Summary

• Captain Rex's return in The Bad Batch season 3 will reveal his most tragic story yet, as he continues to fight the Empire and rescue his clone brothers.
• The clones are beginning to rebel against the Empire as they awaken from the inhibitor chips, realizing that the Empire doesn't care about them.
• Rex's clone uprising against the Empire is likely to result in a massacre, and his failure in The Bad Batch Season 3 will explain his retirement in Star Wars Rebels.

when the Clone Wars ends.

During The Clone Wars, Rex served under both the best and worst Jedi the Order had to offer. On the one hand, Rex saw how noble and caring General Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano could be toward him and his brothers. But on the other hand, he also experienced the cruelty of General Pong Krell in the Umbara Arc as he was unwittingly ordered to kill his own brothers. In short, Rex is one of the few clones left who truly understands the despair and futility of the Clone Wars; he has a unique perspective.

The Bad Batch Season 3 Trailer Is Bringing Back Captain Rex

As Rex points out in the trailer, he truly believed the clones could finally live at peace after the war ended. Instead, Rex watched as the Republic brainwashed clones into killing their friends and then cast them aside when the job was done. For Rex, the Clone Wars never ended. He continues to fight the Empire by rescuing however many of his brothers he can. Early on in The Bad Batch season 1, Rex assists the Batch in removing their inhibitor chips to ensure they don’t unwillingly harm Omega or anyone else on behalf of the Empire’s whims.

Captain Rex recenlty made his live-action debut in the Ahsoka series, though he was voiced by Temuera Morrison rather than Dee Bradley Baker.

The Bad Batch season 2, episode 14, offers a little more insight into where and what Rex is working towards in The Bad Batch season 3. Rex’s co-conspirators, Senator Riyo Chuchi and Echo, continue to save dozens of clones who were almost executed for questioning Imperial orders. Similarly, The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3 shows how the clones are beginning to shake the influence of the inhibitor chip, as Commander Cody ends up deserting the Empire on his own accord. Rex, Chuchi, and Echo are gathering a small army of these clones in the lower levels of Coruscant.

The Clones Are Beginning To Rebel Against The Empire

As more clones awaken from the Empire’s chip-induced nightmare, they’re beginning to realize the same thing Rex learned when the war ended. Despite the blood and lives they’ve lost on behalf of the Republic, the Empire they helped build does not care about them and never did. The more the inhibitor chips fail, the larger Rex’s small army of clones grows. But despite Rex’s best efforts, he ultimately can’t save all the clones from execution. Many of his brothers are sent to their deaths before even realizing the Empire’s betrayal.

The clones are trained to fight their entire life, which is why they can’t stop fighting even though the Clone Wars is over. Rex’s band of clones are angry and simmering over the injustice they’ve endured at the hands of the Empire; but The Bad Batch season 2 was only the beginning. In The Bad Batch season 3, Rex and the rest of his clones will likely reach their boiling point. Rex talks in the trailer about how he didn’t expect to lose more clones after the war ended. Now, he could lose even more in their rebellion against the Empire.

Captain Rex May Be Leading The Clones Into A Massacre

While Palpatine may be facing a full-on clone uprising in The Bad Batch season 3, he’s ultimately got things under control. Rex’s numbers aren’t nearly enough to pose a significant threat to the Empire, especially considering the stormtrooper program is now in full swing. Furthermore, Palpatine has already damaged the clones’ reputation. If they were to start a premature rebellion, they’d quickly lose the of the Senate and the public for attempting to ruin the Empire’s stability. None of the general populace would believe or care about the story of the inhibitor chips.

If Rex is really planning to lead the clones against the Empire in The Bad Batch season 3, then the outcome is pretty much set in stone. In fact, the lack of clones in the original trilogy almost guarantees that Rex’s uprising will be a massacre. This time, they won’t be fighting mindless Separatist droids, but real Imperial stormtroopers who believe in the Empire’s supremacy. As the Empire continues to hunt down and execute the deserting clones, they’ll have no choice but to fight back.

Sadly, with Rex’s tactical evaluation skills, he likely already knows that challenging the Empire with his small band of clones is a death sentence. Nevertheless, in the trailer, he mentions how the clones can’t walk away, especially with Omega imprisoned at Mount Tantiss. This suggests Rex may use the clone uprising as a last-ditch distraction to allow the Bad Batch to rescue Omega. Or, at the very least, it seems like Rex will follow through with his clone uprising despite being doomed to fail.

Rex’s Failure In The Bad Batch Season 3 Will Explain His Retirement In Rebels

With the cameo of Commander Wolffe in The Bad Batch season 3 trailer, the series gets ever closer to Rex’s retirement in Star Wars Rebels. Near 4 BBY, Ezra Bridger will eventually find a retired Rex, Gregor, and Wolffe on a makeshift AT-TE walker on Seelos. This version of Rex is in stark contrast to the one in The Bad Batch. At the moment, Rex is ready to give everything he has to one last fight against the Empire. But in Rebels, Rex has almost given up hope of ever fighting them again.

Something major is going to happen to Rex in The Bad Batch season 3; something so tragic that he, Gregor, and Wolffe choose to walk away from the battle until Rebels. This can only mean that Rex’s clone uprising against the Empire will fail, and that hundreds of clone troopers will die under his command because of it. Knowing Rex, he’ll likely blame himself for the massacre that is to come, and this will cause him to stop fighting. In any case, The Bad Batch season 3 will likely explain why Rex left the battle for the Star Wars galaxy.