Star Wars: The Bad Batch revealed a horrifying new detail about Order 66 and the clone inhibitor chips, which make Clone Force 99's actions towards their brainwashed brethren questionable. With their control chips removed, the clone commandos of the Bad Batch are safe from falling under Imperial control, but most clones were not so lucky, and are now pawns of the Empire. As shown throughout both canon and Legends, clone troopers are essentially good people who believe in the Galactic Republic’s ideology. Their compliance in an autocratic coup was achieved through brainwashing, so no clone in their right mind would support the Empire or attack their brothers. Despite knowing this, The Bad Batch fights back with lethal force, needlessly killing good people who aren’t in control of their actions.
Clone Troopers were, officially, created as an elite military force to back up the Jedi in their war against the Separatists. In truth, they were Palpatine’s secret weapon to assassinate the majority of the Jedi and facilitate his grand plan of corrupting the Republic into the Galactic Empire. In canon, all clones were given brain implants as embryos that activated when Order 66 was issued. These control chips not only compelled them to kill their Jedi leaders (with whom they often formed close friendships) but also changed the clones' personalities. The Bad Batch, chillingly, shows clone troopers exhibiting hostile behavior and cheering for a fascist government while under the influence of their chips. This is a far cry from their generally friendly demeanor and democratic principles without the chips’ influence.
Due to repeated blows to the head, the Bad Batch’s Wrecker came under the control of his implant in “Battle Scars.” Thanks to his squadmates and Captain Rex, Wrecker was stunned, restrained, and had his chip removed. Once freed from Imperial control, Wrecker revealed that he was fully aware of his actions, but couldn’t stop himself from attacking his siblings (including Omega), making him essentially a prisoner within his own body. This makes Order 66 far crueler, as clones helplessly watched themselves murder their friends and join an authoritarian regime. This also calls the Bad Batch’s actions in the following episode, “Reunion,” into question. When confronted by squads of Imperial clones, the Bad Batch commandos unambiguously kill their brothers, and their knowledge of the chip’s effects make this far worse.
When fighting against brainwashed clones in previous episodes, the Bad Batch didn’t use lethal force, incapacitating their brothers with hand-to-hand combat or blasters set for stun. In “Reunion,” the commandos are explicitly shown blasting Imperial clones with weapons set for kill, and Wrecker throws two clones off a ledge to their deaths. The Bad Batch is fully aware that these clones are not in control of their actions and that they’d be allies, if not for the chips. This makes their use of lethal force is problematic, especially considering that previous episodes demonstrated how easily they can defeat brainwashed clones without killing or severely injuring them.
The Bad Batch, unfortunately, is treating Imperial clones like their Stormtrooper successors, recruited soldiers who carry out horrific orders as per the “banality of evil.” This isn’t the case for clones, who can only watch helplessly as they attempt to kill their brothers before being blasted or thrown to their deaths. Clone Force 99 discovering the effects of the implants should have made them double down on avoiding killing their brothers. Ideally, this will be revisited and explored further down the line in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, since Order 66 has now been recontextualized.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch releases new episodes Fridays on Disney+.
