Clone Wars spin off “The Bad Batch” series discussion thread

[Laspector]

If they are now initiating the Stormtrooper program, I wonder what happens to all the clones? You don't see any in the OT. Wasn't it debunked that it is Rex in ROTJ?
Maybe there is an Order 67--kill all clones! After all, the first rule of assassination is kill the assassin.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Wasn't it debunked that it is Rex in ROTJ?

He was not seen in Return of the Jedi but he was at the Battle of Endor as was stated at the end of Rebels. Listen here (ignore the fact they are suggesting that Nik and Rex are the same character.

And he also appears in one of the Galaxy of Adventure shorts but those tend to more entertaining than actual retelling of events so I am not sure if they are supposed to be canon. But note that his trusty clone armor is present.

Filoni at one point wanted to establish that the the character that has become known as Nik Sant was actually Rex. However he backed off that stance out of respect for Nik’s own character legacy.

So in short, Nik and Rex have a similar look and served together in the Rebellion but they are not the same character. We either have to believe he is among the group of commandos and just not seen or If you ignore the Galaxy of Adventure clip, he might have been something like a gunner on a ship.. maybe the Ghost, which might have just gone unseen as well.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

If they are now initiating the Stormtrooper program, I wonder what happens to all the clones? You don't see any in the OT.

If you are asking why the Empire does not have clones in their service during OT, it’s because they age more rapidly than a non clone human and they also have some sort of set service life. Sort of like a set retirement date. They mentioned this in one of the recent episodes. So since they can no longer create clones, any living clones during OT would have been either retired/forced from service.

But we do know these retired clones exist in the OT. We saw Rex, Wolfe, and Greggor was around near and/or past OT. We also see Bo Katan not surprised to meet up with another clone when she faces off with Fett at their first meeting. She assumes Fett is one of these made for service clones.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

He was not seen in Return of the Jedi but he was at the Battle of Endor as was stated at the end of Rebels. Listen here (ignore the fact they are suggesting that Nik and Rex are the same character.

And he also appears in one of the Galaxy of Adventure shorts but those tend to more entertaining than actual retelling of events so I am not sure if they are supposed to be canon. But note that his trusty clone armor is present.

View attachment 1671877

Filoni at one point wanted to establish that the the character that has become known as Nik Sant was actually Rex. However he backed off that stance out of respect for Nik’s own character legacy.

So in short, Nik and Rex have a similar look and served together in the Rebellion but they are not the same character. We either have to believe he is among the group of commandos and just not seen or If you ignore the Galaxy of Adventure clip, he might have been something like a gunner on a ship.. maybe the Ghost, which might have just gone unseen as well.

Basically if you want to check out a most of what I just said but with the references, you can go here: Nik Sant

Behind the scenes​

"…I think the one thing I have really thought about is I really do think that Rex is that guy on Endor. I really do. Why else is there a bearded old guy on Endor, Tano? Why? It makes no sense. If you don't want that to happen, do you know what that means? I'm gonna make that happen. I'm getting like Palpatine, I'm getting power crazy."―Dave Filoni on his belief that Nik Sant and Captain Rex are one and the same[5]

Star Wars Rebels creator and executive producer Dave Filoni has fueled speculation that Nik Sant and Captain Rex, seen above, are the same character.

Nik Sant appeared briefly as a member of Han Solo's strike team in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.[1] He was first identified as Nik Sant in The Official Star Wars Fact File 44 in 2002.[6] According to a continuity polaroid from Return of the Jedi, he was portrayed by one "L. Burner."[7]

The similarities between Sant's appearance and that of the former Clone CaptainRex, a character who appears in both the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels television series, stoked speculation that Sant and Rex could be the same character. In 2016, at a screening of the second season finale of Star Wars Rebels, executive producer Dave Filoni speculated that the "bearded old guy on Endor," Nik Sant, could be Rex, suggesting it did not make any sense for there to be an "old guy" on Endor unless it was someone like Rex.[5] The Rebels series finale, which aired on March 5, 2018, confirmed that Rex did fight at the Battle of Endor, but did not go so far as to confirm that Rex and Sant are the same character.[8] Six months after the episode's airing, Filoni revealed in an interview with IGN he ultimately chose to not canonize the theory because he felt that laying down an already established character prior to his coming to Star Wars wasn't correct, adding that Rex could have been present at Endor and not be Sant, even though some fans could choose to believe that Sant and Rex are the same individual while others choose to not do so.[9]

