10 Ways The Bad Batch Season 3 Is Just Totally Copying The Mandalorian

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 10 & 11.

The Star Wars animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch has long since worked in tandem with the live-action The Mandalorian series, but The Bad Batch season 3 is taking this relationship another step further. The Bad Batch season 1 premiered two years after The Mandalorian, and the found family relationship between Clone Force 99 and Omega instantly reminded viewers of The Mandalorian‘s Din Djarin and Grogu. This, along with strong ties to Force cloning, is where many of the similarities ended – but now, The Bad Batch season 3 is adding many more.

From Omega’s and Grogu’s own personal journeys to the struggles of these Star Wars parents, much of The Bad Batch season 3 seems to be copying The Mandalorian, particularly season 2. Both of these shows are incredible in their own right, and George Lucas himself is the one who coined the term “it’s like poetry, it rhymes” as a way of echoing past Star Wars movies and TV shows, but these similarities are too uncanny to be a mere tribute. Here are the 10 biggest ways in which The Bad Batch season 3 is directly mirroring The Mandalorian.

10

Omega Is An M-Count Target Of The Empire

Grogu Has Long Since Been Hunted By The Empire For This Reason

Omega being a target of the Empire is nothing new. While it was the Kaminoans who initially hired bounty hunters to track her down in The Bad Batch season 1, Dr. Hemlock began his own pursuit of Omega in season 2 as a way of getting Nala Se to comply with his work. The Bad Batch season 3, however, has added a whole new layer to the interest the Empire has in Omega. She is no longer just an asset to them; she and her M-count are essential to Project Necromancer, the key to Emperor Palpatine’s future resurrection.

This is the very same reason why Grogu is being hunted in The Mandalorian. The Empire’s desire for Grogu’s blood to make Force-sensitive clones was revealed before Palpatine’s resurrection even happened in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with The Mandalorian season 1 premiering just over a month before the Star Wars movie. As The Bad Batch has joined The Mandalorian in setting up Palpatine’s cloning, it has made Omega’s story parallel Grogu’s in this way, which sets the tone in season 3 for many of the two shows’ similarities.

9

Crosshair’s Redemption Is Happening Through Omega

Din Djarin’s Redemption Also Happened Through Grogu

One of the most powerful parts of The Bad Batch season 3 thus far has been witnessing Crosshair’s redemption. As the member of Clone Force 99 who worked alongside the Empire and helped to track down his brothers on multiple occasions, it’s been rewarding to see him change and grow, with much of this transformation coming directly from Omega’s constant support of him. She acts very much like his moral compass, and he often looks to her to make sure he’s on the right track. There’s no doubt Omega is the catalyst for Crosshair’s redemption.

Din Djarin, though in less need of redemption as Crosshair, also had Grogu working as his moral compass and his facilitator for his own redemption. As a lone bounty hunter, Din crossed many lines he likely never wanted to cross in order to complete his jobs and provide for his Mandalorian covert. After meeting Grogu, however, Din changes his ways and devotes his life to protecting the foundling rather than bounty hunting. The Mandalorian season 1 finale is even titled “Chapter 8: Redemption” to drive this point home. These two redemptions, then, are very close parallels.

8

Omega, Hunter, & Wrecker Share An Emotional Reunion

Din Djarin & Grogu Had A Very Similar Reunion In The Book Of Boba Fett

The reunion between Omega, Hunter, and Wrecker in The Bad Batch season 3 is nothing short of emotional, particularly after viewers witnessed how desperate Hunter and Wrecker had become in trying to find Omega. Complete with confessions of missing one another and warm embraces, this reunion cannot help being tied to Din Djarin and Grogu’s reunion in The Book of Boba Fett. Though the circumstances are different, with Omega having escaped Mount Tantiss and Grogu having left Jedi training, the overall emotions of these reunions are one and the same.

