This Star Wars: The Bad Batch article contains spoilers.
The Bad Batch have always been short on friends and allies but never more so than now. The rise of the Empire has cut them off not only from the rest of the Clone Army but the vast resources of the Republic. This band of clone misfits is truly alone now, and with assassins and Imperial agents on their tail. What are they going to do?
First things first: find out the identity of the bounty hunter trying to kill them and kidnap Omega. Learning a name could help them plan their next move. And what better place to find the information they need than deep within the criminal underworld, on the planet Ord Mantell, a hive of scum and villainy run by the Black Sun crime syndicate and frequented by Jabba the Hutt’s thugs.
There the team search for Cid, a Trandoshan informant who used to work with the Jedi during the Clone Wars. She agrees to help them but only if they do something for her: rescue a rancor named Muchi from a group of slavers. It’s no easy task for Hunter, Omega, and the rest of the team but they manage to get the job done. By the end of the episode “Rampage,” Muchi’s is on the way back to Jabba, and the Bad Batch have learned that the bounty hunter looking for them is named Fennec Shand, whom we all know from The Mandalorian.
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But all that’s hardly the most interesting part of the episode. More important is what Cid sets up for the future of the show. Before they part ways, Cid tells Hunter that he should seek her out if the Batch ever wants more work, suggesting that these rogue clone soldiers could find a new purpose as mercenaries for hire. At the very least, this could solve their money problem.
Cid’s offer seems like foreshadowing for a new status quo the show will turn to once it’s tackled its immediate storylines with Fennec and Crosshair, who remains brainwashed by Tarkin and the Empire. With Cid as their quest giver, the Batch could go on missions of the week, whether it’s daring rescues or stealth ops into Imperial territory. It’d definitely be fun to watch Clone Force 99 pull off a heist at some point.
Whatever the case, it’s unlikely we’ve seen the last of Cid, whose first appearance on the show has already made her a favorite among fans of The Bad Batch. It helps that she’s voiced by TV legend Rhea Perlman, whom you know best as Carla on classic sitcom Cheers. Perlman brings her masterful knack for comedic timing to the role of the wise-cracking Trandoshan who is at once a bit sketchy but also charming.
Surprisingly, despite Echo knowing her so well from his days fighting alongside Jedi commanders in the Clone Wars, Cid has never actually appeared in Star Wars before, which means that her past remains a bit of a mystery. In what ways did she help the Jedi fight the Separatists? Did she ever meet Obi-Wan Kenobi or Anakin Skywalker? Does she know Ahsoka Tano? In a universe where characters and storylines so often connect, it’s definitely possible, although we don’t know for sure what her relationship is to the Jedi we know and love. But we’re definitely looking forward to learning more about her as the series continues.
