The Bad Batch Finally Reveals The Real Reason Tarkin Shut Down The Clones

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3's ending.

Summary Tarkin opted for stormtroopers over clones due to cost, lack of loyalty, and ease of recruitment for the Empire's power.

The real reason behind Tarkin's move away from clones was funding the Death Star, with money redirected from Project Necromancer proving this.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch unveils Tarkin's motive for the stormtrooper program and sheds light on the Empire's infrastructure.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch's season 3 finale secretly revealed the real reason why Governor Wilhuff Tarkin shut down the clone program. While The Bad Batch seasons 2 and 3 shifted the show's focus towards exploring Palpatine's resurrection and Star Wars' Project Necromancer, the debut season centered around the early days of the Empire. In the aftermath of Star Wars' Order 66 and the end of the Clone Wars, Clone Force 99 found themselves on the run from the newly-formed Empire that no longer valued them.

Many of these story threads culminated in the mid-season episodes of The Bad Batch season 2. These episodes included Senator Chuchi and resulted in the Empire forgoing cloning in favor of the stormtrooper program. As alluded to, the ending of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 focused less on this and more on Dr. Hemlock's work for Palpatine. That said, the appearance of Tarkin in The Bad Batch season 3's finale linked back to the origins of Imperial stormtroopers by revealing the real reason the governor decommissioned clones in the Empire's early days.

Related Wait, Was Even Grand Moff Tarkin In The Dark About Palpatine's Resurrection? Despite his high ranking within the Imperial hierarchy, it seems not even Grand Moff Tarkin knew about Emperor Palpatine's resurrection plans.

Tarkin Felt Cloning Was More Expensive Than An Army Of Recruits

Stormtroopers SImply Cost Less Than Clones In Star Wars

Although The Bad Batch season 3's ending provided another major reason for Tarkin's reasoning for the stormtrooper program, this is not to say the early seasons of the show did not divulge some motives. For one, Tarkin and the other officers of the Empire felt that the clones lacked loyalty. Tarkin did not believe that soldiers who could so easily turn on their former allies were the best choice for a fledgling Empire. Similarly, the clones were bred specifically for war and did not directly choose to fight for the Empire, something an army of recruits would completely change.

...hiring recruits to become stormtroopers was a much easier, more cost-effective way of building an army loyal to the Imperial way.

That said, the biggest motive for Tarkin abandoning the cloning process was its cost. The Kaminoan cloning program was naturally extensive and cost the Republic a great deal of credits in the Clone Wars. With Tarkin responsible for diverting funding across the Empire to allow it to retain its power, hiring recruits to become stormtroopers was a much easier, more cost-effective way of building an army loyal to the Imperial way.

Tarkin Was Responsible For Finding Funding For The Death Star

The Empire's Biggest Weapon Needed Funding In The Dark Times

Concerning The Bad Batch season 3's ending, Tarkin was shown perusing over the ruins of Mount Tantiss. After stating that Hemlock had cost the Empire too much, he tells his inferiors to redirect the funding of Project Necromancer to Project Stardust, the codename for the construction of the Death Star. This proves how much funding Tarkin needed to construct the Death Star for the Emperor, and adds another level of motivation to his move away from cloning to stormtroopers.

Related Krennic's Bad Batch Cameo: Project Stardust & Death Star Timeline Explained Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2's finale featured a cameo by Commander Krennic, reporting on the progress of Project Stardust - the Death Star.

The funds saved in the move away from cloning were likely diverted to Stardust. This was proven by The Bad Batch season 3 with Tarkin taking any possible opportunity to provide the Death Star with more credits. Through the ending of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, more about the infrastructure of the Empire is revealed, including the secret reason why Tarkin preferred the cheaper method of recruiting soldiers over cloning them on Kamino.