By [ad_1]
In “Kamino Lost,” Star Wars: The Bad Batch confirms that Omega is older than most of Clone Force 99, at least chronologically.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 16, “Kamino Lost,” streaming now on Disney+.
Throughout Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the team’s dynamics seemingly have focused on Clone Force 99 acting as father, brother and mentor figures for Omega. However, “Return to Kamino” complicated this dynamic after the team discovered Nala Se’s secret laboratory. “Kamino Lost” has now confirmed the truth: while Omega appears younger than the rest of the team, she technically is older than them, with the possible exception of Echo, at least chronologically. However, since she does not have the genes for rapid aging, they have all seemingly passed her in apparent age.
During Clone Force 99’s escape from the titular planet in “Kamino Lost,” the group briefly returns to Nala Se’s secret laboratory. Because Hunter and Crosshair were not present when the team initially found the laboratory, Tech fills them in on the information they missed. He explains that the team’s mutations were enhanced by Nala Se in the laboratory. When Crosshair questions how Omega got this information, Tech elaborates, “Omega was created before us. Technically, she is older than we are.” In the process, Tech confirms that Omega technically is the team’s older sister.
This revelation casts the Bad Batch premiere in a more poignant light. Omega’s eager introduction to Clone Force 99 and her vehement defense of them against the other clones’ remarks show her loyalty due to their shared past. However, her actions also can be viewed as an older sister’s defense and love for her younger siblings.
After the reveal, Omega attempts to bond with Crosshair over their shared ambivalence about Tipoca City. Omega states, “I spent most of my life in this lab. I was alone down here until you four were created. That’s why I was determined to find you all again.” Thus, Omega confirms that she spent most of her childhood in Nala Se’s secret laboratory. This confirmation means that her contact with all clones was severely limited, and her appearance in the upper levels may have been a pretty recent development.
Crosshair, still cross and unyielding, does not respond well to Omega’s revelation. He lashes out, stating that their shared Clone heritage does not make Omega a true part of the team. Omega still includes Crosshair as one of her siblings, but it is telling that this is the one moment that causes her to lose faith in him. She has made the team such an integral part of her identity, due in part to her extreme loneliness, so Crosshair’s rejection of her and implication that she does not belong is the cruelest barb he could have chosen at the time.
The age difference in general highlights an unspoken truth about the cruelty of the Cloning project in the first place. While the Clones are rapidly aged to adulthood, they never are able to have a real childhood. Since the Jango Fett cloning project began after Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, even Captain Rex, who is among the oldest clones, is only about thirteen years old at the oldest at the time of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. While the Jedi and the Republic often glossed over the clones’ ages, the truth remains that the bulk of their army consisted of soldiers that, without the rapid aging gene, would chronologically be the same age as human children, and those soldiers never truly were given a choice in the matter.
The rest of “Kamino Lost” proves Crosshair wrong and shows that Omega is a valued and important member of Clone Force 99. While the revelation about Omega’s age may not change the team’s dynamic too much going forward, it still does confirm why Omega has been so attached to them. This revelation also shows another reason why the team returned to Kamino for her in the first place. Even if they don’t actually remember their time with her, the bond from their childhoods still remains, and there still is a chance that they might begin to remember their shared childhood more in Bad Batch‘s second season.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1 is available to stream in its entirety now on Disney+.
About The Author
[ad_2]
