While Echo is new to the Bad Batch, he is not unfamiliar with being a part of a squad that is looked down upon by other Clones. The Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Clone Cadets" shows how Echo's original team, the Domino squad, eventually graduated from training. While the Domino squad was first introduced in Season 1, Episode 5, “Rookies,” Season 3's “Clone Cadets” chronologically took place in between the show’s premiere movie and the series itself. In the episode, the Domino squad is often called “rejects” because they fail to work together as a team. By the end of the episode, they learn to work as a group and graduate from Kamino. While the episode is an interesting look at how Clone cadet training works, it is even more interesting due to the parallels between the Domino squad and Clone Force 99.
Domino squad and the Bad Batch are similar not because of their individual members, but because of the way that they are treated and perceived by their fellow Clones. "Clone Cadets" begins by showing the disconnect between the members of the Domino squad, and the episode focuses on the theme of success in war through unity. CT-782, later named Hevy, is brash and reckless, and he tries to go off on his own rather than work with the others. CT-4040, later named Cutup, does not seem to take anything seriously. Echo is entirely too focused on orders and struggles to adapt. CT-00-2010, nicknamed Droidbait, is often the first to get shot. CT-5555, who named himself Fives, is argumentative. Because of their differences, the team argues more than they cooperate. The squad fails both the practice test and their final test, but they are given the opportunity to take the final test again.
Like Clone Force 99, Domino squad's failure to conform to the training standards sets them apart from the other Clones, and they are derided by their peers. In Clone Force 99's case, their differences make them a more effective unit, so while they do not get along with their fellow Clones, they are treated better by the Kaminoans, at least until the Empire takes over. In contrast, the Domino squad's nonconformity initially makes them less successful in battle, and therefore their differences are less tolerated by the Kaminoans.
When it comes to the other Clones, both squads are treated similarly, showing that among the Clones, major differences are usually shunned regardless of their efficacy. Clone Force 99 is a strongly cohesive unit when they're introduced, but in spite of their success, they are still considered to be a group of “rejects” like the Domino squad. Hevy even refers to his team as "nothing but a bad batch." Unlike Clone Force 99, he is not trying to reclaim the phrase "bad batch" as a badge of honor. Thus, while "Clone Cadets" is focused on success through unity, the episode also highlights ableism within the Clone training program, a theme that is further explored with Clone Force 99.
This ableism can also be seen in Clone 99's tragic story. Born with genetic defects, 99 is never given an official team to work with or even a chance to try to prove himself, and is instead relegated to clean up and maintenance. These may be essential careers, but the issue is that 99 is never given any other options or opportunities that might also suit his skills. Additionally, while the Clones all come from the same DNA, they still are individuals with vastly different learning needs and individual desires. The Domino squad highlights the Kamino facilities' inability to adapt and incorporate multiple training methods and alternate opportunities for the Clones outside of the battlefield. This is more a failure on the Kaminoans' part than a failure for the Clones themselves.
Like Clone Force 99, the Domino squad eventually learns to use their differences to become a cohesive and successful unit, though this change mostly occurs off screen. The final test for Clone Troopers is the “Citadel test,” which is deliberate foreshadowing, as Echo is later presumed dead during a rescue mission to the Citadel, a seemingly impenetrable prison. As in Clone Force 99's test from Governor Tarkin in the Star Wars: The Bad Batch series premiere, "Aftermath," the Domino squad's final test is also rigged against them. However, the squad rolls with the punches and is still able to pass. The episode ends with their graduation, but it's a bittersweet moment since the audience already knows that Cutup, Droidbait and Hevy all die on the Rishi moon soon afterwards.
Despite how short-lived the Domino squad is, the team does provide a possible blueprint for the Bad Batch. The episode provides many key threads involving the treatment and mistreatment of Clones that is further developed in regards to Clone Force 99. Thus, “Clone Cadets” laid the groundwork for the later Star Wars: The Bad Batch series long before it went into development.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes premiere Fridays on Disney+.
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