. Plus, his experience and battle prowess make him a valuable asset.
There’s also the chance that CX-2, similar to the Morrok reveal in the Disney+ Ahsoka show, might not be a familiar character at all. Some fans have pointed to the assassin’s unique voice, special skills, and intellect, meaning he could be a Tech (or a Crosshair) clone, which adds up given the former (to our knowledge) has spent a good amount of time on Tantiss being experimented on.
Whether or not CX-2 will turn out to be a familiar face or not remains unknown. But with just eight episodes left, The Bad Batch has some glaring questions to answer, and soon. Considering that a Clone Rebellion is likely on the horizon, CX-2 could always switch sides. But his arc could also end in tragedy, as with the rest of Clone Force 99.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 is now streaming exclusively on Disney+.
Who do you think CX-2 is? Share your theories in the comments below!