‘The Bad Batch’ Season 3: What’s Next for Clone Force 99?

We know that season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch didn’t exactly end well for the titular characters of the series. Tech was seemingly killed after he sacrificed himself when he called for Plan 99 and allowed all of the other members of Clone Force 99 to live. Meanwhile, we also saw that Dr. Hemlock took Omega to his Imperial facility, where she met her twin sister and realized that the Empire had indeed captured Crosshair.

Of course, all hope is not lost for the three remaining members of The Bad Batch despite losing two siblings and getting betrayed by Cid. They are motivated to get Omega back no matter the costs, and that means that we are about to see them in action more in season 3, which is yet to be announced by both Disney and Lucasfilm. So, with that said, let’s look at what could be next in store for Clone Force 99 in season 3 of The Bad Batch.

The Next Mission for The Bad Batch

Season 2 of The Bad Batch had no overarching storyline for Clone Force 99 because they were merely going through different missions. But we did see that the Empire was still in motion concerning its plans with the decommissioned clone troopers. Rex and Echo even worked together to try to find their remaining clone brothers all over the galaxy so that they could help them.

But season 3 will likely focus more on the Bad Batch itself because they now have a good reason to take it strong to the Empire after spending much of season 2 dodging the Imperials. They now have to find a way to track Dr. Hemlock to get both Omega and Crosshair. And that was what they failed to do in episode 15 when Saw Gerrera meddled with their mission out of nowhere.

In season 3, they will likely use whatever resources and contacts they have to steadily piece together a large puzzle that could lead them to Hemlock’s lab and save Omega, Crosshair, and even the other detained clones in that facility. And they have to do it before Hemlock can do whatever he plans to do with Omega and the other clones, which he regards as “Imperial property.”

More Cameos

The Bad Batch has been a treasure trove of cameo appearances from different Star Wars characters, as it served as a way for us to bridge some of the stories of some of the characters introduced in previous shows and movies. Of course, that means that season 3 will likely serve the same purpose by introducing old characters in cameo appearances so that we would understand more about their storylines and what they have been up to.

These cameos often serve as fanservice for different fans. Still, they may serve bigger purposes in season 3, especially now that Clone Force 99 is looking to use whatever info or resource they have to get to Omega. As such, some of the cameo appearances in season 3 may be characters that would have some intel or useful information regarding Hemlock and the other Imperial officers.

You could think of it as a huge puzzle that the members of the Bad Batch would have to solve steadily so that they could get the bigger picture regarding Hemlock’s laboratory and its whereabouts. Some of these cameo appearances may even be Jedi, as we did see Gungi in season 2 in what was a cameo appearance that allowed us to see him surviving the events of Order 66. 

Tech’s Fate

As mentioned, the members of the Bad Batch are likely to use whatever info and resource they could use to solve the puzzle regarding Hemlock’s whereabouts. The problem is that they may have to do it without the help of the smartest of their bunch. That’s because Tech was seemingly killed off in episode 16 of season 2 when he sacrificed himself to save his siblings.

But while Clone Force 99 (except for Omega) believes that Tech died when he fell from the railcar in episode 16, there was no conclusive proof that he died. Dr. Hemlock tried to taunt the Bad Batch in episode 16 by telling them that the only thing that he could find was a piece of Tech’s glasses. There was no body that he could find, and that means that there’s a small chance that Tech may have survived that fall using resourceful means.

If he is alive, season 3 might allow us to see him reuniting with his siblings so that they can rescue Omega, Crosshair, and the other clones together. Season 3 should also allow us to see how Tech survived, if he survived that fall. Otherwise, the next season might show conclusive proof of Tech’s death, considering that there was always a likelihood that the Bad Batch would die during the reign of the Empire.

Omega’s Sister

When Dr. Hemlock detained Crosshair, we met a lab assistant with the same Kiwi accent that has always set Omega and the other clones apart from the other characters of the Star Wars universe. However, she wasn’t properly introduced during the events of season 2, even though she was always seemingly in the background.

The final scene of season 3 allowed us to see her introducing herself as Omega’s sister, which means that she is a clone. This lab assistant is similar to Omega and the other clones in the sense that she is also a clone of Jango Fett. The difference, however, is that she is an adult female instead of a kid, like Omega.

We don’t know who exactly this clone is and where she came from, but we do know that she is indeed a Jango Fett clone and must have been around for a while already because she is an adult. She may be indeed older than Omega in terms of her actual age, but it is also possible that she was created much later and was allowed to mature at a rate similar to how the other clones mature.

As to what her deal and end goals are, those are some things we don’t know. We don’t know why she is helping Hemlock, who never saw the clones as actual people. And that means that she must have a reason for treating her siblings in an inhumane manner.

The Empire’s Continued Expansion

The storyline of The Bad Batch was not always just about the members of the Bad Batch. Instead, it also tells the story of the rise of the Empire to power through the perspective of Clone Force 99. And we’ve seen some of the moves and maneuverings that the Empire has been making, especially about how the clones were decommissioned to make way for the Stormtroopers.

We also saw a lot of politicking going on in season 2, especially when it came to the Imperial officers hungry to become even more powerful. That means that this is likely the case in season 3, which will show us more of what the Empire did to become as powerful as it was during the events of the Rebellion.

Of course, in episode 15, we saw a glimpse of some of the things that the Empire had been planning long-term, especially regarding the secrets of Kaminoan cloning. We know that the only way that Palpatine was able to survive his death in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was through a clone. As such, season 3 will likely show us some of the things that the Empire did to learn more about Kaminoan cloning and how it can be perfected. 

We also learned in episode 15 that the Death Star project took around two decades to develop because Tarkin asked Krennic for some updates regarding Project Stardust, which is the codename for the development of the Death Star. As such, in season 3, we can expect more developments on the side of what the Empire has been doing for the Death Star and its other sinister projects.

The Fate of the Clones

There is no report regarding how long The Bad Batch will go on, but we know that animated Star Wars series tend to last for over three seasons. But if season 3 were to become the final season for The Bad Batch, it might allow us to see the fate of all of the clones, including the members of Clone Force 99.

That’s because we saw during the events of Star Wars: Rebels that only a few clones were left in the galaxy and that most of them lived with Rex on a far-off planet. As such, there’s a good chance that we will finally see how some of the clones would die and whether or not the Bad Batch will live through the events of the series.

In episode 16, we heard that Hunter, Wrecker, and Echo planned on leaving their soldier years behind for good so they could finally settle in peace in the remote world of Pabu, a peaceful settlement that was great for those who want to start over. As such, if Clone Force 99 does indeed survive and decides to hang the guns up, we might see the Bad Batch settling for good in Pabu.