This week has brought a large amount of reveals in theStar Warsfranchise as Star Wars Celebration was held in London, England from April 7 to April 10. Many new projects were announced, from a movie about the very first Jedi and the discovery of the Force, which is set to be directed by James Mangold (who is currently working onIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyfor the studio), to a New Jedi Order film starring Daisy Ridley. New looks atAhsoka, Skeleton Crew,and more were also shown.
On the animated front of theStar Warsfranchise,The Bad Batchhad its own panel on the final day of the convention, where the recently concluded Season 2 was discussed, and Season 3 was announced. At the panel, the third outing was confirmed to be the last in the series, concluding the journeys of Hunter, Omega, Echo, Wrecker, and the core cast of clones. Despite most of the other animated series in a galaxy far, far away lasting longer than three seasons, this appears to be the right time forThe Bad Batchto end. Here’s why.
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InThe Bad Batch, the group of unique clone troopersdefected from the newly formed Empireand decided to become contractors for hire across the galaxy in order to support themselves. However, one of the crew, Crosshair, opted to stick with the Empire even after his Order 66 chip was removed, a decision that devastated the rest of the team. Even as the Empire are relatively new in this series (the show is set not too long after the events ofRevenge of the Sith), their power and grip on the galaxy is still there for all to seeas the Bad Batch struggleto run from their past and survive on their own.
Throughout the show, the Empire has been keen on taking Omega,who is technically the sister of Boba Fett, and using her for their mysterious cloning experiments. It seems likely that the goal of these tests is to achieve immortality for Emperor Palpatine. If that’s the case, this show could just tie intoThe Mandalorianand the recently announced finale event film directed by Dave Filoni.
This has ultimately been a show about family, with the group of hardened soldiers becoming increasingly attached to Omega as time goes on. Season 2 concluded with Omega being captured by the Empire, who also has Crosshair (after he seemingly turned good again), so it seems that Season 3 might feature a rescue plot line of some sort in order to save Michelle Ang’s character from the evil Imperial forces.Because of the events of the finale of Season 2, it seems thatThe Bad Batchis racing towards a climax where the crew put their lives on the line to save Omega. If the expected events in Season 3 do indeed occur, this will likely feel like a fitting ending point for the series.
This is not a show likeThe Clone WarsorRebels, both of which had the same style of animation buthad a much broader focus thanThe Bad Batch. The Clone Wars,for example, focused on several different characters, including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and more. The same can be said ofStar Wars Rebelswith Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, Chopper, etc. Both of those shows were focusing on more characters, many of whom are very different and inhabit a unique space in the vast galaxy. They also tied in heavily with the overall Skywalker saga.The Clone Warschanged the prequels in particular drastically,adding some crucial story beatsthat helped tie those films together with the original trilogy, whereas Rebels arguably does the same for the era of the Empire.
The Bad Batch, however, is much narrower in scope. All the main characters are clones, which not only means that they are quite similar to each other (not that that’s a criticism), but that they all occupy similar roles in the galaxy and this story. The story does expand at times to explore what happened to the rest of the clones after the fall of the Jedi Order and the end of the Clone Wars, but it’s largely centered on the Bad Batch group. That’s not a problem at all; it actually ends up helping the overall narrative of the showas it feels more personal and intimate. Still, it does also mean that there’s arguably not as much story potential in this show compared to some of the other animated series in the franchise.
The writers and creators ofThe Bad Batch, many of whom worked onThe Clone WarsandRebels, are incredibly talented. This new show ending with season 3 might also be the right time in that they can continue to work on the franchise with a new story. It seems that every few years, a new animated show appears in a galaxy far, far away, fromThe Clone WarstoRebelstoStar Wars Resistance. This pattern has helped to highlight different eras in the timeline incredibly well, adding to the idea that The Bad Batch is right to end with season 3.
