Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode 1, "Aftermath."
Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode 1 features several scenes from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. As the sequel series to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch is at first concurrent with the third Star Wars prequel, showing the whereabouts of the commandos of Clone Force 99 when Order 66 was executed and the Republic officially became the Galactic Empire. By the end of the pilot, the series will show the immediate aftermath of the film, with the now-brainwashed Clone Troopers being gradually phased out in favor of recruited Stormtroopers and the Bad Batch members struggling to survive an increasingly subjugated galaxy.
Due to the show’s chronological proximity to Revenge of the Sith, it was a fitting and fan-pleasing decision to recreate scenes from the film in the distinctive CGI animation style used by The Bad Batch and The Clone Wars. Like the Legends continuity’s Star Wars: Clone Wars micro series, canon’s The Clone Wars seamlessly connects Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, telling a complete story of the three-year conflict.
The movie footage recreated in The Bad Batch were simultaneously an homage to The Clone Wars, as they were shown in a dramatically narrated opening montage in place of the films’ opening crawls. Here's each Revenge of the Sith scene featured in The Bad Batch.
Battle Aboard The Invisible Hand
Shortly after killing Count Dooku, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Chancellor Palpatine, and R2-D2 are taken prisoner by General Grievous and his droids aboard the Separatist dreadnaught, the Invisible Hand. On the bridge, R2 creates a distraction, allowing the Jedi to reacquire their lightsabers and engage Grievous’ MagnaGuards. Two brief moments from the sequence are shown in The Bad Batch’s opening montage: Obi-Wan making short work of a guard (frightening two Battle Droid crewmembers), and Anakin cutting down two security Battle Droids to free Palpatine once more. While this sequence was Anakin and Obi-Wan’s first encounter with MagnaGuards in Legends, they’d fought them before in canon, and defeat them far more easily than in previous battles.
General Grievous Flees Coruscant
Grievous’ retreat from the Jedi via escape pod is also shown in the opening montage. Rather than fight Anakin and Obi-Wan on his own, Grievous flees, launching all of the Invisible Hand’s escape pods along with his own, seemingly dooming the Jedi aboard his vessel. Despite the ship’s destructive landing on Coruscant’s surface, the heroes survive. Grievous later travels to the Outer Rim world of Utapau, a voyage also shown in the opening montage. Utapau looks noticeably different in The Bad Batch than it does in Revenge of the Sith.
Proclamation of the New Order
After Order 66 is activated, The Bad Batch heads back to Kamino, where there’s a mandatory assembly regarding the state of the Republic. Live holographic footage is shown of Palpatine addressing the Jedi’s “attempt on his life” and his declaration that the Republic is now the Galactic Empire. The Bad Batch members (sans Crosshair) are immune to their brainwashing implants, but they observe a disturbing sight: Clone Troopers cheering for their newfound fascist regime after fighting a three-year war for the sake of democracy. This moment eliminates all doubt that the “regs” (standard Clone Troopers) are under mind-control. Palpatine’s speech is not only visually recreated in the Star Wars: The Bad Batch computer animation, but the scene also uses Ian MacDiarmid’s dialogue from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.