What You Missed From 'Star Wars: The Bad Batch'
The Bad Batch is here, and Star Wars fans are justifiably over the moon about the new animated show. Taking off where The Clone Wars Season 7 left off, The Bad Batch is visually stunning and starring several The Clone Wars veterans. Dee Bradley Baker and Stephen Stanton both reprise familiar roles while Dave Filoni is credited as the show creator. Fans of the Filoni's previous animated work can attest to the high quality of Star Wars stories that Lucasfilm animation has produced in recent years, with The Bad Batch seemingly following suit. No doubt every second of this show will be combed over for Easter eggs, references, nods, and callbacks. While we wait for the next episodes to drop over the coming weeks, here are several things you may have missed upon first watch of "Aftermath." Needless to say, this article will contain massive spoilers for the new show, so get yourself over to Disney+ and get caught up with events in a galaxy far, far away before reading further.
One of the staples of The Clone Wars was Tom Kane, voices of Yoda and Wulf Yularen, giving an introductory narration to the episode. The legendary voice actor returns for the The Bad Batch, updating the audience on what is happening in the galaxy as the Clone War comes to a close. This also includes several scenes from Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are seen taking the bridge of General Grievous' flagship, The Invisible Hand, and rescuing the chancellor. Grievous is also seen in an escape pod at the moment he gives the "time to abandon ship" line. At this point, Lucasfilm Animation might as well animate the entirety of Revenge of the Sith in The Clone Wars art style.
The Bad Batch's gunship, the Havoc Marauder, is a unique shuttle craft that hasn't been seen before Clone Force 99's introduction. This heavily modified Omicron class craft will seemingly serve as the Bad Batch's base of operations, transport, and home for the foreseeable future as they are no longer welcome on Kamino. The craft is certainly a precursor to Imperial starships like the Lambda shuttle and TIE Fighter. The folding wings and general "upside down Y" configuration of the wings is reminiscent of the Imperial shuttle seen ferrying Vader and Palpatine about in the original trilogy. The Marauder also seems to have TIE-like paneling on the surface of its wings, but whether this is for design or function remains to be seen. Hopefully we'll see this intimidating gunship be put through its paces during the show and avoid a fate similar to that of the Razor Crest.
Upon arriving on Kamino, we encounter several more familiar faces to fans of The Clone Wars and in particular the Fives arc. AZI-3 is a medical droid that helped ARC Trooper Fives investigate the mysterious death of his comrade in arms, Tup, after the latter's biochip malfunction. AZ is seen escorting young Omega about Tipoca City as they are both medical assistant to another familiar face, Kaminoan Nala Se. This particular cloner is one of the few who knew about Order 66 during the cloning process and worked to ensure it was implemented and executed properly. She even went so far as to drug Fives, causing him to exhibit aggressive and antagonistic behavior, ultimately concealing the truth he discovered concerning the chips prior to Order 66. Perhaps Nala Se has a guilty conscience as she does assist in Clone Force 99's escape from Kamino. However, after what she did to our boy Fives, it will take a lot more than holding open a door to redeem her. Perhaps by the season's end we will have a Mayfeld-level redemption arc for this misguided Kaminoan.
One of the key features of Order 66, besides the massacre of the Jedi Order, is the dehumanization of the Clone Army. Under the Jedi leadership, clones in the Grand Army flourished, developing unique personalities that they expressed through custom painting their armor, nonregulation haircuts, and tattoos throughout the Clone Wars. After their biochip essentially erases their personality and turns them into meat droids in service to the Emperor, this unique style and flair is all but eradicated. Their new mantra becomes "good soldiers follow orders," a chant first taken up by Tup when his biochip malfunctions on Ringo Vinda, resulting in the execution of Jedi Master Tiplar. This line is also spoken by Crosshair during the hunt for Caleb Dume after Order 66 is issued.
The dehumanization of the clones goes even further, with some well executed visual storytelling on the part of Filoni's team. During the events of Order 66 as portrayed on The Clone Wars, all compliant clones can be seen with their helmets on. Even Captain Rex, as he first tries to execute Ahsoka Tano, covers up his face with the stark, white, stormtrooper-like armor. As the Bad Batch arrives back on Kamino, virtually all the clones are clad in their shiny new white armor and looking more and more like Imperial Stormtroopers. They also keep their faces covered as they move through the hallways, something not characteristic of the clones during The Clone Wars. The Bad Batch keeps their more relaxed demeanor, all except Crosshair, who keeps his bucket on more than any other Batcher, foreshadowing his compliance with orders and his coming betrayal in the name of the Empire.
As the episode comes to a close, and Clone Force 99 manages to fight their way off the watery world of Kamino, we are treated to an adorable scene of Omega reuniting Wrecker with his lost "Lula." This stuffed critter, besides matching the Bad Batch's paintjob, is also a toy version of a familiar creature. The Tooka is a cat-like creature that roams across the Star Wars galaxy. Named for Dave Filoni's cat, Took, the Tooka is familiar to fans of Rebels as a subspecies of the critter, the Loth-cat, was a staple of the planet Lothal. Wrecker's Lula doll is clearly a toy version of a Tooka, with its round face and tall, pointed ears.