As similar as these moments are, there are still a few differences that prove The Bad Batch took what was done for Din and Grogu and made it better. Rather than meeting again in the midst of chaos that doesn’t allow them much of a quiet and well-deserved reunion, Hunter and Wrecker get to take their time greeting Omega on a remote world that places only them and their emotional moment at the center of focus. Still, this warmth – and the kids being the ones to go to their fathers instead of vice versa – is closely shared between the two.

7

The Bad Batch Gets Information From Fennec Shand To Help Omega

Fennec Shand Was Key In Din Djarin’s Rescue Of Grogu

Fennec Shand first met Clone Force 99 in The Bad Batch season 1, and she has since returned in season 3 to help provide Clone Force 99 with key information. In need of answers, Hunter and Wrecker strike a deal with Fennec to help her on a bounty hunting job in exchange for information on what an M-count is. Fennec alone, who was introduced to the Star Wars galaxy in The Mandalorian, and a reluctant deal made for the sake of a child both heavily evoke much of Din Djarin’s story, particularly in The Mandalorian season 2.

Fennec played a vital role in helping Din Djarin to get Grogu back in season 2, as she helped to storm Moff Gideon’s light cruiser alongside Din and his other allies. Fennec was acting upon a deal she and Boba Fett had struck with Din in order to get Boba’s armor back, and thus her actions in The Mandalorian season 2 were done to hold up her end of the deal. This is very similar to Hunter and Wrecker’s own mission with Fennec, though it was Fennec going along for the ride that time rather than her somewhat reluctant allies.

6

Omega’s Abilities In The Force Are Tested By Ventress

Ahsoka Tano Similarly Tested Grogu’s Abilities In The Force

Asajj Ventress makes her triumphant return to Star Wars in The Bad Batch season 3, and she serves the purpose of being a temporary mentor to Omega – as far as the Force is concerned. Ventress tests Omega’s abilities in a subtle way, making her do simple actions such as a balancing test. At the end of the episode, Ventress informs Hunter and Crosshair that if Omega is strong in the Force, she ought to be trained, and that training will make her part ways with her family.

This is much of what The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5 “Chapter 13: The Jedi” covers, with Ahsoka Tano being the one in Ventress’ mentor role. Ahsoka tests Grogu’s abilities with the passing of a stone through the air, and while she, like Ventress, refuses to train or do anything about Grogu’s abilities in the Force, she does inform Din Djarin that Grogu will have to choose his own path. While Din seems more open to the idea of Grogu leaving for training than Clone Force 99 is, it’s clear he’s just as relieved to have Grogu around longer.

5

Omega Is Foreshadowed To Leave The Bad Batch For Training

Grogu Also Had To Leave Din Djarin To Train As A Jedi

The aforementioned conversation of Ventress telling Hunter and Crosshair that Omega may have to leave them for training heavily foreshadows that this will, in fact, be the case by the time the finale arrives. With some of The Bad Batch‘s cast and crew hinting at a bittersweet ending, it seems very plausible that Omega could leave her family behind in favor of training, if only for Omega to use what natural abilities she has to help as many people as she can. This is what Omega has always wanted to do, and that makes this reality even more likely.

Grogu was faced with this very same decision in The Mandalorian season 2, and he chose the path of training for a very similar reason. It’s since been revealed that Grogu had no true passion for becoming a Jedi, which means he truly did go with Luke Skywalker and train in the Force because he felt that it would help him protect both himself and his father. Both these children, then, have been or will be presented with the same options for their futures, and should Omega choose the same path as Grogu, her story will parallel his even more.

4

The Bad Batch’s Ship Is Destroyed & Omega Is Captured By The Empire

This Directly Mirrors The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 6 “Chapter 14: Tragedy”

It is The Bad Batch season 3, episode 11 “The Point of No Return” that begins to make the series’ similarities to The Mandalorian uncanny. In an action-packed and tense episode, Omega is captured yet again by the Empire, which happens after Clone Force 99’s beloved ship, the Marauder, has been destroyed by Imperial forces. This, along with a tragically failed plan, leaves Clone Force 99 with no trace of Omega’s whereabouts and no means of going after her, which is an extremely similar storyline.

