WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 4, "Cornered," streaming now on Disney+.
Like The Clone Wars before it, Star Wars: The Bad Batch has made regular use of Easter eggs and callbacks to previous Star Wars projects, and its latest episode is no exception. There are references to all sorts of different productions including, but not limited to, Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian. Here is a chronological list of all the Easter eggs and various callbacks from “Cornered.”
This one isn’t so much of a callback as it is a subtle confirmation of theories. While Omega is confirmed to be a defective clone, not much is known about her or her life. This line proves that she has been confined to the white-washed walls of Kamino for her entire life prior to joining the Bad Batch, and it doesn't seem like the Kaminoans gave her a say in the matter.
The episode shows Clone Force 99 landing to scramble their ship’s signature and resupply on Pantora. The planet is a callback to Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3, Episode 4 “Sphere of Influence.” In that episode, Padawan Ahsoka Tano and one of the planet’s senators worked together in an effort to rescue Pantora’s Chairman’s two daughters who were being held for ransom by the Trade Federation.
When the Bad Batch lands on Pantora, they bribe the owner of the hangar bay to not scan their ship. The Sullustan then proceeds to contact Fennec Shand and sell them out, hoping to make a double profit. When he calls Shand, he identifies himself as “Raspar Six,” which is a reference to Star Wars Legends. It was a “delinquent moon” as a result of some kind of atomic explosion. After the blast, a weather forecast once suggested that the explosion could cause major problems for the agricultural planet near the moon.
Star Wars is rife with disguises. From Luke Skywalker as a short stormtrooper to Princess Leia as a bounty hunter in Jabba’s Palace, a disguise is a great way to avoid attracting attention in a tense situation. When the Bad Batch lands on Pantora, they need to find food and fuel, so Echo, Hunter and Omega go out looking. To make them less conspicuous and hide his clone face, Echo dresses up like a droid. His mechanical hand and legs add to the aesthetic while a helmet, wires and tubing complete the ensemble.
Star Wars Rebels really focused on the Imperial occupation of Lothal and what life was like under the Empire. Shows of military strength were a regular part of the appearance of peace, and nothing was a bigger show than Empire Day, which celebrated the beginning of Palpatine’s rule. When Echo, Hunter and Omega go out, they see clone troopers marching past as people cheer. That Pantora is still occupied after the war has ended is a callback to Rebels, but it is also an early sign of people’s values in the Empire. They believe that the white-clad clones saved them from the treacherous Jedi, so they don’t mind surrendering some of their freedoms for apparent peace and security.
As Hunter is talking to a storeowner about selling his last explosive, Omega looks around the shop. The thing that catches her eye is a doll of a clone trooper. She drops it, and it ends up causing her trouble, but it is reminiscent of the stormtrooper doll that the Death Troopers find while looking for Jyn Erso in Rogue One. It shows how much value people put into the clones for having saved everyone from the Jedi and bringing about peace.
As Omega picks up the clone trooper doll, she is distracted by some barking pets in a cart. As she walks up to them, she says one of the most famous Star Wars lines there is: Obi-Wan’s “Hello, there.” Obi-Wan said it to both General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith and R2-D2 in A New Hope.
When Omega sees the pets, one of them grabs the clone trooper doll out of her hand, just as someone starts to roll the cart away. She pursues and gets lost in the process. It’s then that Fennec Shand makes her appearance. She was introduced in The Mandalorian as a highly skilled and ruthless bounty hunter, and her skills here do not disappoint. She bests Hunter and Wrecker in fights and nearly gets away with Omega.
After incapacitating Hunter and Wrecker, Shand catches up with Omega and pushes her off of a tower and onto a sky-truck. As she does this, Hunter comes up in pursuit on a speeder bike. The chase through Pantora’s cityscape is highly reminiscent of when Anakin and Obi-Wan pursued Zam Wessell through the skies of Coruscant in Attack of the Clones.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. The second episode airs Friday on Disney+.
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