Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for the Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 finale.
Summary
- The Bad Batch offers a rare peaceful and hopeful ending, making it a standout in Star Wars animation.
- The series builds on the best elements of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, creating a beloved family dynamic.
- The diverse members of Clone Force 99 allow for relatability and add a human touch to the galactic saga.
The series finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch has only further proven that it’s my favorite Star Wars animated TV show to date, and there are many reasons as to why that is. Following Clone Force 99 for the durations of its three seasons, The Bad Batch has blossomed from a spin-off of Star Wars: The Clone Wars to its own standalone and heartfelt story. The Batch started out as a fun and interesting addition to The Clone Wars season 7, and they have since become one of Star Wars’ most beloved families yet.
The Bad Batch season 3’s ending is what makes it even more clear for me that this is my favorite project Star Wars animation has ever done. It’s so rare in the Star Wars galaxy for characters to have a truly peaceful and hopeful ending, and after everything Clone Force 99 goes through in The Bad Batch, they certainly earned one. This series has had such a beautiful range of human emotions tied to it, and its importance in the greater Star Wars story also makes it something forever special to me – and this is why.
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The Bad Batch Embodies The Best Parts Of Star Wars Animation
It Builds On The Best Aspects Of The Clone Wars & Star Wars Rebels
Throughout its three seasons, The Bad Batch has taken the things that many viewers love most about The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels and has brought them together. Regarding The Clone Wars, it was inevitable that The Bad Batch was going to emulate it in many different ways. Its first episode opens with the Clone Wars-style logo and narration, and it uses the same style of animation overall. It also picks up right where The Clone Wars season 7’s ending had left off, closely tying The Bad Batch to the beloved prequel era as well.
As for Star Wars Rebels, the biggest appeal has always been the found family at the heart of it. The Ghost crew, composed of Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, Kanan, and Hera (and Chopper) has a special place in the hearts of all viewers, especially as they made their way into live-action in the Ahsoka series. The Bad Batch has taken this and highlighted Clone Force 99 as a family, with Omega at the heart of it. Though both these families tragically lost one of their loved ones, that loved one lives on in the rest of the family’s actions.
Clone Force 99 Is A Family With Something For Everyone
There Are All Types Of Relatability In The Members Of The Bad Batch
What makes Clone Force 99 so special as a family is that they’re a very diverse group in terms of personality, skills, and more. Everyone brings something different to the table, and The Bad Batch has highlighted each character’s strengths and weaknesses to emphasize the most human parts of them. One of the best moments where this is shown is when Tech and Omega have a heart-to-heart in season 2, episode 9 “The Crossing,” which sees Tech revealing to Omega that he feels things just as much as she does, even if he can’t express them the same way.
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This has allowed all audiences to see parts of themselves in various members of the Batch, which makes the entire experience of The Bad Batch feel even more personal. The tenderness Omega brings to the dynamic only enhances this, as she proves no one’s heart is too hardened for the love a family of any kind, by blood or by choice, can provide. Clone Force 99 has become a fully human reflection of a family, and knowing they got to live in peace thanks to Tech’s sacrifice only makes it even more realistically bittersweet.
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The Bad Batch Has Expanded Star Wars Lore In A Perfect Way
Its Story Has Added Essential New Lore & Created Meaningful Bridges Between Content
The Bad Batch hasn’t just captivated audiences with its emotional and familial dynamics, however. This animated series has also added vital lore to the Star Wars galaxy, filling in the gaps during a crucial part of the Star Wars timeline. From detailing the earliest days of the transition from the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire to laying the foundation for the clone troopers’ resistance to the Empire, The Bad Batch has added essential storylines to the greater Star Wars story.
These bridges built between stories are vital to keeping a transmedia franchise like Star Wars so consistent, and The Bad Batch has done it expertly.
Just as important is its connections to other parts of Star Wars, from The Clone Wars all the way to The Mandalorian. The show finally provides context to the War-Mantle Imperial project mentioned in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by showing the transition from clone troopers to stormtroopers, and its later focus on Palpatine’s Project Necromancer connects it directly to Grogu and The Mandalorian. These bridges built between stories are vital to keeping a transmedia franchise like Star Wars so consistent, and The Bad Batch has done it expertly.
The Bad Batch Has Star Wars’ Best Happy Ending (& Deserves It)
Happy Endings Are Rare In Star Wars, & The Batch’s Is Certainly Well-Deserved
Most endings in Star Wars are either sad yet hopeful or downright tragic, as seen in both Rogue One and The Clone Wars. This is what many figured for The Bad Batch, especially given the fact that these clones never make an appearance during the original trilogy. Thankfully, this isn’t what Star Wars opted for with Clone Force 99. Instead, they gave the Batch their well-deserved happy ending, one that came at the cost of Tech’s major sacrifice and many devastating trials and tribulations.
Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo all spent years fighting in the Clone Wars, quite literally being bred for war, and had to fight even more just to earn a semblance of peace after the war ended.
While happy endings also exist in Return of the Jedi and even Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, even they don’t feel quite as satisfying as this one. These happy endings are expected in their respective trilogies and stories, whereas Clone Force 99’s was certainly a gamble right up to the very end. Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo all spent years fighting in the Clone Wars, quite literally being bred for war, and had to fight even more just to earn a semblance of peace after the war ended. At long last, they’ve finally earned it.
This proves that The Bad Batch‘s ending is simply perfect, and it’s a major part of why this animated Star Wars TV show is my favorite. Though the reality of Tech’s true death and sacrifice is still hard to swallow, it’s honored in the way the characters pay tribute to him and earn the life Tech wanted for them all on Pabu. From beginning to end, there isn’t a single moment in The Bad Batch that I don’t thoroughly enjoy, which will make this one of my hardest yet most meaningful Star Wars goodbyes yet.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
Cast
Dee Bradley Baker
, Michelle Ang
, Noshir Dalal
, Liam O’Brien
, Rhea Perlman
, Sam Riegel
, Bob Bergen
, Gwendoline Yeo
Release Date
May 4, 2021
Seasons
3
Writers
Jennifer Corbett
, Dave Filoni
, Matt Michnovetz
, Tamara Becher
, Amanda Rose Munoz
, Gursimran Sandhu
, Christian Taylor
, Damani Johnson
Directors
Brad Rau
, Steward Lee
, Nathaniel Villanueva
, Saul Ruiz
Showrunner
Dave Filoni
Creator(s)
Dave Filoni
, Jennifer Corbett