Dave Filoni’s The Clone Wars legacy continues with a second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. With the end of Kamino’s cloning operations over and the era of clone troopers coming to an end, the members of Clone Force 99 find themselves in a unique position–wanted by an Empire in a galaxy where they’re not quite needed.
While the second season doesn’t quite jump back into the revelations of the first season’s ending (there’re another 14 episodes for that), but does return to some classic shenanigans of the now full-time mercenaries. Largely assumed dead by the Empire, the Bad Batch and Omega are now offered the possibility of a normal life–one which comes at a high price.
The Bad Batch has had the interesting issue of being shorter than the other animated shows, significantly altering the nature of its characters’ exploits and ensuing revelations, with most of it often being limited to aspects directly affecting the team. That said, the clone-related activities of the late Kaminoans seem to be leading towards some Sequel Trilogy-adjacent plot points.
Specifically, the cloning of Emperor Palpatine, and the possible creation of Snoke. Of course, give the Filoni connection, these plot points may point to something closer to the original trilogy, or just after: the medical efforts of Moff Gideon… which also seem to be related to the aforementioned Sequel Trilogy connections.
Thankfully, as interesting as the possibility of finally getting content connected to the sequels is, the season starts slowly with a more traditional mission featuring the usual Filoni-esque storytelling, setting the group on a mission tied to their current status but with some hints of what’s to come.
In addition to what we’ve generally come to expect from these Star Wars animated series, season 2 also ups the animation quality remarkably, outclassed only by the continuing wonder that is Dee Bradley Baker’s voice acting.
With the progress of stories in the Star Wars universe somewhat stagnant, The Bad Batch is a comforting return to the familiar, and hopefully a precursor to stories set in the further future.
The Bad Batch season 2 is now out on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere, and promises another epic journey for the crew and fans.