Here are all of the Jango Fett carbon copies. Following their debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair and Echo now have a spin-off series of their own - Disney+'s The Bad Batch. Initially, Clone Force 99 were a crack squad taking on the toughest Separatist suppression missions, but after the emergence of the Galactic Empire, the Bad Batch have mostly gone rogue, breaking away from their former controllers.
The current wave of Star Wars streaming content was spearheaded entirely by The Mandalorian. Not only has Jon Favreau's series attained mammoth success over the course of its two seasons so far, but The Mandalorian finally united Star Wars fans under a common banner by chronicling a whole new period in the franchise's timeline. The Mandalorian married together the past, present and future of Star Wars, and this approach meant plenty of Easter eggs, from recognizable planets and reused quotes, to obscure returning aliens and original trilogy props.
Thankfully, The Bad Batch upholds that fledgling tradition. Across the course of Clone Force 99's first foray into an Imperial galaxy, The Bad Batch episode 1, "Aftermath," offers a wide array of knowing winks for the Star Wars faithful. Here are all of the Easter eggs we found in The Bad Batch's series premiere.
The Clone Wars Logo
"Aftermath" begins with the title card from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which quickly burns into the brand new The Bad Batch logo. Not necessarily an Easter egg in the traditional sense, but an excellent way of acknowledging how the new series is a continuation of its animated predecessor.
Animated Revenge Of The Sith Scenes
The Bad Batch begins concurrent to the final act of Revenge of the Sith, and several live-action prequel trilogy moments are recreated in animation. The catch-up montage shows Obi-Wan Kenobi liberating Chancellor Palpatine after his "capture" while General Grievous escapes in his ship, heading for the Outer Rim. Later in the episode, Palpatine's Revenge of the Sith proclamation speech is played to the clone troopers of Kamino, as the Bad Batch watch on with concern.
Kaller
The Bad Batch narrative begins proper on the planet of Kaller, where the icy surface plays host to one of the last battles between Republic and Separatist forces. Kaller was briefly glimpsed in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, but first appeared in the Kanan comic book series, which explains its presence in The Bad Batch's opening.
Caleb Dume
Clone Force 99 are doing their thing on Kaller when Palpatine hands down Order 66, and they witness the final moments of Jedi Master Depa Billaba. The Bad Batch are recruited to aid Billaba by her padawan, Caleb Dume, who later becomes known as Kanan Jarrus. "Aftermath" reveals how Hunter was responsible for allowing Dume to escape, and the fleeing youngster eventually goes on to play a major role in Star Wars Rebels. To get away from the prowling Crosshair, Caleb uses a Force jump - a long-standing technique of the Jedi Order.
"Well, I Guess I'm In Charge Now"
During the battle on Kaller, Clone Force 99 easily take down a entire unit of battle droids. As the enemy numbers rapidly deplete and their tanks are shoved off a cliff by Wrecker, one of the droids glumly mutters "I guess I'm in charge now." This fun reference calls back to "Downfall of a Droid" from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where a battle droid "assumes" command after General Grievous ignores him. The line became somewhat of a meme, and The Bad Batch responds in self-referential fashion.
Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. General Grievous
When Clone Force 99's work is done, Tech calculates that the end of the war could be nigh, noting that General Kenobi is engaged in combat with General Grievous on Utapau. This is the very same battle that transpired in Revenge of the Sith, where the robotic lightsaber collector met his timely demise.
"Good Soldiers Follow Orders"
Tensions begin to emerge between Hunter and Crosshair over the survival of Caleb Dume, with the group's leader reluctant to obey, and his sharpshooter pal thirsty for Jedi blood. Trying to win over his superior officer, Crosshair asserts "good soldiers follow orders," and he repeats this sentiment throughout The Bad Batch's first episode. This line will be familiar to Star Wars: The Clone Wars viewers, having been used previously by Tup in season 6's "The Unknown." In this offering, Tup keeps slipping into a trace-like state, leading him to execute a Jedi called Tiplar. Crosshair using the same phrase suggests he perhaps isn't an independent as his comrades.
V-Wings
Given the origins of our titular heroes, it's no surprise that The Bad Batch drops by Kamino, the cloning planet where Clone Force 99 and the rest of the Republic army were bred. Returning to base following the Kaller incident, Clone Force 99 are flanked and their clearance code requested. Although surprised at the extra security, they comply, and the accompanying ships concede. The vessels seen accosting the Bad Batch are V-Wings, which have appeared in a variety in Star Wars media since debuting in Revenge of the Sith. Other returning vehicles in the episode include Republic landers during the opening scene, and the tanks used by the Separatists on Kaller, models of which were introduced in The Phantom Menace.
Inhibitor Chips
As Tech tries to explain why the five Clone Force 99 troops didn't fritz out and start slaughtering Jedi when a blue projection of Palpatine appeared, he points out how regular clone troopers are fitted with inhibitors to stop them questioning commands or thinking independently. Later in the episode, the same principle is explained to a typically cold iral Tarkin as he assesses whether to continue Kamino's cloning operation. Inhibitor chips first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 6, extrapolating upon a concept explained to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Attack of the Clones by the Kaminoans.
Skako Minor
Since Echo isn't technically a mutated clone, Hunter and the others question why he wasn't affected by Order 66. Tech explains that the incident on "Skako Minor" left Echo more machine than clone, rendering him as immune to coercion as the defects he hangs around with. These events, unsurprisingly, played out in The Clone Wars. Echo was presumed dead after an explosion in season 3, then resurfaced as a cyborg, having been kept alive by Separatists exploiting him as an intelligence source. As a transformed prisoner, Echo was taken to Skako Minor, where the Bad Batch rescued him.
