The Bad Batch's Finale Completes A 15-Year-Old Clone Wars Story

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS from the Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 finale!

Summary The Jedi were complicit in using clones as mere tools, denying them autonomy and family life in service to the Republic.

The Bad Batch finale finally gave clones the agency, free will, and happiness they always deserved after years of servitude.

Through a true, loving family, the show resolved the clones' troubling history with the Jedi, ending on a positive note.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch has officially concluded with the Bad Batch season 3 finale, and the Star Wars show's perfect ending wrapped up a 15-year-old troubling plot from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The Bad Batch focused on Clone Force 99, Star Wars' beloved unusual clones who each have a unique special ability. However, the show also served to wrap up the clone troopers' stories in Star Wars shows and movies.

The history of the clone troopers in Star Wars is a complicated one. Among the many flaws exhibited by the Jedi in the prequel trilogy and in The Clone Wars, their acceptance and treatment of the clones ranks fairly high; although many clones and Jedi bonded, the clones' existence was questionable from the beginning. Yet, one joyous conclusion depicted in the Bad Batch finale in particular was the perfect way to bring an end to this tumultuous, at times unaddressed history with the clones.

Related How The Bad Batch's Final Scene Fits Into The Star Wars Timeline Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 has officially concluded, but the finale's final scene shockingly reveals Star Wars' latest time jump.

The Jedi Were Wrong For Accepting And Using The Clones

Through Palpatine's extensive manipulations, the Jedi found themselves in a difficult position by the end of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Although the Jedi were meant to be peacekeepers, lines became blurred when the Clone Wars broke out at the end of the movie, and the Jedi felt compelled to assist. However, this ended up aligning them with the Republic, pushing them into politics and war when their aims should have been protection and peace.

Worse still, because the war put them in such a precarious position, the Jedi readily accepted the mysterious clone troopers who had been created for them on Kamino, despite no Jedi knowing why that request had been made. In fact, the Jedi didn't even know about Kamino's existence at the beginning of Attack of the Clones. What the Jedi would have done had the troopers fallen into their laps without a war breaking out will likely never be answered; however, even in light of the war, this was a grave blemish on the Jedi's history.

This was a grave blemish on the Jedi's history.

In addition to this acceptance of the clone army being the beginning of the Jedi's downfall, as the clones would go on to massacre the Jedi during Order 66, this was a moral failing on the Jedi's part and incongruent with the Jedi way. The clones were made to serve the Jedi, and they had little to no free will of their own. In fact, in one key Clone Wars episode, season 2, episode 10, "The Deserter," one clone had to go into hiding because he wanted to raise a family rather than fight in the war.

The ex-clone trooper, Cut, simply wanted a life with a family, but he had been made for one thing: serving the Republic army. Cut had no free will or agency in choosing to live a different life; instead, he was treated nearly as an enemy for 'betraying' the Republic. Sadly, the Jedi were complicit in this treatment of the clones. As did the rest of the Republic, the Jedi expected the clones to fight and even die for them, with no real alternative.

The Clone Story Was Always One Of Servitude

Although the notion of slavery is theoretically antithetical to the Jedi way, the clones were essentially slaves for the Republic. They were genetically engineered to follow orders even outside the inhibitor chip that caused Order 66. In Attack of the Clones, Kaminoan cloning scientist Nala Se even said this, telling Obi-Wan Kenobi that they had been altered from the original host, Jango Fett, to be more compliant. If this wasn't horrific enough, the fact that the clones were living beings who acted as bodies for the Republic army should be.

Yes, many clones did come to care for the Jedi they served with and vice versa; Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano are an excellent example. However, the fact that the clones lived a life of servitude cannot be overlooked. This problem then continued to play out even after most of the Jedi were gone and the war was over, as the clones were then forced to serve the Empire. It wasn't truly until the Bad Batch season 3 finale that this wrong was finally righted.

"Whatever We Want" Finally Resolves The Jedi's Wrongdoing

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The Bad Batch's season 3 finale finally resolved this painful history. 15 years after Cut had been denied agency and treated as a traitor for wanting to live a domestic life away from the war, the Bad Batch members concluded their story with a true, loving family. In fact, The Bad Batch goes out of its way to confirm this ending thrice, first by having Hunter tell Omega they can do "whatever we want," second via Hunter describing Omega as Clone Force 99's "kid," and third by including a time jump confirming they lived happily together for quite some time.

The Bad Batch members concluded their story with a true, loving family.

Although this is neither an apology nor something the Jedi contributed to, this conclusion for the Bad Batch ameliorates some of the pain stemming from the clones' lives being dictated first by the Republic and then by the Empire. Importantly, this ending for the show gave clones agency, free will, and the ability to have a family without needing to hide or be condemned. While the treatment of the clone troopers throughout the Clone Wars can never be undone, the finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch did finally give clones the autonomy and happiness they always deserved.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an action-adventure animated series set after the events of The Clone Wars, following Clone Force 99 (a.k.a. the Bad Batch.) Finding themselves immune to the brainwashing effects of Order 66, the Bad Batch become mercenaries for hire while outrunning the empire, now seeing them as fugitives of the law. Cast Dee Bradley Baker , Michelle Ang , Noshir Dalal , Liam O'Brien , Rhea Perlman , Sam Riegel , Bob Bergen , Gwendoline Yeo Release Date May 4, 2021 Seasons 3 Franchise(s) Star Wars

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