Director Rau Clarifies Bad Batch S2’s Connection with The Mandalorian

Supervising producer Brad Rau has recently claimed that Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 will address The Mandalorian connection.

The popular Disney Plus animated series zeroes in on Clone Force 99, a team of exclusive clone troopers who were created with genetic enhancements.

The story features team members Hunter, Tech, Echo, and Wrecker, who face off against Crosshair, a cunning clone trooper who is desperately looking to lay hands on the unique clone child, Omega.

In the finale of season 1, Nala Se, the cloner of Kaminoan, was brought into an imperial palace where she was greeted by a human wearing similar attire to that of The Mandalorian’s scientist Dr. Pershing. This made the fans wonder whether this installment would bleed into the storyline of the Mandalorian. Brad Rau has finally addressed these questions!

In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, he revealed that final scene’s significance will be explored at length in season 2. Read his full comments below:

That’s not a coincidence, but I don’t want to talk too much about what’s going on there. We’ve got to leave some things in the dark, but we do get into all of that, one hundred percent.

Brad Rau

So, how can Bad Batch season 2 connect with The Mandalorian?

Although Rau was very hazy in his answer, a possible connection between the two seem unlikely because of the massive distance in their timelines. Star Wars: The Bad Batch takes place immediately after Order 66, while The Mandalorian is set 30 years later, after the events of Star Wars: revenge of the Sith.

However, since the Force-sensitive Grogu is 50 years old in The Mandalorian, he can appear as a child in the animated series.

Both installments have cloning as a salient part of their narratives. This might be how the franchise justifies Emperor Palpatine’s return in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.

Thus, we can conclude that the scientist in the season 1 finale is a part of the same Imperial Unit that will employ Dr. Pershing decades later.

As Star Wars: The Bad Batch delves deeper into the concept of cloning and the Empire’s involvement in the fiasco, it will give the audience a deeper understanding of the underlying lore and help them grasp The Mandalorian in a better way.

It is further helped by the fact that Dave Filoni produces both series. So, he will be able to tie the loose ends of The Mandalorian and make a cohesive piece.

With Bad Batch season 2 premiering on January 4 and The Mandalorian season 3 returning later this year, the audience will not have to wait long to find out how these two connect.

About Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an American animated show created by Dave Filoni for Disney+. It is both a sequel and a spin-off of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The series’ renewal was announced right before season 1’s two-part finale.

Dee Bradley Baker reprises his role as voice actor for all the clone troopers from the previous Star Wars animated projects. Additionally joining him are Ming-Na Wen, Stephen Stanton, Andrew Kishino and Michelle Ang.

The Bad Batch follows the elite and experimental troopers of Clone Force 99 as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars. Choosing to become an independent group of mercenaries the show will see them undertake dangerous missions.