By George & Josh Bate
Heartbreakingly, The Bad Batch has come to an end with its 47th and final episode. In a nearly hour-long installment of the series, “The Cavalry Has Arrived” features plenty of neat easter eggs and hidden details. Check out all of the easter eggs we noticed in the episode below…
Notably, the Star Wars intro and the logo for The Bad Batch no longer have their colors for this final episode. Instead, both are presented in gray. This isn’t the first time a Star Wars animated show has presented a gray version of its logo as this was the case in Star Wars Rebels following the death of Kanan. The gray Bad Batch logo also aligns with the armor currently worn by the crew. Whereas Seasons 1, 2, and much of 3 have had the team wear armor with colors like red, orange, blue, white, gray, and black, the Bad Batch have blacked out their armor for these last few episodes in order to remain covert while infiltrating Tantiss.
The episode title “The Cavalry Has Arrived” is actually the first ever line spoken by a member of the Bad Batch. This line was spoken by Wrecker in the first episode of The Clone Wars Season 7, which introduced Clone Force 99 and served as a backdoor pilot for The Bad Batch.
Crosshair tries to convince Hunter and Wrecker to let him sacrifice himself in order to save Omega. Hunter contests Crosshair’s willingness to sacrifice, pointing out that he will not execute Plan 99. Plan 99 refers to when a member of the team willingly sacrifices themself for the greater good of the team. This is exactly what Tech did in the Season 2 finale, which, fittingly, was called Plan 99. The usage of the number ‘99’ is a homage to the clone 99, a deformed clone who sacrificed himself for his brothers in The Clone Wars.
Omega breaking the Zillo Beast out of the facility brings full circle to a plot thread that began all the way back in The Clone Wars. In that show, Palpatine commissions the cloning of a Zillo Beast after it runs rampant through Coruscant. Years later, this Zillo Beast experimentation ends up harming Palpatine as it is through the Zillo Beast escaping that Omega is able to escape, the facility is destroyed, and, in turn, progress on Project Necromancer comes to a halt.
Hemlock’s elite Clone X assassins are visually reminiscent of Purge Troopers and the Knights of Ren.
Crosshair loses his hand in the fight with the Clone X assassins. Crosshair is far from the first Star Wars character to lose a hand, but Crosshair’s loss serves a different symbolic function. All season, Crosshair’s hand has trembled anytime Tantiss is mentioned. In turn, the once-expert marksman now has difficulties using the very skill that makes him unique. On Pabu, Crosshair discovered that this tremor is of psychological origins, not physiological ones. So, when Crosshair has his hand cut off in the episode, it could be seen as a symbol of him finally letting go of his trauma. And, as seen at the end of the episode when Crosshair’s marksmanship is vital to killing Hemlock and rescuing Omega, the loss of his hand does not mean that he isn’t an expert shooter anymore. On the contrary, Crosshair, despite losing the hand, is still able to make an extremely difficult shot.
“Let off some steam, Clone X.” Hunter impales one of the Clone X assassins just like Arnold Schwartznegger’s John Matrix does to Bennett in the 1985 action classic Commando.
Scorch is killed in the series finale of The Bad Batch. This beloved character first appeared in the video game Star Wars: Republic Commando and has served as Hemlock’s primary henchmen throughout The Bad Batch.
Tarkin mentions that he will reallocate funds from Project Necromancer to Project Stardust. As revealed in Rogue One, Project Stardust is the codename for the Death Star. The term ‘stardust’ comes from Galen Erso’s nickname for his daughter Jyn Erso.
When Tarkin brings this up, a version of the Imperial March plays that previously played when Darth Vader dies in Luke’s arms aboard Death Star II in Return of the Jedi.
Tarkin arrives to Tantiss and is accompanied by a new generation of Shock Troopers. This class of trooper first appeared in Revenge of the Sith and have since featured in The Clone Wars, Tales of the Jedi, and the new show Tales of the Empire.
When the team returns to Pabu, a high-pitched version of Omega’s theme by the Kiner family is played. This is the same theme that has been used since Season 1 when Omega joins the team aboard the Marauder.
Emerie Karr no longer wears her glasses when she is at the end on Pabu, symbolizing how she no longer sees things through rose-colored glasses and has committed herself to doing right by clones.
The Bad Batch series finale features an epilogue with a time jump. This is exactly what the series finale of Rebels did, with an epilogue that skipped forward in time and showed Ahsoka and Sabine meeting in front of the mural. This is also what happened in The Clone Wars when Darth Vader visits the crash site of Ahsoka’s ship and recovers her lightsaber.
At the end of the episode, adult Omega uses Hunter’s red bandana to tie her hair up.
When Omega sits down, if you look closely, you can see that she still has the tooka doll Wrecker gave her in Season 1.
In the cockpit of her ship, Omega has Tech’s glasses as a reminder of her brother’s sacrifice.
In an interview with StarWars.com, Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang discussed the emotional epilogue. “The Bad Batch has a spectacular finish, as you would expect from Star Wars, but it has a particularly beautiful and affecting epilogue,” Baker remarked. “It’s really a beautiful moment that plays out.”
The article reports that the final recording session was “an emotional day.” Ang said, “That epilogue really hit me in the feels. This idea of Omega starting a new chapter that she’s so ready for, that she feels compelled and drawn to, that everything has been leading up to, has resonance for me. This whole experience was so new for me. Working with the Star Wars family, working as a voice actor, doing things remotely, holding space with [Dee] when we get to do Celebrations and conventions. And now, having this character realized and grown up, I feel like my personal journey has mirrored Omega’s in some way.”
Dee Bradley Baker made a funny yet poignant point about the theme of fatherhood evolving in this epilogue. “If you can call the Bad Batch, you know, the Dad Batch…I think everybody has learned something along the way,” Baker said. “The good news is that Omega makes it out and she makes it on her own. Off she goes. Dad’s left back with the dog, and you’ve got the satisfaction of the memories that you’ve forged together and [the knowledge] that she has become her own person. What more could a parent want?”
On that note, The Bad Batch comes to an end. What an incredible, emotional journey over the past three years. Thank you, Clone Force 99!