A super trooper-based show
You won’t find much consensus if you ask Star Wars fans which movie or project is the definitive expression of the franchise. The Empire Strikes Back is the most loved film, true, but it hardly captures the breadth of a universe that includes 11 movies, 14 TV shows, countless novels and comic books, and more. Return of the Jedi has the Ewoks going for it, but ... it has the Ewoks. Star Wars, from 1977, started it all; George Lucas’s 2005 prequel, Revenge of the Sith, works for darkside enthusiasts and Hayden Christensen stans. There are a few sequel trilogy truthers out there, plus some diehard Rogue One supporters. Others name the animated show The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels as tops.
Fans can debate the best Stars Wars longer than it takes to do the Kessel Run. But the most “Star Wars” Star Wars project? It just ended its three-season run on Disney+.
The Bad Batch, a show about a group of ragtag clone troopers on the run from the Empire, wrapped up its final season this week. The show isn’t just a nod to the Star Wars story — it is the Star Wars story, all bottled together into one show. The Bad Batch connects to almost every era of Star Wars — the prequels, the sequels, the expanded universe, the original trilogy and more. It draws inspiration and characters from novels, comic books, video games and a long list of Star Wars material (canonical or not). The show is packed with so many minute plot points about the Empire, the Rebellion, the Jedi, the Sith, clones and more that it might leave you wondering if you even understand Star Wars at all.
On its face, The Bad Batch shouldn’t have been interesting. It centred on a group of a clone soldiers who deserted the Empire and tried to survive on their own. No lightsabers, Millennium Falcons or Wookies in sight. But the show’s central storyline had deep ties to the main Star Wars mythos. That’s mostly because the group — Hunter, Wrecker, Echo, Tech and Crosshair — was tasked with watching over Omega, a young female clone who is being sought out by the Empire for her apparent connection to the Force. And Emperor Palpatine wanted to use her for his own experiments.
And that’s just the beginning. The Bad Batch dipped into the deepest of Star Wars lore, ripping ideas about the dark side, clone soldiers and the ongoing galactic war itself to underscore that the galaxy is smaller than you think.
Nothing is more monumental than the location of Mount Tantiss — a massive mountain with an Imperial base built in it.
This isn’t any old mountain base, though. Mount Tantiss is a location that originated in Star Wars data logs decades ago in ’90s Star Wars novels. Its claim to fame? Housing a clone of Luke Skywalker, aptly named “Luuke,” as well as Palpatine’s heirlooms and keepsakes that made for MacGuffins throughout multiple books, video games and comics.
In Bad Batch, it was a similar story. The Empire used the base to conduct experiments with clones — including Project Necromancer. Though we don’t clearly learn its goal, there was vague dialogue about cloning technology, the force and dark-side mumbo-jumbo.
The final scene of the show was a wink to the bigger story at play. Omega, grown up and safe, hopped in a starship to fight alongside the Rebellion, the group that eventually enlists Star Wars heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia.
The Bad Batch soldiers dealt with the debris kicked up by almost all other instalments in the franchise. Though they didn’t battle Darth Vader or hide baby Luke Skywalker, they fought on the front lines. The war part, no stars needed.