Star Wars Clones Still Don't Get Any Respect In Bad Batch Season 2
While fans understand that clone troopers play a massive role in "Star Wars," they also recognize the tragic truth behind the clones.
"Star Wars" first introduce the clones in the aptly-titled "Episode II: Attack of the Clones." The movie reveals that Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas commissioned their creation to protect the Galactic Republic from potential threats. Eventually, Chancellor Palpatine used them to kill the Jedi, overthrow the Republic, and form the Galactic Empire, securing his position of power over the entire galaxy. Beginning with their creation, the Republic only ever used the clones as an instrument to reach their goals. Whether fighting against Dooku's droid army or exterminating the Jedi, everyone used the clones as tools rather than people.
Once the Empire took power, they didn't need the clones anymore, deeming them unfit for military service and retiring them in favor of human Storm Troopers. "Star Wars" fans can't look past the Empire's betrayal of the soldiers that helped put them in their position of power. In "Obi-Wan Kenobi," Temuera Morrison camoed as a homeless clone, showing casual audiences the mistreatment of the veterans. "The Bad Batch" showed fans another side of "Star Wars," where a group of clones resists Order 66 and sees their fellow troopers turn against them in favor of the Empire. The trend continues with "The Bad Batch" Season 2, as the series further showcases the lack of respect toward the clones.
The Bad Batch is the story of what happened to the clones
"The Bad Batch" continues to explore the Empire's transition from clones to stormtroopers, showing the beginnings of the stormtrooper program on Daro. The Empire's treatment of the clones is at the forefront of the series, showing there's room to tell a mature story within the animated boundaries of "Star Wars."
During an interview with IGN, "The Bad Batch" star Dee Bradley Baker reflected on how Season 2 continues to explore the lives of clone troopers in the aftermath of Order 66. "The clones that are still around, that are still of some use, they're being used for what they are, but they are ultimately expendable," the actor said. "They are disposed of, as we saw very clearly at the end of Season 1. So it's interesting to see how these poor clone soldiers slowly wake up to how this is playing out for everybody, as well as for themselves."
While the clones are inherently copies of Jango Fett — giving them each that iconic Temuera Morrison look — many of them have developed into their own personalities, and "The Bad Batch" showcases the uniqueness found within them. "It just so interesting," producer Brad Rau told Agents of Fandom, "you have these characters that were created in this very insidious way in the prequels. How Dave [Filoni] and team in 'The Clone Wars' digs into each one of them, and you get to learn that Rex, he's not just a copy of a copy of a copy, but he's Rex. He's his own self." "The Bad Batch" continues what Filoni started, bringing Baker back as a new group of clones but still diving into the personalities that set them apart from the masses.