Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 Episode 1-2 of The Bad Batch.One of the biggest surprises that Star Wars fans experienced with The Clone Wars was the more well-rounded depiction of the clone troopers. While these identical clones of Jango Fett were denied any personality in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars showed an evolution of the individual characters and their respective personalities. The incredible voicework from Dee Bradley Baker helped distinguish these characters even further. However, we rarely saw what life was like for these men in the wake of Order 66 until The Bad Batch. In its season 2 premiere episodes “Spoils of Wars” and “Ruins of War,” The Bad Batch shows that the hardest battle is the one that no clones can truly win.
The Bad Batch is a spinoff of The Clone Wars supervised by Dave Filoni and follows a group of characters that first appeared in a season 7 storyline in the events after Order 66. The special command squad “Clone Force 99” consists of genetically enhanced clones that have special abilities. Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and their young ally Omega now venture across the galaxy on mercy and heist missions, which makes them a target of the Galactic Empire. While the characters have managed to survive unscathed, the Season 2 premiere complicates their struggle through its reflection on their experience in the war.
“The Bad Batch” heads to a familiar enemy location when the squad agrees to rob a war chest from a former Separatist outpost on Count Dooku’s home planet Serreno. While Serenno was once a critical center point for the Confederacy of Independent Systems' war effort, the heroes return to this world not to be hailed as saviors but targeted as thieves and outsiders. They also have the inevitable task of facing off against their former brothers-in-arms, who were unable to resist the inserted chips that forced them to turn against the Jedi. While The Bad Batch crew may have managed to survive another daring adventure, they’re denied a chance for peace.
The Bad Batch Shows the Clones As Victims
The Order 66 sequence in Revenge of the Sith is one of the most horrifying sequences in the entire saga. In just a matter of moments, the seemingly loyal clones turn into the faceless, mindless killing machines that they are in the original trilogy. However, The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch have shown that these clones are as much victims of Palpatine’s rule as the Jedi are. They had no choice in their orders, and they were created for the sake of a war that was preordained. The biggest hurdle that the Bad Batch faces is the fact that they’re some of the few clones that have managed to defy their commands. Even Captain Rex, the most loyal clone in the Republic Army, initially turned against his Jedi commander before his chip was removed. The men that still serve the Empire are unable to respond to reason, and there’s no way to individually rescue each trooper and fix their inherent nature.
In becoming fugitives, the Bad Batch is now being hunted down by men who look identical to them. They’re unwilling to kill their former brothers, which presents them with numerous challenges during their mission on Serenno. Any win is temporary, and ultimately they won’t impact these men’s lives in any meaningful way. There’s no hope that the Empire will be overthrown, and these soldiers will be set free, as the seeds of the eventual Rebel Alliance have not been shown yet. Even so, any rebellion or open war would mean that once again, their brothers would be doomed to die.
The clones also face the challenge of fighting against men that know their faces and use the same technology that once aided them. In “Ruins of War,” their escape maneuvers are predictable because the clone commander pursuing them has undergone the same training. The gunships that once provided them with protection are now fearsome tools of fascism. There’s no way for them to hide out in public, as the ordinary citizens of the galaxy aren’t able to distinguish them from the other soldiers. When they’ll never be given a hero’s welcome, and they’ll never be accepted by their former comrades, what victory are they fighting for?
Was the Clone Wars a Meaningless War?
As the Bad Batch learned during their mission on Serenno, the war that they all fought and died for was entirely meaningless. The Separatists' grievances with the Republic now seem more justified given the legitimate issues within the Republic that led to the creation of the Empire. While robbing the site of Count Dooku’s home should seemingly give them some sort of personal justice, it’s not a reclamation, but a petty crime. Dooku’s homeworld is now under the dominion of the Empire; it’s simply been transferred from one enemy to the next.
The clones also learn during their mission that their assumptions about other planets are still derived from the propaganda that was drilled into them. When they encounter the Serenno native Romar Adell (Héctor Elizondo), they realize that not every local was unflinchingly loyal to the evil of Count Dooku. Romar resisted the Sith when they commandeered the planet, and now he resists the Empire. His story mirrors the one of the Bad Batch; he sacrificed his safety for a conflict commanded that was controlled by one side.
We see the true disregard that the Empire has for the clones at the end of “The Ruins of War,” when the loyal Clone Commander Wilco offers to do his duty by reporting the Bad Batch’s escape, the scheming Vice Admiral Rampart (Noshir Dalal) executes him in cold blood. Not even loyalty will save these clones, as Wilco is killed to save Rampart any personal embarrassment in front of Governor Tarkin (Stephen Stanton).
The Bad Batch Season 2 promises to complicate these men’s stories even further, with Rex’s work with the rebellion and the appearance of Commander Cody set to be major storylines. The first season was one of the darker installments in the recent Star Wars universe, and there’s no doubt that once again these men will be fighting for their lives at every second. Unfortunately, they’re living on borrowed time and facing enemies that they cannot kill; if the Empire is overthrown, they’re unlikely to be there to see it.