One Dark Star Wars Theory Proves The Franchise Has Made Its First Winter Soldier Twist

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 episode 11.

Summary Tech's return may have already begun in The Bad Batch season 3 due to the introduction of Imperial shadow agents.

CX-2 searching for Pabu suggests Tech's memory might still be intact despite becoming a shadow agent, as he wouldn't have needed to find the planet he had gone to several times before.

CX-2's apparently diminished memory, along with several parts of Tech's memory that survived the conditioning, could indicate that Tech can still be saved.

There have been hints throughout Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 that the show would feature a Winter Soldier twist regarding Tech, but one new theory suggests it might have already started. Tech, the brains of Clone Force 99, died at the end of The Bad Batch season 2 during the raid on Eriadu. The idea that Tech could have survived his fall has been growing since the trailer for The Bad Batch season 3 was released, though, and it now seems that Star Wars has already started setting up his return.

One of the biggest hints that Tech will return was the introduction of Imperial shadow agents: brainwashed clones forced to do the Empire's bidding. The Winter Soldier trope has a character who was presumed dead return to hunt down their former friends, and the shadow agents could be how Tech fits into the trope. One shadow agent in particular is very reminiscent of Tech: CX-2. Though CX-2 could very easily be revealed as Tech in a later episode, there's already evidence that he's part of a Winter Soldier twist. While that reveal would be especially tragic, there's also a glimmer of hope for Tech.

Related Star Wars: The Bad Batch Voice Cast - What The Actors Look Like In Real Life Star Wars: The Bad Batch has quite an interesting cast of actors that features multiple Star Wars veterans, as well as a few newcomers.

Tech Would Have Known How To Get To Pabu

Such an important memory should have survived the shadow agent conditioning

Before CX-2 could recapture Omega, he had to find Pabu first. That required him to track down and interrogate Cid, then sneak aboard Phee Genoa's ship to download her flight log information. That wouldn't make sense if Tech was CX-2, though, as Tech flew to Pabu several times, and he should have remembered how to get there. Pabu was the closest thing Clone Force 99 had to a safe home, and it became very important to them emotionally and tactically. Tech wouldn't have simply forgotten the way there, so something likely caused him to forget.

Tech (Clone Force 99) A mutant clone created by the cloners of Kamino, Tech was a scientific genius who served as a vital member of Clone Force 99. He and the rest of his squad went rogue after Order 66 and the inauguration of the Empire, and eked out a living in the galaxy's underworld. Tech tragically died on one fateful mission, sacrificing himself for his brothers. Created By George Lucas , Dave Filoni Cast Dee Bradley Baker Died Star Wars: The Bad Batch Race Clone

Becoming A Shadow Agent May Have Affected Tech’s Memory

Hemlock's conditioning could be flawed

Custom Image by Kevin Erdmann

When Crosshair described the process that created shadow agents to Rex's group of rebel clones, he mentioned how the agents often came out different. That, along with the fact that CX-2 couldn't find Pabu on his own, could indicate that shadow agents' memory was damaged when they were conditioned by Hemlock. Crosshair was also subjected to the same conditioning, and while it didn't work on him, it took a serious mental and physical toll on him, like his shaking hands. If the process did cause memory loss, it could be a sign of larger issues with the shadow agents.

Crosshair also noted how shadow agents' identities were erased, but that shouldn't have affected their memories. It also likely wouldn't have been an intended part of the process, as Tech's knowledge about the rest of the Bad Batch would have been instrumental in finding Omega. Something is likely going wrong with Hemlock's conditioning, causing the shadow agents to have adverse reactions to the conditioning. It would also make sense that Tech would be harder to condition, as Crosshair already showed that his "defective" nature helped him resist the process. Those could be signs that Tech's conditioning wasn't completely effective in a more hopeful way.

Tech Still Acts Much Like His Old Self

They might be able to bring Tech back

Close

Despite large parts of his memory seemingly being gone, there are a few hints that some aspects of his personality and memory still remain. When he stole Phee's data, for instance, he cracked her encryption extremely quickly and also glanced back at her before leaving. Perhaps the biggest clue that some part of Tech remains in CX-2 was his use of the word "domicile" when he ordered the stormtroopers to search through the homes on Pabu. "Domicile" is an unusual word to replace "house," but Tech was by far the most likely to use it given his intelligent manner of speaking.

Parts of Tech's personality surviving after he was turned into CX-2 could be further proof that the shadow agent creation process was flawed. If his identity was truly erased, he shouldn't have any of his usual quirks anymore. If part of Tech survived being turned into CX-2, that might also mean that his conditioning could be reversed. It seems increasingly likely that Tech will return in The Bad Batch season 3, but whether he's a Winter Soldier, and how much of him remains, is yet to be seen.

Bad Batch Episode No. Episode Title Air Date 10 "Identity Crisis" 4/3/2024 11 "Point Of No Return" 4/3/2024 12 "Juggernaut" 4/10/2024 13 "Into The Breach" 4/17/2024 14 "Flash Strike" 4/24/2024 15 "The Cavalry Has Arrived" 5/1/2024

STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH SEASON 3 EPISODES 1 - 11 ARE AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON DISNEY+