Star Wars: The Bad Batch ending explained (and the meaning of its surprising last scene)

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It’s been three years since Dave Filoni, Disney+ and Lucasfilm dug into the mystery of what exactly happened to the clone troopers after the Republic fell, by way of a group of five 'defective' clones with unique genetic mutations that caused all but one of them to resist Order 66, and the young female clone Omega, whom they fight to save from the Empire.

Much like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels before it, the characters of the Bad Batch have generated tremendous fan affection, particularly for Omega, whose love for her brothers binds them together.

The third and final season of the series has followed the Bad Batch after Omega and Crosshair escape from the Empire’s secret base on Mount Tantiss, where they’ve witnessed clones being experimented on as part of the Emperor’s mysterious Project Necromancer. Meanwhile, having discovered that Omega has the high midi-chlorian count they’ve been looking for, Tantiss head Dr. Royce Hemlock has been sending his own specially-programmed clones to bring Omega back once and for all.

What happened during the Star Wars: The Bad Batch finale?

As we head into the finale Omega is back on Tantiss, having agreed to return so as to stop the Empire from doing harm to the peaceful people of Pabu, whom had been sheltering Omega and her brothers. On Tantiss she meets Eva, Jax, Sami, and Baryn, four other Force-sensitive children who are imprisoned and being studied, with Omega's clone sister Dr. Emerie Karr watching over them.

While Omega plans an escape, her brothers Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo have forced former Imperial Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart, who had been responsible for the elimination of clone troopers across the Empire, to help them find Tantiss. But having arrived there the Batch is immediately set upon by Imperial troops and wild animals.

In the finale, Omega takes advantage of the distraction created by her brothers to slowly free herself and the other Force-sensitive children. A key part of her plan involves releasing a cloned Zillo Beast that Hemlock had been experimenting on. The beast creates widespread destruction across the base and forges an escape route which Omega and her charges follow to safety.

Meanwhile Echo, who has been able to sneak into Tantiss, joins forces with a newly contrite Emerie to find Omega. When they finally meet up, Echo and Omega get Emerie and the kids onto a shuttle and away to safety, then go in search of the other clones being experimented on at Tantiss.

Hunter, Crosshair, and a heavily wounded Wrecker make it to the base themselves, but are set upon by four of Hemlock’s special clone troopers. One cuts Crosshair’s shooting hand off, while the others take down Wrecker and Hunter.

Hemlock then brings them to his “Training Room,” where he attempts to brainwash them again. Meanwhile, having freed the other clones, Rampart, and Nala Se, Echo and Omega fight to free their brothers. At first their efforts come to nothing. Hemlock notes that the clones’ loyalty to one another makes them entirely predictable. But after Hemlock learns that Nala Se has just destroyed all of his stolen Kaminoan technology and research, Wrecker and the other Batch clones break free and take down Hemlock's soldiers.

Haandcuffing Omega to himself, Hemlock flees to a shuttleoutside. But before he can get her on board, Hunter and Crosshair destroy it. When Hemlock threatens to kill Omega if they don't let him go with her, Omega signals to Crosshair that he should fire on the binders on her hand. Having struggled all season with his sharpshooting abilities, Crosshair hesitates. But with Hunter’s encouragement, he finally takes the shot, freeing Omega. Hunter and Crosshair then shoot Hemlock, who plunges to his death.

Reunited once and for all, the group returns to Pabu. When Omega wonders what they’ll all do now, Hunter tells her that for the first time they get to choose who they want to be. They can finally do, he says, “whatever we want.”

Are there any Star Wars: The Bad Batch deaths in the finale?

While the finale repeatedly flirts with the deaths of Wrecker, who sustains heavy injuries, and Crosshair, who is intent on making up for having previously betrayed the team, in the end all of the clones get their happy ending. Wrecker, Hunter, Crosshair, and Omega end up on Pabu, while Echo returns to his work with Rex and the nascent Rebellion.

