Star Wars just missed out on a great opportunity to feature George Lucas' cameo from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. In the new animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch on Disney+, Clone Force 99 is on the run from the newly risen Empire, and their adventures with their newest recruit Omega have taken them to the planet Pantora. While Pantora was featured in episodes of The Clone Wars animated series, it's also significant due to being the homeworld of Baron Notluwiski Papanoida, otherwise known as the Chairman of Pantora, played by George Lucas himself in the third episode of the Skywalker saga. However, while Lucas' character was not seen in the new episode of The Bad Batch, he certainly could have been.
In Revenge of the Sith, Notluwiski Papanoida is briefly seen speaking with one of his daughters, Chi Eekway, in the hallways of the Galaxies Opera House. It's in the same scene in which Anakin Skywalker speaks with Chancellor Palpatine, who then shares with the conflicted young Jedi the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. George Lucas played the Baron and his daughter, Katie Lucas, played Chi Eekway. Both of their characters were later featured in an episode of The Clone Wars where Papanoida's children had been kidnapped by Greedo. However, Papanoida was voiced by actor Corey Burton in that instance.
Most recently, The Bad Batch, season 1, episode 4, "Cornered" sees Clone Force 99 landing on Pantora, but the Baron is sadly nowhere to be found. Instead, the episode is much more focused on The Bad Batch repairing and making modifications to their ship, while also trying to save Omega from the bounty hunter Fennec Shand. However, it's not as though there wasn't an opportunity for Papanoida to appear. The episode featured a parade celebrating the end of the war and the new Imperial troops, and Baron Papanoida could have provided an interesting look into how someone in the leadership role of an individual world was affected by the rise of the greater Galactic Empire.
It should be noted that Papanoida was most likely still leading the planet as Chairman during the events of this episode, seeing as how The Bad Batch takes place immediately after Revenge of the Sith. Despite not making an appearance, it was still interesting to see more of the Baron's homeworld. Pantora is a world very similar to that of Coruscant, though not as massive or crowded with the entire planet being one big city. Bad Batch makes it evident that the Empire already has its hold over the world, just as it's begun to do all across the galaxy.
In any case, not seeing George Lucas' Star Wars character certainly feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering that Lucasfilm already had rendered models they could have worked with from The Clone Wars. Seeing a new appearance of the character inspired and played by Star Wars' creator would have certainly been exciting for the new series. That said, Star Wars: The Bad Batch will most likely have plenty more surprises in store as the series continues on Disney+.
