Bad Batch (Disney+)

[Matt_Fury]

Good episode today.  The Rexin Around show on Youtube has a theory that the Disney+ series will be enhancing the sequel trilogy the way the Clone Wars and Rebels enhanced the Prequels.

There was a lot of evidence for that theory in this episode.

[Dave]

One thing I'm a little confused on is the magic of Jango Fett's DNA. 

I just assumed he was a great athlete / warrior and was selected to be the clone DNA sponsor, but I didn't get the sense that there was anything galactically unique with his abilities.  In all the different books/comics, etc. did they ever explain if there was something super special about him?

I know they need a plot and some conflict, but I'm not clear on why Jango's DNA is so important.

[GrandMoffNick]

I was wondering the same thing. Why does it matter she has "first generation" or whatever they called it DNA? Just grab some other strong smart etc person.

[Jeff]

I know they need a plot and some conflict, but I'm not clear on why Jango's DNA is so important.

Yeah, it kinda makes no sense from a story point of view or a science point of view.  If Omega is somehow a female clone of Jango's X chromosome, then they'd have lost any/all detail from Jango's Y Chromosome.  Boba Fett would 100% make more sense to track down and find if they really need/want Jango's orginal donor XY DNA mix.

I guess I can ignore it for now and hope they explain what makes Omega so special a little better down the road.

[Nicklab]

Cad Bane is one of those characters that you just love to hate.  And he's been pretty well developed over the course of the Clone Wars.  His involvement in the Bad Batch series in this capacity isn't too difficult to justify.  He's right for the time period since this is all happening weeks or months after the end of the Clone Wars.  His role with the Separatists was more as a mercenary than anything else.  And it seems like Lama Su wanted to hire the best for the job.

The competing interests of the Kaminoans seems unclear right now.  They seem to be at odds with the Empire over the future of cloning operations based on their interactions with Tarkin.  Lama Su seems to want Omega back, and dead.  Nala Se seems to want to protect Omega.  And poor Taun We got killed in the process!  In the Clone Wars the Separatists attacked Kamino in an attempt to secure the source DNA and destroy the cloning facilities.  I'm guessing that Omega's DNA is valuable because of what the Kaminoans said about Boba Fett and her - they were the product of pure genetic replication with no alterations.  She could be the potential donor for a new Clone army.  And given the proven nature of the previous Jango Fett clones, they seem to be a valuable commodity in general. 

It's also interesting that they referred to Boba as Alpha for a couple of reasons - the obvious Alpha to Omega concept (beginning to end);  and the name Alpha was used for an ARC Trooper during the Dark Horse comics Clone Wars titles, which pre-dated the Clone Wars animated series of 2008.

[Dave]

The competing interests of the Kaminoans seems unclear right now.  They seem to be at odds with the Empire over the future of cloning operations based on their interactions with Tarkin.  Lama Su seems to want Omega back, and dead.  Nala Se seems to want to protect Omega.

I agree. 

This conflict got me thinking along with the statement that the Bad Batch is going to support the sequel trilogy.  I wonder if there are factions that are working for The Emperor on his cloning tech and there are others that are still aligned with the old Republic / Jedi and what it stood for, like Nala Se.

I've not seen any other story lines, yet, that seem to have any bearing on the sequel trilogy, so it'll be interesting to see if there are other plot lines that help develop some of that back story.

[Matt_Fury]

Lama Su mentioned in an earlier episode that the source DNA they are currently using is degrading....so Omega being a "pure" sample of the source DNA makes sense as to why they want her back.  What's unclear to me is why Lama Su would want her killed after they got her back.  It would mean they would be facing the same problem in a few years.  I have a feeling there's something more to Omega's DNA that we just don't know yet.

BTW, Boba Fett has been mentioned...he's going to show up at some point.

[Dave]

BTW, Boba Fett has been mentioned...he's going to show up at some point.

I wonder if that is where Boba and Fennic will first meet that makes Boba saving her in The Mandalorian make more sense.

[Matt_Fury]

BTW, Boba Fett has been mentioned...he's going to show up at some point.

I wonder if that is where Boba and Fennic will first meet that makes Boba saving her in The Mandalorian make more sense.

I've had similar thoughts.  Also, the alternate facility that the meet up took place is interesting and could have ties to the Mandalorian as well as Rise of Skywalker.  I'm ok with them not completely explaining it, but just giving up hints along the way.

[Nicklab]

The potential for that kind of linked backstory would definitely make the relationship between Boba Fett and Fennec Shand that much more meaningful.  Boba had been working with Aurra Sing as a kind of mentor, but that situation fell apart because he had significant differences with her because of her brutality.  Fennec Shand might be a bounty hunter, but she seems like she might have more of a code than Aurra, who just seems like an outright assassin.  That shared sense of honor, as it might be for bounty hunters, could be something that Fennec and Boba Fett share.

The Kaminoan facility on Bora Vio does seem like another clue about secret cloning operations.  The failed clone that came out of the one tank evoked thoughts of a certain Sequel Trilogy character.  Truthfully, it's nice to see some threads being sewn through the current entertainment that lead towards where the ST would be (where you don't have to read the Aftermath novels).

[Matt_Fury]

The potential for that kind of linked backstory would definitely make the relationship between Boba Fett and Fennec Shand that much more meaningful.  Boba had been working with Aurra Sing as a kind of mentor, but that situation fell apart because he had significant differences with her because of her brutality.  Fennec Shand might be a bounty hunter, but she seems like she might have more of a code than Aurra, who just seems like an outright assassin.  That shared sense of honor, as it might be for bounty hunters, could be something that Fennec and Boba Fett share.

The Kaminoan facility on Bora Vio does seem like another clue about secret cloning operations.  The failed clone that came out of the one tank evoked thoughts of a certain Sequel Trilogy character.  Truthfully, it's nice to see some threads being sewn through the current entertainment that lead towards where the ST would be (where you don't have to read the Aftermath novels).

The creature that came out of the toppled tank was a kaminoan.  Although I agree I thought it looked like something from the tank in either Chapter 12 of the Mandalorian or TROS.  My theory is that this facility was commissioned by Chancellor Palpatine during the war (the Kaminoans are pretty insular and it would be almost out of character for them to be on other planets) for the specific reason of making different strandcasts or something more.  Like I said, I'm happy with just hints of something bigger and leaving the rest up to the viewer.

[McMetal]

That was a weird episode this week. Like they were guest stars in their own show or something.

[Jeff]

That was a weird episode this week. Like they were guest stars in their own show or something.

Yeah, it felt like I was watching the first episode in a Rebels prequel show and Bad Batch was the cameo this week...

[Matt_Fury]

I think you're going to have to look at last week's and this week's episodes as one episode.  There was a lot of setup and the BB is going to have to pull off some type of rescue this week.

[Nicklab]

It's interesting to see the threads running from Clone Wars to the Bad Batch and on to Rebels.  Especially given Cham Syndulla's role in the two previous series.  But I feel like we keep on getting into this whole concept of making the universe smaller, not bigger.

That being said, Hera was one of my favorite characters in Rebels.  It's cool to see her again, and maybe I should have expected something like this after the way the series began