Of the heroes, only Nala Se dies, detonating a bomb to stop the Empire from gaining any trace of the Kaminoan cloning technology or research they had been using to try to create a clone of the Emperor. She takes down Rampart with her.

Among the antagonists, Rampart is blown up with Nala Se after he insists on stealing her research to sell back to the Empire. And Hemlock is killed by Hunter and Crosshair.

What is Project Necromancer?

Project Necromancer is the name of the research project helmed by Dr. Hemlock on Mount Tantiss. While the specific details of the project go unrevealed, it involves finding people with a high "M-count," aka large midi-chlorian levels in their blood. It’s clearly an early version of the Emperor’s quest to clone himself revealed in The Rise of Skywalker. In the end Nala Se prevents the Empire from gaining any useful data from the work.

Are there any Star Wars: The Bad Batch guest appearances in the finale?

The Bad Batch finale focuses entirely on the central cast of the series, Clone Force 99, Emerie, Nala Se, and the series’ antagonists, Rampart and Hemlock. None of the supporting cast of the show up.

Nor do any other characters from the broader Star Wars universe, other than currently-Governor Tarkin, who shows up at the end to shut down the Tantiss program. The funds that had been for the program are redistributed to his own Project Stardust, aka the Death Star.

Does Star Wars: The Bad Batch have a mid- or end-credits scene?

Bad Batch does not have a mid-credits scene per se. But before the credits, having completed the clones’ story in the present, the show leaps ahead in time to offer an unexpected epilogue.

In a final scene, a now-adult Omega travels in the night to the cave where they store their ship. She’s met by an aged and now bearded Hunter, who is concerned about her leaving. She tells him the Rebellion needs pilots. “I want to do more,” she says. “You’ve fought enough. This is my fight. And I’m ready.”

Hunter promises her they’ll be there if she needs them. “You’re our kid, Omega. You always will be.” And with that, Omega flies away. As Hunter and Batcher watch her go, Hunter reassures the creature, “It’s alright girl. She’ll be fine.”

When does the last scene of Star Wars: The Bad Batch take place?

The series began at exactly the moment the Republic fell and the Empire took over, 19 years before the events of the original Star Wars. And while the exact amount of time that passes during the show is unclear, in the third season premiere the daily marks that Omega makes on the walls of her cell on Tantiss suggest she’s trapped there for almost six months. So it could be that by the time of the destruction of Tantiss something like a year has passed.

When the series jumps ahead to Omega as an adult, she mentions the Rebellion by name, which suggests we’re somewhere between Star Wars Rebels and Episode IV, meaning between 13 and 18 years have passed.

Will we see more of Omega or the Bad Batch?

Certainly the ending begs the question, What happened to Omega? How was she involved with the Rebellion? And what happened to her? It seems almost certain from Hunter’s final line that we’re to understand Omega made it through the original trilogy period. Might she turn up again in one of the Mandalorian-era shows, or the upcoming movie? And if she does, can the Bad Batch be far behind?

While Disney has announced nothing, it seems hard to believe their stories end here.

Will there be more animated Star Wars series?

Yes, and soon. Tales of the Empire, a 6-part Dark Side of the Force spinoff of the popular Tales of the Jedi series, will drop on May 4th on Disney+. The series will explore the backstories of Morgan Elsbeth, the Nightsister who managed to find and rescue Grand Admiral Thrawn in the recent Ahsoka live action series; and fallen Jedi Barriss Offee (above), who framed Ahsoka Tano for a bombing during Clone Wars, leading Ahsoka ultimately to leave the Jedi Order.

A second series of Tales of the Jedi has also been announced for release sometime in 2025. A third volume of the innovative Star Wars: Visions is supposedly in the works, as well, though as of yet nothing official has been announced.

And the High Republic-era show Young Jedi Adventures finished its 25-episode first season in February. While it has not yet been greenlit for a second season, it's widely anticipated to be getting one.

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