“Chapter 14: The Tragedy” shows these exact things happening to Din Djarin, as his Razor Crest is destroyed by Moff Gideon on Tython just before Grogu is taken by the dark troopers. Din would have been stranded there had Boba Fett and Fennec Shand not been there to give him a lift, and even then, he didn’t have a lead on Grogu’s whereabouts – just like Clone Force 99. This leaves the Bad Batch at the very same crossroads as Din Djarin, in that they have lost their child and their ship in the very same way.

3

The Bad Batch Will Soon Feature Juggernauts On A Mission To Find Omega

Din Djarin Also Fought On A Juggernaut To Find Grogu After He Was Captured

Looking ahead, it seems as if The Bad Batch season 3 will only continue to follow the path of The Mandalorian season 2. Next week’s episode is titled “Juggernaut,” and based on footage from The Bad Batch trailer, it looks as if Clone Force 99 will be going on a mission that involves the very same kind of juggernauts featured in The Mandalorian season 2, episode 7 “Chapter 15: The Believer.” There are already several notable similarities between these two episodes, even if “Juggernaut” hasn’t yet aired.

Both episodes clearly show a mission that is meant to locate a missing child, whether it be by getting coordinates or another type of information that will lead them to their lost family member. The opening shot of The Bad Batch trailer even features Clone Force 99 inside a hijacked juggernaut before they make a daring leap from the vehicle to the ramp of a ship. Both of these things also happen in “Chapter 15: The Believer,” with Din Djarin and Migs Mayfeld infiltrating a juggernaut and jumping from a building onto a ship ramp.

2

Phee Genoa & Her Ship Will Come To The Bad Batch’s Aid

Boba Fett & His Firespray Gunship Helped Din Djarin’s Efforts Massively

The similarities between “Juggernaut” and “Chapter 15: The Believer” don’t end at the juggernaut vehicles. The Bad Batch trailer reveals that it’s Phee Genoa and her ship that come to Clone Force 99’s aid with the juggernaut. Considering Omega’s closeness with and fondness for Phee, it’s no surprise that she’s the one who’s now helping them find Omega, but it is yet again very similar to the role Boba Fett played in Din Djarin’s mission on Morak.

Without the Razor Crest, Boba Fett and his Firespray gunship were indispensable to Din as he and Mayfeld infiltrated Morak’s Imperial mining facility. It was Boba and his ship that caught Din and Mayfeld in their daring leap, just as Phee’s ship does for Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair. It seems that Phee’s role is similar to what Boba’s was, in that she and her ship are on standby until her crew is ready for a pick-up. Should this be the case, then “Juggernaut” has already proven itself to be a direct repeat of “Chapter 15: The Believer.”

1

The Bad Batch Finale Could Feature A Key Ally – & A Bittersweet Goodbye

Luke Skywalker Swept Into The Mandalorian As Din Djarin & Grogu Said Goodbye

The Bad Batch season 3 finale is already gearing up to be an emotional one, particularly because it will make viewers say goodbye to the animated series as a whole. It does, however, have the potential to feature a Jedi who aids in Omega’s rescue somehow – especially if she ends up taking the same path as Grogu. The episode being titled “The Cavalry Has Arrived” makes room for that, even if it also echoes Clone Force 99’s iconic introductory phrase.

If a Jedi does arrive and Omega says goodbye to her family, this will make the series finale a direct copy of The Mandalorian season 2 finale. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing; The Mandalorian season 2, specifically its latter half, is the series’ highest-rated and most well-regarded yet. It would, however, make The Bad Batch season 3 feel unfortunately predictable. Still, it’s possible that some of these predicted parallels will take a turn to become more unique to The Bad Batch, and this final season will always be regarded as its best.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch releases new episodes Wednesdays at 3 AM ET, 12 AM PT, and 8 AM GMT on Disney+.