How The Bad Batch Season 1 Ending Connects To Grogu & Snoke

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1, episode 16.

The Empire’s cloning plans take a big step forward during Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1’s ending, and it means the most overt setup yet for The Mandalorian‘s Grogu, the sequel trilogy’s Supreme Leader Snoke, and Palpatine’s return from the dead. The Bad Batch takes place decades before “Baby Yoda” is found by Din Djarin, and even further away still is Snoke commanding the First Order, but season 1 has dropped a few breadcrumbs as to how it could happen. With the transition to the Empire has come the end (for the most part) of using clone troopers, but it’s far from the end of cloning.

The Empire has destroyed Kamino, ensuring its facilities cannot be used by anyone else ever again, and meaning any surviving Kaminoans would likely have to flee elsewhere in the galaxy. And yet, the Empire has its own nefarious plans for what cloning can do. It may believe that Stormtroopers are better than clone troopers (or at the very least, cheaper), but that means money can be spent on resources elsewhere, and The Bad Batch‘s season 1 finale gives a good indication of just what that might involve.

While much of “Kamino Lost” rightly focuses on Clone Force 99’s escape from Kamino and the continued possible redemption of their lost brother, Crosshair, the closing moments switch to focus on Nala Se and the Empire. The Chief Medical Scientist on Kamino, Nala Se has been specifically saved by the Empire because of her expertise when it comes to cloning and genetic modifications, setting up her being forced to carry out such experiments under Imperial rule. This broadly fits with what’s known of Emperor Palpatine’s ultimate goal of immortality, which he eventually achieves through cloning. And more specifically it links to Grogu, with the Imperial scientist who greets Nala Se wearing the exact same outfit worn by Dr. Pershing in The Mandalorian.

When Dr. Pershing first appeared in The Mandalorian, it was speculated that he had links to Kamino: besides clearly being interested in the Child for cloning purposes, he also wore what appeared to be a Kaminoan patch. This link was confirmed by The Art Of The Mandalorian Season 1 book, but The Bad Batch takes it further. With Nala Se working directly with this Imperial scientist, who has the same uniform as Pershing (from the two tone colors to the patch on the arm), then it implies Pershing himself worked in the same area, and perhaps even directly with or under Nala Se. At the very least, it seems Pershing’s work was a continuation of what Nala Se does for the Empire. On Kamino, there was an interest in creating enhanced clones, and it’s likely that’s what she will have to do here. Given the Empire wants Grogu for cloning because of his high midi-chlorian count, then it’s reasonable to assume the Imperial remnant wants him for a similar purpose. Whether Nala Se herself is still around at that point is unclear (and maybe unlikely, though not impossible), but it’s evident her ideas and research is forming the basis of it all the same.

Such a link then continues on to Supreme Leader Snoke, who was a Strandcast – a bioengineered, genetically modified life-form. Snoke was a success, possessing Force powers and being able to operate with autonomy, and his abilities and Force sensitivity likely come from the experiments originally led by Nala Se. On Kamino, there were tanks with clones in not too dissimilar from both those seen in The Mandalorian season 2, and the vat of Snoke clones in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which suggests that all of this is very much tied together, and that Nala Se’s chief task will be to not only produce clones who are enhanced, but who are Force sensitive, which is likely why Grogu is so important.

Ultimately, this all then comes back to Palpatine, the man behind Nala Se being brought in to “work” for the Empire. The Emperor has always been obsessed with the idea of eternal life, and he does find a way to cheat death after Return of the Jedi, transferring his essence to a clone body on Exegol, and making his way through seemingly multiple vessels, none of which can last due to his immense dark side power. But what matters to him most is that he does return, and that’s ostensibly all thanks to the work that begins with Nala Se in The Bad Batch, and continues through Dr. Pershing and presumably many others.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch will return for season 2 on Disney+.

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