What's Next For Wayland After Star Wars: The Bad Batch's Season 3 Finale?

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episode 15.

Summary The planet Wayland remains crucial for future Star Wars stories despite Mount Tantiss' shutdown.

Hemlock's research continued after his death, as Project Necromancer was a major part of the era of The Mandalorian.

Showrunner Dave Filoni's plan to connect various Star Wars projects hints at Wayland's importance to Grand Admiral Thrawn, which could even include Tantiss appearing in live-action.

Mount Tantiss, the home of Dr. Hemlock's research into cloning, was put out of commission in the finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, but the planet it's on, Wayland, could still have a role to play in the future of the franchise. The ending of The Bad Batch season 3 resolved several huge plots, both for the members of Clone Force 99 themselves and for Star Wars as a whole. Not all of those resolutions were complete, though, and there's a way for one important aspect of the season to make a major return.

The finale of The Bad Batch season 3 wrapped up many of its loose threads neatly, but it also left the door open for future plot lines in upcoming Star Wars movies and shows. One of the biggest ways The Bad Batch could connect to the future of Star Wars is through Project Necromancer, the research project behind Emperor Palpatine's resurrection. Project Necromancer also provides a blueprint for the future of Wayland, despite its fate in The Bad Batch's finale.

Related Will There Be A Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 4? Has Star Wars: The Bad Batch been renewed for season 4? Here's everything we know about the animated series and Clone Force 99's future.

Wayland Has Been Shut Down... But It Will Be Reopened

Wayland Could Become Important To Grand Admiral Thrawn

In one of the final scenes of The Bad Batch, Governor Tarkin landed on Wayland and assessed the damage caused by Clone Force 99. After hearing how none of Hemlock or Nala Se's research had survived, he ordered Mount Tantiss to be shut down, and the funding for Project Necromancer to be diverted to Project Stardust instead. While that seems like the final nail in the coffin for Wayland and Project Necromancer, they seem to both be important to the future of Star Wars.

The Bad Batch's showrunner and the upcoming untitled Mandalorian movie's director, Dave Filoni, confirmed that Wayland was meant to set up an aspect of Grand Admiral Thrawn's future story.

"In The Bad Batch, there is actually some crossover with the book 'Heir to the Empire' in the military base of Tantiss. So there are little things along the way that I've built across different mediums, all in preparation for things that come later."

As Filoni mentioned, Wayland was very important to Thrawn's story in Legends, and it looks like the planet will have a similar role in canon. Several aspects of Wayland have been changed in canon, such as its purpose shifting from Thrawn's base of operations to being tied more closely to Emperor Palpatine. Still, Filoni's comments indicate that he always planned to tie Wayland into future Star Wars stories in more ways than one.

Project Necromancer Returns In The Mandalorian Era - Giving Hemlock A Dark Legacy

Hemlock's Research Lived On Long After His Death

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Despite the major setback in Project Necromancer, and even though Hemlock died and Mount Tantiss was shut down, his research continued without him. Project Necromancer was revived at some point prior to The Mandalorian, as it played a central role in that show's plot. It was the reason the Empire was searching for Grogu, which also allowed Hemlock to continue posing a threat to Force-sensitive children in a way. That, coupled with Filoni's quote, seems to indicate that Tantiss will be reactivated at some point between The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian so its important research could continue.

Will We See Mount Tantiss In Live-Action?

Thrawn's Connection To Wayland Will Likely Be Revealed In Live-Action

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Given Wayland's importance to the future of Star Wars, it seems quite likely that it and Mount Tantiss could make the jump from animation to live-action. Filoni's comments make it seem like the details he has been sprinkling into Star Wars projects are building up to one large payoff, which is likely his Mandalorian-era movie. If that's the case, and Wayland proves to be as important to Thrawn's plans as he's indicated, there will almost certainly be a live-action version of the base. Thrawn will also likely play a large role in Ahoska season 2, which provides another opportunity for Tantiss to show up in live-action.

Dave Filoni's Mandalorian-era movie does not have a set release date yet, and Ahsoka season 2 was only recently confirmed.

Filoni's plan to connect his Star Wars projects is a bold new move for the franchise, and it could pay off incredibly well. In the past, Star Wars has been known for coming up with its stories on the fly and filling in the gaps later. Filoni's approach seems to directly contradict that and display significant planning. That could make upcoming Star Wars projects feel more cohesive and interconnected than ever before, and it's an extremely promising direction for the franchise to take. It also means that even though The Bad Batch has ended, it can still contribute to Star Wars in a meaningful way.