The Bad Batch Has A Serious Clone Force 99 Problem Now

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is making its biggest problem even worse: having engaging and substantial episodes that DON’T Feature Clone Force 99.

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch episodes 7 and 8Star Wars is proving that Star Wars: The Bad Batch has a major issue when it comes to Clone Force 99. Unfortunately, the most entertaining episodes of The Bad Batch season 2 have been episodes that don’t feature the primary cast of characters. As such, this seems rather problematic for a series where their main protagonists aren’t as engaging as the times they deviate away from them.

It’s not hard to argue that The Bad Batch season 2, episode 7 is one of the most meaningful and substantial episodes of the series thus far. Featuring conflict within the Imperial Senate on Coruscant, senators argue over the fate of the Republic’s clone army and their immediate future, all while Admiral Rampart advocates for the creation of a newly-recruited army of stormtroopers. Meanwhile, Rampart has assassins killing any clones, along with supporters who attempt to speak out against him. Although the likes of Captain Rex are featured in this episode, Clone Force 99 remains absent until the following episode.

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The Bad Batch’s Best Stories Don’t Involve Clone Force 99

Compared to other episodes this season, the clones’ fate being decided by the Empire on Coruscant is far more meaningful than Tech winning a speeder race or Clone Force 99 searching for hidden treasure. The only other episode that comes close to being as engaging as The Bad Batch season 2, episode 7 is episode 3, which saw Commander Cody fighting a Separatist holdout before deciding to abandon the Empire. Aside from the former Bad Batch member and Imperial loyalist Crosshair, the rest of Clone Force 99 was similarly absent from that episode as well.

These aforementioned episodes are great, and they help define the dark transition in the galaxy from the Republic to the Empire. However, it feels strange that they don’t have the series’ protagonists. It communicates a lack of faith in the series’ main characters, though it’s not hard to argue that they’re just not compelling enough to carry an entire season on their own (let alone two). It’s problematic when these episodes are the most entertaining, especially when the Bad Batch could be more interesting if they were simply given more to do that actually mattered on a larger scale, not neatly wrapped up adventures that conclude by the end of the episode.

Can The Bad Batch Make Clone Force 99 Interesting?

While there’s potentially still time for The Bad Batch season 2 to turn things around and have the Bad Batch become more dynamic, the odds are slim. Their most compelling character was Echo who had been communicating his desire to do more rather than just trying to survive and stay under the Empire’s radar. Although Clone Force 99 helping Rex in The Bad Batch episode 8 was a step in the right direction for the rogue squad of clones, it ends with Echo leaving to join Rex.

Although Echo and Rex teaming up to help clones survive in the wake of the Empire’s new stormtrooper program is very exciting, it’s exactly what Clone Force 99 should be doing in The Bad Batch to make them more compelling, rather than parting ways. As such, it seems as though the struggle to make Clone Force 99 more engaging will continue, especially when all the surrounding characters seem to have far more dynamic motivations in the Star Wars galaxy.

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