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Spoiler Alert! This review contains spoilers.
I once wrote about how Omega, the female clone child who joins Clone Squadron 99 in season one of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, was the most important kid in the Star Wars canon. In season two episode 16 “Plan 99,” it is confirmed that I was correct. Her connections go back to the prequels and even extend to the most recent sequel trilogy. This all has to do with her work at the cloning facility on Kamino (now destroyed by the Empire) but extended to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker when we learn that Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) cloned himself.
A Third and Last Season
With the second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch in the books, it is reassuring to know that a third and final season of the show was confirmed at the Star Wars Celebration in London. While it is good to know the show is returning because season two ended with a cliffhanger, it will also be sad to say goodbye to this lovable rogue Clone Squadron 99.
Clone Squadron 99
Much of the action in season 2 revolved around risky missions involving our clones Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, (all played by Dee Bradley Baker) and Omega (Michelle Ang). Omega, while being a young clone female who has grown up a bit since season one, is actually older than her adult clone brothers/protectors. Omega was involved in creating them on Kamino, but the batch was “tainted” and thus gave each one an extraordinary ability (Wrecker – size and strength; Tech – keen intelligence; Hunter – heightened senses; Crosshair – extraordinary sharp shooting; Echo – cybernetic enhancements [though technically he was not part of the “batch” that was enhanced]).
Why Omega is Special
Regular clones were also given enhanced aging for them to be trained quickly and prepared to battle during The Clone Wars. This rapid aging does not affect Omega, who is a direct clone from Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) or her brother Alpha/Boba Fett (also played by Morrison). Thus, Omega’s a pure line to her “father” and wanted by the Empire to be used in cloning experiments.
The Empire and the Republic
For a time this season, Disney+ had new episodes of TBB and The Mandalorian premiering on Wednesdays. TBB gives fans a view of those days after the republic fell and the Empire took over in the months after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; TM gives us a look at the time after the Empire was defeated in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and the New Republic was struggling to take charge of cleaning up the detritus of the Empire’s legacy of evil. Surprisingly, both are looking rather similar in that sinister factions within the administrative and military wings keep doing their dirty work.
Omega and Grogu
The Empire’s goal in TBB has been to capture Omega for her pure DNA. A similar thing has been haunting TM, with Empire remnants wanting to capture Grogu (he will always be Baby Yoda to me) for his DNA. So, it seems that the connection between the two is more than coincidence. There have been scientists working for decades for Emperor Palpatine and his minions in order to perfect the process. Palps, wanting not just ultimate power but eternal life, would make that a high priority.
Season Two
I enjoyed season two but do feel that with 16 episodes we got some filler ones that did not advance the Batch’s story or contribute meaningfully to the Star Wars canon. However, the long coming betrayal by Cid (Rhea Perlman), Crosshair realizing the Empire is evil, the Emperor and Admiral Tarkin (Steven Stanton) achieving their goal of replacing the Clone troopers with conscripts, and the ultimate capture of Omega by the imperial forces are important to this series and overall Star Wars story.
Big Reveal
At the end of episode 16, Omega is brought to the medical facility at Mt. Tantiss. There she encounters Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo), the Kaminoan scientist that she worked with at the now destroyed cloning facility on Kamino. We know from previous episodes that Nala is fond of Omega, so she may push back on experimenting on her former assistant.
The bigger reveal is when Omega meets Emerie Karr (Keisha Castle Hughes) who has been working with the evil Dr. Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson) as he explores nefarious cloning possibilities. On the side he has had Karr torture Crosshair, who is his prisoner. When Omega sees Crosshair restrained under torture implements, she tries to help him until Karr stops her. It is then that she reveals that she is Omega’s sister – another female clone!
Implications
There are too many questions and not enough answers, but Karr being a female clone brings up intriguing possibilities. Among them, would Hemlock experiment on breeding clones to try to create a more loyal, stronger force of soldiers? How does the Emperor’s long term plans for himself connect with this? And, more importantly, how will Clone Squadron 99 be able to rescue Omega now that she is in such a high security facility?
The Verdict
Season two was satisfyingly longer (16 episodes) than most Star Wars content on Disney+, and despite having some filler episodes (which are enjoyable nonetheless), it still checks off enough boxes that make it more than worthwhile to watch. With Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau guiding the ship, I like what I have seen so far and am anticipating a slam-bang season three to wrap things up.
For now, I highly recommend that you add TBB season two to your viewing list. Oh, and may the force be with you!
