Star Wars: The Bad Batch opens during the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. The animated series follows the defunct, yet incredibly efficient, quintet of irregular clones whom audiences first met in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. At the end of episode 1, four out of the five troopers, with the exception of Crosshair, defect from the newly formed Empire. They flee Kamino by blasting their way out, but the planet's Prime Minister, Lama Su, also had a hand in the Bad Batch's successful escape.
Audiences might remember Lama Su from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, as the Kaminoan was employed by the Galactic Republic to manufacture a clone army. "Aftermath" opens with the success of Order 66, the death of General Grevious, and the end of the Clone Wars. It's Admiral Tarkin, not yet Moff, who arrives at Kamino to explain to Lama Su that Emperor Palpatine now sees financing a clone army as an unnecessary expense because non-cloned soldiers can be recruited at half the cost. Kamino profited mightily over their cloning deal with the now-dissolved Galactic Republic, so the looming cessation of that business relationship comes as disturbing news. In an attempt to prove Kamino's value to the Empire, Lama Su showcases Clone Force 99, Kamino's rarest and most esteemed products, in a high-intensity training session. Tarkin is impressed with their skills, but when they won't carry out his dirty work on Onderon, they're attacked by Imperial forces upon return to Kamino.
Clone Force 99 escapes the stormy sea planet with the help of Omega, a young clone who's abnormal, too, but they're only able to free their ship from the hanger because Nala Se prevents the bay doors from closing. She immediately reports their escape to Lama Su, but he decides not to inform the Empire. It's a curious move, but Lama Su is actually playing it very smart. If he tells the Empire right away about the Bad Batch's escape, he might be punished for the mishap, or at the very least, the Empire will find and capture, or destroy, the extremely valuable clones.
Conversely, Lama Su keeping news of the Bad Batch's escape close to his chest gives him a powerful card to play, especially if he intends to use the four remaining specialty clones as a chip in a deal with the Empire that benefits not just himself, but his whole planet's best interests. One of the other possibilities is that Lama Su might want to bring Clone Force 99 back to Kamino so that he can conduct continued experimentation without the Empire's meddling. The experiments performed on Crosshair in the Bad Batch did make him far more obedient, and Lama Su might be planning to detain the remainder of the Bad Batch himself, manipulate all their chips, and transform them into perfect weapons to be sold to the Empire.
Lama Su is not a Star Wars character who is markedly good or evil, which makes guessing at his motives all the more difficult. In any case, he wouldn't let clones as valuable as the Bad Batch escape without being tracked. Look for Lama Su to play at least one card, his knowledge of the Bad Batch's new location, possibly as soon as episode 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
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May 07, 2021 at 05:08AM
