WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 1, "Aftermath," streaming now on Disney+.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch looks like it will function as a sequel to The Clone Wars after the first episode debuted with an introduction by the same narrator from the recently concluded series. Accordingly, it picks up right where The Clone Wars left off with the unique members of Clone Force 99. It seems like their origins might be a little bit more mysterious than viewers were originally led to believe.
After the confusion of Order 66 on the planet of Kaller, Hunter, Echo, Crosshair, Tech and Wrecker all return to their homeworld of Kamino. There, everything is in turmoil and they soon find out that the Clone Wars are over and that Admiral Tarkin is there to evaluate all of the clones. The “regs” don’t seem to mind because their chips make them loyal to a fault, but the members of the Bad Batch know that trouble is coming because Tarkin is known for disliking clones.
The admiral takes particular interest in Clone Force 99 and asks the Kaminoans for more details. Chief Medical Officer Nala Se tells him that they “are medically defective clones whose cellular mutations enhance traits desirable in a soldier.” Tarkin’s ruthless, military mind is automatically triggered, so he asks how many of them are available for combat. Nala Se responds that “five are all that remain.” Here, Nala Se is using doublespeak and hiding Omega’s identity as the true fifth member of Clone Force 99. However, Tarkin, along with much of the Star Wars fandom, glossed over the second part of Nala Se’s comment.
When she said that only five “remain,” that indicates that there must have been more members of Clone Force 99 at some point. This theory is only further proven in how the Bad Batch is repeatedly described as having "desirable" mutations. This seems to mean that someone intentionally corrupted or enhanced the Jango Fett clones in an attempt to create an army of super soldiers, but the efforts appear to have mostly failed since the others have apparently all died.
If the genetic mutations that created the Bad Batch were not an accident, then someone has to have been responsible for their creation, but that question still needs an answer. Perhaps Palpatine asked for the enhancements, or maybe it was the Jedi. However, the more likely answer is that the Kaminoans had ideas of their own, especially since they were not always forthright with the Republic, or Tarkin.
By the end of the episode, it seems more and more likely that Omega is Force-sensitive, and the Kaminoans know it. After Omega escapes, thanks to the Bad Batch and a little help from Nala Se, the medical officer reports back to Prime Minister Lama Su. He says, “We must be cautious. Until the Empire’s intentions are made clear, say nothing.” He is clearly hiding something because he doesn’t want others to know that Omega is special. Maybe, the Kaminoans tried to find a way to counteract Order 66 with an army of mutant clones who couldn’t be brain washed, or maybe they wanted to take over the galaxy with their own army of Force-sensitive clones. Although the latter seems unlikely, they clearly know more than they're letting on and they're trying to cover their tracks. Only time, and more episodes, will unravel exactly why there were originally more members of the Bad Batch.
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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