3 Years Ago, Star Wars Hid The Most Intense Clone Trooper Secret In Plain Sight

Star Wars: The Bad Batch introduced Star Wars audiences to the idea of defective clones and how they truly differed from regulation clones. While Clone Force 99 was initially introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, audiences got to know much more about them, their dynamics, and their special abilities better in The Bad Batch. The show has largely been regarded as the current conclusion of clone trooper stories in Star Wars, as no other upcoming Star Wars title seems to include any clones.




Throughout The Bad Batch’s three seasons, audiences saw what family really meant to clones who were designed to just be carbon copies of one another. Clone Force 99’s resolve to stay together and rescue one another from the Empire when things got dangerous made for amazing television, but also one of the most moving stories in Star Wars. This, coupled with the happy ending the characters received in The Bad Batch series finale, truly makes the show stand alone in the Star Wars franchise.

One of the things that was somewhat forgotten throughout The Bad Batch’s three seasons is that Clone Force 99 were essentially defective clones, but had desirable attributes for soldiers. Audiences saw another defective clone in 99, who lived on Kamino and worked as a maintenance, or janitor, clone. However, 99 would prove to be a hero himself when the Separatists attacked the clones’ home world of Kamino. With audiences only knowing of 99, Hunter, Tech, Crosshair, Wrecker, and Omega as defective clones, it raises the question whether there are others out there, and how many.



Nala Se Hinted At Having More Enhanced Clones

This Was Seen in The Bad Batch’s Series Premiere

When General Tarkin visits Kamino to see if the production of the clone army will continue under the new regime, he’s clearly impressed with the skills and teamwork of Clone Force 99, noting that they are certainly a formidable force. It’s clear that Nala Se is proud of her creations and thinks that the display of the Bad Batch’s skills will be enough to keep producing clones. Tarkin asks Nala Se how many more defective clones like Clone Force 99 she has, and she states, “Five are all that remain.”

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This mention of a fifth clone is how the Batch deduces that Omega is one of them, as Echo is not technically a defective clone; he was experimented on and made into a cyborg – which enhanced his abilities in a unique way. However, because of these changes, Nala Se could consider Echo defective, even if it wasn’t how he originated. Either way, it’s clear from Nala Se’s statement that Clone Force 99 wasn’t the only group of enhanced and defective clones that the Kaminoans created for the Republic. However, it is still a mystery about what happened to them.

While audiences have seen other enhanced clones in the CX clone assassins in The Bad Batch seasons 2 and 3, they weren’t created that way. It also poses the question that if Omega remembered seeing Clone Force 99 growing in test tubes, she may also remember other, later batches of enhanced clones. It would also be easy to create female clones using Omega’s DNA, especially since she is an unaltered clone of Jango Fett.


The Bad Batch May Have Simply Been The First Batch

Fans Have Already Thought About This

While Clone Force 99 is commonly known as the Bad Batch, it’s possible that they were simply the first of the bad batches – or, alternatively, they were the only batch of enhanced and/or defective clones that survived long enough to the Clone Wars. With the success that Clone Force 99 had in the field, it’s hard to imagine that Nala Se and the Kaminoans weren’t thinking of ways to reproduce these results. It’s possible that other batches of clones were created and audiences have just never seen them.

Hunter and Omega from Star Wars: The Bad Batch edited over a clock

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This idea has been explored at great length in different fan endeavors, but The_Absent_Minded_One’s fanfiction “Magnetic Pull” on Archive of Our Own might just do the best job of imagining and explaining it. While “Magnetic Pull” takes place after the events of The Bad Batch season 2 finale, it reviews events of the past, including a history that saw both Tech and Crosshair once belonging to batches other than Hunter and Wrecker’s. With their sequential CT numbers in canon, this is unlikely to be the case, but it still makes a good point about other batches like theirs existing.

How Many Other Enhanced Clones Were There?

Could Audiences Have Already Met Them?


It’s not too far of a stretch that fan theories about other enhanced batches of clones are true. In fact, in The Bad Batch, audiences never learned how Dr. Emerie Karr came to be. It’s known that she is a clone, but other than Omega, she’s the only known female clone. It’s possible that one of Nala Se’s experiments included creating a batch of highly intelligent doctor clones, and Emerie was the only one to survive long enough to be indoctrinated into the Republic and later the Empire’s hierarchy.

This could open the door not only to learn more about Emerie’s background and life while on Kamino, but also to introduce other enhanced clone units, such as the one she originated from.


It’s been rumored that Star Wars will pursue another animated show centered around Captain Rex’s clone rebellion that was teased throughout The Bad Batch season 3. It stands to reason that if Lucasfilm goes through with this idea, characters like Echo and Emerie will be among the clones heavily featured. This could open the door not only to learn more about Emerie’s background and life while on Kamino, but also to introduce other enhanced clone units, such as the one she originated from.

Lucasfilm has not confirmed that they are pursuing another
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
animated spin-off.

If Clone Force 99 was not affected by Order 66 because of their defects, it stands to reason that other enhanced clone batches also wouldn’t have taken part in the Jedi massacre. If that’s the case, these clones may be on the run from the Empire like how Clone Force 99 was in The Bad Batch season 1. It would be interesting to see other enhanced clones interact with clones like Echo, Rex, and Emerie. No matter what the future holds, The Bad Batch will forever be special because it highlights the struggles of clones following the rise of the Empire.