In recreations of shots from Return of the Jedi in the Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures short "Han Solo - From Smuggler to General," Rex is used instead of Sant wearing clone trooper armor. Rex also appears in original shots in the short.[10] Because Galaxy of Adventures shorts are not meant to be taken as literal events,[11] no official source has currently definitively stated that Sant and Rex are the same character.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

On the topic of Nik Sant. When I saw the character for the first time, he did stand out because of his beard but I never thought of him as an old guy. I thought of him more as a bleached blonde surfer dude. I guess maybe because I knew they were filming in California. In fact, I thought he would make a good real life GI Joe Rock ‘n Roll at the time.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Another excellent episode. Not a complaint this season at all.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Loved this week’s episodes. I really love these episodes that focus on the Empire and Crosshair‘s story line is getting extremely interesting.

 

[DazzlerFan]

“The Outpost” was a fantastic episode. Strongest of the season, IMHO, followed by “The Solitary Clone.” (Oddly enough both of them are Crosshair centered episodes.)

 

[Riceball]

Despite the complaints about this season being nothing but "filler episodes", I'm actually enjoying this season every bit as much as S1. While the format is slightly different, I feel that the stories are still very good. I also feel that the complaints about "filler episodes" are off base. If people think that this season has been nothing but "filler episodes" so far really hasn't been very close attention this season. While this season doesn't have the strong central story arc of last season the episodes in this season so far have been anything but fillers. Stand alone, yes. Fillers, no.

This season seems to be more about character development, particularly of Omega and her role in and relationship with the Bad Batch. They've also been giving us a lot of backstory on the early days of the Empire and the move from Clonetroopers to regular human Stormtroopers. We're also seeing the Bad Batch beginning to question their place in the galaxy and what they want to do with their lives. Do they want to continue what they're doing now and act as Cid's muscle which pays and keeps them under the radar but isn't very satisfying as well as sometimes requires them to bend their morals? Or do they want to do something bigger, try to make more of a difference at the risk of bringing more attention to themselves?

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I don’t understand how people can proclaim an episode is a filler episode without knowing the whole story they are trying to tell.

I also don’t understand why people use the term, filler episode as a dirty word. Even if an episode is a stand alone episode, it still has entertainment value. Some of the greatest TV series in history are nothing but stand alone episodes.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Another solid episode today. I am officially calling it the best Star Wars TV series on Disney+.

 

[janglesworthy]

I don’t understand how people can proclaim an episode is a filler episode without knowing the whole story they are trying to tell.

I also don’t understand why people use the term, filler episode as a dirty word. Even if an episode is a stand alone episode, it still has entertainment value. Some of the greatest TV series in history are nothing but stand alone episodes.

X-Files

 

[Riceball]

Another solid episode today. I am officially calling it the best Star Wars TV series on Disney+.

While I've really enjoyed this season so far, I felt that this was the weakest episode of the season. But I don't regard it as a filler episode, or even really a stand alone since it's clearly building up to something bigger.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

I sort of viewed it as a turning point episode. Everything that they’ve done up till now has been under a soldier’s helmet.

They are realizing that they’ve never been free, even currently “on their own”, they’ve just realized that they can also have lives of their own.

They were welcomed by strangers and treated as family. They’ve never had anything like that before. Even Wrecker talked about finally being full.

And now that those strangers have been hurt, they are choosing to stay and help.

And, they’ve finally seen Omega as a child and not a soldier. And they want that for her.

But, since we know that the Empire will be looking for her because of her cloning Knowledge, it will be short lived, sadly.

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

Another solid episode today. I am officially calling it the best Star Wars TV series on Disney+.

Couldn't agree more. I just caught up on the last three episodes, all good. Even with the predictability of what Cross Hair is going through, it's still being executed really well.

Spoiler

I think I audibly cheered when Cross Hair shot that imperial Lieutenant.

 

[janglesworthy]

 

[Treadwell]

fun ep this week. Nice Krennic cameo.
Need more/bigger bombs next time, Saw.
Gotta say, Saw's mission was the more important one.

 

[Riceball]

Loved this week's episodes and I can't wait to see what they do with it in S3. I felt that it also showed how this season wasn't really purely episodic, while the episodes were largely stand alone, they were clearly building up to the events of the season finale. This season's arc was about the Bad Batch and their place in the galaxy, what they want to do with their lives, and their relationship with Omega. I liked how the episodes all sort of tied into each other without seeming to do so.

 

[Treadwell]

Whoa, just learned that was the season finale!

 

[joberg]

I just hope that Tech is alive