The release of Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte, Visions Season 2, and The Mandalorian Season 3 within the next year suggests that 2023 will be a huge year for the Star Wars series on Disney+. The second season of The Bad Batch will begin broadcasting new episodes on January 4 with a two-part premiere, so fans won’t have to wait long to return to the world. The second season of The Bad Batch has 16 episodes, just like the first, and is scheduled to end on March 29.
The road that The Bad Batch took to becoming a series was interesting. The Clone Wars had a four-part narrative for an elite squad of clone troopers with genetic anomalies (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), but the program was canceled, therefore the plot was shelved. The Lost Missions’ sixth season, which aired on Netflix in 2017, had an incomplete story reel of the arc; however, the seventh season, which debuted on Disney+ in 2020, featured the entire arc. Dave Filoni, the creator of the series, prepared plans for a formal spinoff once The Clone Wars ended.
The show centers on the clone troopers Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo, each of whom stands out from their comrades in combat because to unique advantages. The Bad Batch is able to resist Order 66’s programming to have the Jedi put to death, unlike the other clones. When they are enlisted by Admiral Tarkin (Stephen Stanton) for an Imperial mission, they have a difficult time adjusting to their new position in the Galactic Empire.
A Change Of Mission
The Bad Batch’s cast of characters each have their own eccentricities that go along with their individual skills. The characters were inspired by vintage war movies like The Guns of Navarone and The Dirty Dozen. Tech is a computer prodigy, Wrecker is big and strong, Crosshair is a master marksman, and Hunter possesses sensory abilities akin to Matt Murdoch. On The Clone Wars, Echo was a beloved character who was initially killed off during the siege of The Citadel. However, the Bad Batch’s plot revealed that he had been kept alive by Separatists so they could study his brain. Echo decides to leave the 501st Legion and join the Bad Batch after becoming a cyborg.
Finding Saw Gerrera (Andrew Kishino), a freedom fighter who fought alongside the Republic during the Clone Wars, is a turning point for the group. The Bad Batch learns that the “insurgents” they were sent to murder are actually refugees as Saw has started organizing the rebel movement he would command in Andor and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Crosshair stays true to the Empire while Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Echo choose to forego their responsibilities.
A Critical Mission
The Bad Batch learns, among other things, that the Empire plans to retire the clones and replace them with constrained warriors who will be brainwashed to serve the Empire on a mission for Rex. The old clones, who age at half the rate, will simply disappear, and Emperor Palpatine will have full command of the new Imperial Army. Tarkin orders Vice Admiral Rampart (Noshir Dalal) to destroy the cloning facility in Tipoca City on Kamino in order to completely end the clone program.
The Bad Batch narrowly escapes the rubble inside the facility after Crosshair unexpectedly decides to save his former squad members. Crosshair appears to be parting with his brothers on better terms even though he ultimately decides against returning to his former companions. Crosshair even gets to make amends with Omega before the Bad Batch board their ship Marauder and leave. Omega is grateful that Crosshair helped save the Kaminoan medical droid AZI-3 (Ben Diskin), who has been helping them.
The cloning facility may be destroyed, but the Empire isn’t so willing to let all the Kaminoans go. Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo), the Chief Medical Scientist for all of Kamino, serves as a mother figure for the clones and actually aids them in their initial breakout. It’s strange that Nala Se is sent to a covert Imperial Facility for a top-secret project.
Enemies and Allies
The Bad Batch does not possess the inhibitor chips that compel them to mindlessly obey orders, in contrast to the other clones who rebelled against their Jedi leaders. However, Tarkin has given Crosshair a chip that only sharpens his skills and makes him hostile to the other members of his unit. When the Bad Batch rescue Omega (Michelle Ang), a young female clone with a different genetic make-up from the other Jango Fett replicants, she joins their crew on their homeworld of Kamino. With her special skills, Omega shows throughout the season that she is a valuable team member.
Additionally, Captain Rex, who eluded the Empire after aiding in Ahsoka Tano’s (Ashley Eckstein) rescue at the conclusion of The Clone Wars, is reunited with the Bad Batch this season. Rex helps the Bad Batch get rid of the implants that had been forced into them and introduces them to Gregor, a fellow clone escapee who would later join Rex in Rebels. The Bad Batch starts doing odd jobs for the Trandoshan mercenary Cid as a result of the galaxy’s uncertain future under Imperial Rule. Despite Cid’s assertions to the contrary, she is a former Jedi informant who has no affection for the Empire.
Throughout the season, many additional characters from the greater Star Wars universe make appearances. When they save Rebels hero Caleb Dume/Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) from the other clones’ pursuit, The Bad Batch initially decides to disobey their orders. The notorious gunman Cad Bane (Corey Burton) makes an appearance with his droid Todo 360 (Seth Green) to engage in combat with the gang before to his live-action role in The Book of Boba Fett. Fennec Shan, a character played by Ming Na-Wen from The Mandalorian, also makes an appearance and ultimately aids the Bad Batch in their battle with Bane.
Other characters include the Rebels heroine Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), the dishonest Ryloth senator Orn Free Ta (Phil LaMarr), the clone deserter Cut Lawquane, and the Kaminoans Taun We (Rena Owen) and Lama Su (Bob Bergen) from Attack of the Clones.
