This Star Wars: The Bad Batch article contains spoilers.
In the two-part finale of The Bad Batch, the Kaminoan cloning labs go down in fire and water. With no home left to lose, the clones scramble for survival. Alongside them is Crosshair, formerly eager to turn them over to the Empire. His decision provides the main emotional push of an episode that also shows the wreckage of an era.
Take a look at all the Star Wars facts and references we spotted in this episode …
Kamino
– As the clones’ homeworld, Kamino is as special to them as Alderaan was to Princess Leia Organa. The water planet premiered in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi’s detective work lead him to the cloning labs.
– Despite their world being covered with water, the Kaminoans are not an aquatic species. Canonically, the planet’s oceans rose at some point in their distant history, forcing them to adapt with their domed and stilt-legged cities.
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– Two water creatures appear in this episode, both of them formally unidentified for now. The manta ray-like animals that appear outside the window could be juvenile Aiwha, large versions of which carry Kaminoans on their backs in the movie. This is just speculation, however.
– The sea monster that menaces the Bad Batch in the tunnels is a brand-new creature. It looks like it took design inspiration from a turtle, a manta ray, and/or Star Wars’ own craggy-faced rancor.
The Empire
– The Imperial emergency siren heard throughout the background of both finale episodes is a Star Wars staple, appearing from the Old Republic in Legends to the Death Star in the Original Trilogy.
– The Imperial ships that opened fire on the labs are Venator-class Star Destroyers, a renaming of the Republic attack cruiser. Ironically, in the Republic era these ships were heavily associated with the Jedi, since they were usually flagships for Jedi generals. These ships are smaller than the Imperial-class Star Destroyer that followed them, completing the transition between the Prequel and Original eras to the iconic ships from A New Hope.
– The brief glimpse of the Imperial base at the end of the episode includes the Rho-class transport shuttle. As is the case with the Empire transitioning over from Republic warships, this was also previously used by the Republic, primarily as a medical transport.
– The transport is accompanied by Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing star fighters, the kind of ship often piloted by clones supporting a Jedi in a Jedi starfighter.
– As seen earlier in the season, some of the clones who joined the Empire have switched to armor that looks similar to the Republic Commandos from The Clone Wars and Legends. Republic Commando lore established a lot of what Legends fans knew about Mandalorian culture, as they were clones who were directly trained by Mandalorians.
Imperial Science Base
– The planet where Nala Se winds up at an Imperial base is a brand-new location.
– The scientist who welcomes her is a new character, credited as Medical Officer and voiced by Helen Sadler. Her costume provides some intriguing clues as to what her role might be. It’s similar to Dr. Pershing from The Mandalorian, who worked with the Imperial Remnant to try to extract blood from baby Grogu. It’s hard to tell whether the symbol on her uniform is the same as his, and she’s working almost thirty in-universe years before the time of The Mandalorian. But we do know that Nala Se was last working on a way to refresh the clones’ genetic material to possibly make more, as well as that she had been experimenting with making the changes to Jango Fett’s DNA that resulted in the Bad Batchers and Omega. Could this have something to do with what Dr. Pershing is working on a generation later? It’s certainly canon that Emperor Palpatine’s plans stretch that far.
