By Josh Bate & George Bate
Clone Force 99 have one more adventure in store. On Monday at Star Wars Celebration Europe, it was announced that The Bad Batch will come to an end in 2024 with its third and final season.
Ahead of the new season, a teaser trailer was exclusively shown to an excited Celebration crowd. Here’s a breakdown of what we saw from The Bad Batch Season 3.
The trailer picks up where the heartbreaking second season left off. Hunter and Wrecker are searching for Omega, who is captured by Royce Hemlock at Mount Tantiss. Omega has a slightly different look now, sporting longer hair that suggests there’s been a little bit of a time gap between seasons one and two.
Trapped in the same Imperial Advanced Science division facility as Omega is Crosshair, who is notably scarred from whatever experimentation the Empire has subjected him to. It’s clear from the trailer that Crosshair is firm in his stance against the Empire and struggling with the role he played over the first two seasons.
Emperor Palpatine is briefly seen in the trailer, arriving on Mount Tantiss. Between The Mandalorian and Ahsoka seemingly setting up Heir to the Empire connections, in addition to the lingering questions of cloning from The Rise of Skywalker, chances are that secrets about Palpatine’s plans will be revealed in Season 3.
The trailer also briefly provides a look at Fennec Shand. The master assassin appeared in The Bad Batch Season 1, but was absent from the second season. Following her role in The Mandalorian and more substantially in The Book of Boba Fett, it looks as if Ming-Na Wen’s character will continue to be significant in Star Wars storytelling.
Captain Rex, wearing his clone trooper armor, appears in the trailer. And so does his comrade Clone Trooper Wolffe. Wolffe was another fan favorite, who debuted in The Clone Wars before also appearing alongside Rex in Rebels.
Tonally, The Bad Batch Season 3 appears to continue the darker feel of Season 2’s conclusion. This makes sense given what Clone Force 99 has gone through. First, Crosshair pledged his allegiance to the Empire, before eventually realizing the errors in his ways and being imprisoned by the Empire. Echo left the team to join up with Rex in an effort to further liberate other clones. Then, Tech sacrificed himself. And, to top it all off, Omega is captured and being used for some horrific experiments commissioned by the Emperor. There are a few moments of levity in the brief Season 3 trailer, but, akin to the other Star Wars animated shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels, The Bad Batch looks to be heading into increasingly dark territory.
The Bad Batch Season 3 premieres on Disney+ in 2024. Check out our review of the season finale of The Bad Batch Season 2 below: