This story contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
The cameos keep on coming in The Bad Batch Season 2, but in a franchise-altering double bill, we got the big one. While the series trailer teased the return of Palpatine, the fact he’s appeared in everything from Tales of the Jedi to Obi-Wan Kenobi means it wasn’t exactly a surprise. Still, the Emperor has changed the galaxy far, far away, forever.
"The Clone Conspiracy" and “Truth and Consequences” take us back to Coruscant, with Senator Riyo Chuchi (Jennifer Hale) returning from her arc in The Clone Wars and fighting to give the clone troopers the rights they deserve. It looks like Chuchi, Clone Force 99 (Dee Bradley Baker), and Captain Rex (also Baker) had exposed the lies of Admiral Rampart (Noshir Dalal), but a last-minute appearance from Palpatine seals the future of the clones.
The Bad Batch Just Doomed the Clones
The two-part episode focuses on Rampart trying to push through his Defense Recruitment Bill (DRB), which would phase out the clones and establish the conscripted stormtroopers fans know from George Lucas’ original trilogy. Episode 3 gave a tease of the classic Ralph McQuarrie Stormtroopers made famous by 1977’s A New Hope, and while there were hints that the end is nigh for the Grand Army of the Republic, we weren’t quite there yet.
Season 2 has alluded to a growing number of clones breaking free from their inhibitor chips and realizing they’ve been fighting on the wrong side after Order 66. The Season 1 finale featured the decimation of Kamino, with Emperor Palpatine’s newly emerged Empire trying to bury the Clone Army. In The Bad Batch, this leads to the return of Captain Rex , who rebelled against his orders and saved Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein).
Just when Chuchi and the Bad Batch unveil the evidence that Rampart was behind the attack on Tipoca City, Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) returns — emerging from the bowels of the Senate. Much like how Palpatine painted the Jedi Order as overpowered villains in Revenge of the Sith, he successfully links Rampart and the clones to Kamino as part of his grand plan to push through the DRB.
Bail Organa (Phil LaMarr) is among the vocal senators who oppose the DRB, joined by Chuchi and Rogue One’s Tynnra Pamlo. However, when Palpatine suggests clones can’t be trusted, it’s the beginning of the end. After throwing Rampart to the lions, Chuchi and the Bad Batch watch helplessly as Palpatine declares the Clones obsolete.
The mystery of how clones became the Imperial Army of the Galactic Empire stretches back to a throwaway line in A New Hope about Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) serving under the father of Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) in the Clone Wars. With around 19 years between The Bad Batch and A New Hope, it’s more than enough time to recruit an army and largely forget about the existence of the clones.
What’s Next for the Bad Batch?
As we head into the second half of the season, the team has been split up more than ever. Echo (also Dee Bradley Baker) stays with Rex, stating that “the clones will need our help now more than ever.” The Clones have now been fired, while Palpatine recruits his new army. Still, there are questions about what will happen to the leftover clone troopers and whether they’ll appear in the expanding canon of shows.
The Bad Batch's latest episodes reiterated the advanced aging process of clones, with a potential get-out-of-jail-free card for why we don’t see them in the original trilogy. Although Palpatine has seemingly written the clones off, the fact that more are rebelling against the Empire means they’re a rebel threat that shouldn’t be underestimated. There’s a background mention of “insurgencies” sprouting up in the Outer Rim, which sounds like a pretty good reason to recruit the morally strong Bad Batch.
While Rex plays a major part in Rebels, the Bad Batch doesn’t feature outside of its own show or The Clone Wars and has fans questioning what will happen to Hunter and the rest of the team. It’s hard to imagine all of the Bad Batch team themselves being culled, but with the team now divided, a shock death would make for a big Season 2 twist. It’s also unclear what’s next for Rampart after he’s jailed for his crimes, but with him being another character exclusive to the Bad Batch, he could soon be silenced by Palpatine.
Couple the clone troopers with a tease of cloning in The Mandalorian, Supreme Leader Snoke, and how “somehow Palpatine returned,” Palpatine’s cameo in The Bad Batch is the start of an important arc for the franchise. Even though there are still plenty of gaps to fill in the story of the Grand Army of the Republic, the fact we see a clone trooper sleeping rough in Kenobi means things aren’t looking good for the immediate future of those Kamino outcasts. Then again, the likes of Return of the Jedi and the Rise of Skywalker have proved that Palpatine continues to underestimate his most dangerous adversaries.
