Banner’s Guide To The Bad Batch Season One

***THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS THE BAD BATCH SEASON one***

With Season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch Dropping on Disney Plus at the end of September, I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the defective Clone Squad with a rough overview of what we know so far about Clone Force 99.

We first met the team in the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars when they assist Anakin and Captain Rex rescue the once thought deceased Clone Trooper CT-1409, better known as Echo. We find out that Echo wasn’t actually killed but was kidnapped and turned into part cyborg by the Separatists. Once rescued Echo decides to join Clone Force 99, or the Bad Batch if you would prefer. He served alongside defective clones Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair.

Season one of The Bad Batch starts when Order 66 is enabled and we learn that the Bad Batches Inhibitor Chips are defective and the team does not attempt to kill Jedi. They in fact let a padawan (Caleb Dune or Kanan Jarius from Star Wars: Rebels) escape. This creates a divide within the team that ultimately leaves Crosshair siding with the newly formed Empire and the rest of the team to fend for themselves. Before the depleted team leave Kamino and the Empire they cross paths with Omega, one of two first generation clones. Omega and Boba Fett are the only clones that have “pure” Jango Fett genes, making Omega a very valuable asset to the Empire. Both clones do not possess the accelerated growth that most clones have. The Bad Batch rescues Omega from Kamino and she becomes the newest member of the team.

As season one progresses we see how the Empire started to take over the galaxy, and where the Bad Batch fit into this ever changing world by taking on odd jobs from an arms dealer named Sid. While the team is trying to find where they fit into the galaxy they are being hunted by Crosshair, the new leader of Troop 99, and the replacement team for Clone Force 99.

In the final episodes of the season we find out that the Empire has decided to destroy Kamino after moving all valuable assets off world. The Empire ends up leaving Crosshair who is rescued by The Bad Batch. The team navigates a sinking city to get back to their ship to escape. After a heart to heart (using that term loosely) between Hunter and Crosshair, Crosshair decides to not rejoin the team despite the Empire leaving him behind.

The way this first season was setup and delivered gives me high hopes for the newest season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch to be dropped. Based on the trailers we are going to get a lot of really cool stuff thrown at us, and a little bit older Omega who appears to have earned her spot as an integral part of the team. While I enjoyed the Bad Batch season one was a little slow. It has action, but its main goal was to develop the relationships between Omega and the rest of Clone Force 99 which can get boring at times. I still think this is a good watch and suggest it to anyone who wants to learn more about the new birth of the Galactic Empire.

From a Galaxy Far Far Away,

Bryan Banner

The Mad Scientist