Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Bad Batch, season 2, episodes 15 & 16.The Bad Batch season 2 finale may have finally begun to explain what actually happened to the hundreds of thousands of clones left over from the Clone Wars. Up until now, very little Star Wars media explained what happened to the clones. Many believed that the clones merely retired or grew too old to fight, to the point where they became beggars on the street like the poor clone veteran in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Since most of the stormtroopers in A New Hope are a part of the Imperial draft, there’s a glaring discrepancy in the fate of the clones between the prequel and original trilogies.
From the beginning, the point of The Bad Batch series has always been to show how unjustly and poorly the Empire treated the clones after the war. The Bad Batch finale reveals that Star Wars’ newest villain, Dr. Royce Hemlock, is using many of the decommissioned clones as his own personal test subjects. At the moment, his research is completely covert. But by the time the rest of the clones in the galaxy get wind of the atrocities Hemlock is committing, Palpatine may very well find himself at war with the very army he commissioned.
The Empire's Plans For The Clones Could Cause An Uprising
In The Bad Batch season 2, episode 15, several high-ranking Imperial officers gather at a summit meeting on Eriadu to discuss the increasing incursions by some clones against the Empire. Because many of the clones who disobeyed Order 66 begin to question their role in the Jedi Purge, the Empire has the perfect excuse to ship them to Dr. Hemlock. But rumor of Hemlock’s experimentation is reaching more and more clones. Nevertheless, Tarkin is convinced that—if the clone uprising ever truly gets out of hand—the Empire would retaliate swiftly to quell the insurgents before they became a problem.
During The Bad Batch, there are still some in the Senate who believe in giving the clones equal rights. But as Palpatine slowly tightens his grip on the galaxy, their chances of being treated fairly dwindle. If Tarkin is correct, then The Bad Batch season 3 could feature a clone uprising long before the real Rebellion begins. But unlike the average citizens who fight in the Rebellion, the clones are already treated as Imperial property. Despite their experience in combat, the clones are at a huge disadvantage from the get-go.
An Uprising Could Explain Why There Are No Clones In The OT
If there is a clone uprising between Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, then it would explain what happened to the majority of the clones before the Rebellion era. In The Bad Batch season 2, Rex and Echo begin to amass a small covert of clones hidden on Coruscant. But in Star Wars Rebels, Rex’s only companions in retirement are Gregor and Wolfe. If a clone uprising does occur, it's likely that Rex’s other allies were wiped out by the Empire before Rebels. In any case, The Bad Batch has only just begun to scratch the surface of the clone army’s fate.