14 Biggest Clues That Tech Is Still Alive In Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3

Tech’s survival is one of the biggest theories in Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, and Star Wars has been dropping clues all season to prove it. As one of the original members of Clone Force 99, Tech’s sacrifice in The Bad Batch season 2 ending was nothing short of heartbreaking for all audiences. Tech’s execution of Plan 99 has stuck with viewers ever since, and the nature of his fall – as well as the absence of a body to prove his fate – has given many hope that he could still be alive.

The Bad Batch season 3 has since fed into this theory, whether they have done it intentionally or not. The introduction of the mysterious clone assassin CX-2 alone has pointed towards the potential for Tech to be underneath his mask, with the number “2” in his name mirroring Tech’s clone trooper designation as CT-9902. While this could be considered a coincidence, there are also many other clues The Bad Batch has been dropping that point towards Tech’s survival and return, and here are 14 of the biggest ones thus far.

14

Tech’s Goggles Are Shown For The First Time

Season 3, Episode 2 “Paths Unknown”

It’s a well-known fact among Star Wars audiences that when a character dies, particularly in animation, they are not often brought up again – especially if they’re a clone. For example, following the tragic death of Fives in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he and the conspiracy surrounding his fate are never acknowledged, aside from the notes Captain Rex kept that came in use during Order 66 and a brief retelling of these events to Echo in The Bad Batch season 1. For The Bad Batch season 3 to reference Tech’s death early on, then, is significant.

The first reference to Tech and his death arrives with a glimpse at his goggles, which are shown on board Clone Force 99’s ship, the Marauder. This is done at a moment when Hunter is at his lowest, with his and Wrecker’s search for Omega having been fruitless. Hunter is attempting to accomplish a task that Tech would have easily done, and that’s when the focus sets itself on Tech’s goggles. Following the narrative principle of Chekhov’s gun, this seems to point towards the item being significant later on.

13

Clone Assassins Like CX-2 Are Given A Focus Early On

Season 3, Episode 3 “Shadows of Tantiss”

The clone assassins are nothing new in The Bad Batch season 3, as they were first shown in The Bad Batch season 2, episode 7 “The Clone Conspiracy.” The lore of these assassins has since grown in The Bad Batch season 3, with Crosshair stating that they are clones who undergo serious conditioning to become covert agents of the Empire. As someone who resisted this conditioning, Crosshair failed to become one of them, but it now seems very possible that another member of Clone Force 99 very well could have.

The first clone assassin shown in The Bad Batch season 3 is one on Mount Tantiss, who is given a moment of focus as he briefly supervises the transfer of prisoners such as Crosshair from experimentation back to their cells. While it’s not clear which assassin this is, the focus he’s given proves that the show wants viewers to remember him. Establishing the assassins’ importance early on is yet another major clue that CX-2 is someone with a significant identity, and there’s no one better to memory-wipe and reprogram than a fallen member of Clone Force 99.

12

Tech Gets A Moment Of Silence & An Empty Space

Season 3, Episode 5 “The Return”

Once again going against the grain of how Star Wars handles character deaths, Tech is brought up by Echo after he reunites with Clone Force 99 on Pabu. While discussing a plan to track Nala Se’s datapad back to Mount Tantiss, Echo makes a comment about how hard it will be to decrypt Imperial information without Tech, which is met with a moment of silence from the group. There’s even an empty space alongside Echo for Tech to fit in, as if the weight of this silence carries his presence.

This isn’t the first time Tech has been name-dropped in The Bad Batch season 3, as Omega references Tech in episode 3, but it is the first time the characters are directly faced with the reality of Tech’s absence. This moment thus carries its own weight and significance, and it isn’t the usual move for Star Wars – though it is an appreciated one, regardless of whether Tech has truly survived or not. It does, however, place emphasis on the painful memory of Tech’s death, just as the flash of his goggles had earlier in the season.

11

CX-2 Is Activated When Clone Force 99 Has Omega

Season 3, Episode 6 “Infiltration”

Clone assassin CX-2’s introduction arrives when it’s time for his activation. With CX-1 having been compromised by Captain Rex and Howzer, Scorch takes the initiative of activating CX-2 to go after CX-1 and neutralize him. It’s on this mission that CX-2 discovers Omega is back with the Bad Batch, which sets the character up to be a prime pursuer of Omega and her brothers. Ironically enough, this also takes place on the planet Teth, a callback to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie that is just one letter away from being “Tech.”

While it would have been impossible for the Empire to activate CX-2 on the basis of Omega reuniting with her brothers prior to them knowing her location, this seems to be a hint meant solely for the audience in a classic case of dramatic irony. CX-2 automatically becomes a major player against Clone Force 99 and Omega, and this makes the secret of his identity even more significant. If it truly is Tech underneath CX-2’s mask, then it makes sense that The Bad Batch season 3 would want to pit him directly against his family.

10

CX-2 Is Bad At Following Orders

Season 3, Episode 7 “Extraction”

When CX-2 has neutralized CX-1, he starts to focus on capturing Omega, which causes him to butt heads with Commander Wolffe quite often during their extraction. It becomes clear that CX-2 is not keen on following orders, something that has long since been a saying of Clone Force 99. Tech’s last words were even, “When have we ever followed orders?“; this last impression of Tech is seen through CX-2’s actions in disregarding orders in favor of achieving his personal objective.

9

CX-2 Appears To Have Cybernetic Legs

Season 3, Episode 7 “Extraction”

One of the most interesting characteristics of CX-2 is that he appears to have cybernetic legs. While Crosshair is looking for CX-2 through his rangefinder, he uses a heat sensor, which only identifies heat being present in CX-2’s body from the knees-up. This could very well mean that the lower half of CX-2’s legs are cybernetic. CX-2 also sustains a leg injury after being buried by the rubble on Teth, which ties another thread between the mysterious CX-2 assassin and Tech.

In The Bad Batch season 2, episode 2 “Ruins of War,” Tech fractures his femur after his leg is crushed by a heavy cargo crate. This could mean, then, that CX-2’s leg injury on Teth is more so an old injury of Tech’s that’s been aggravated by his incident with the rubble. Having cybernetic lower legs also points towards the possibility of this being the outcome of Tech’s fall, in that his lower legs could have been pinned down by the rail car that he was once suspended from.

8

CX-2 Gets Personal In A Fight Against Crosshair

Season 3, Episode 7 “Extraction”

One of the most personal moments for CX-2 in The Bad Batch season 3 thus far comes during his fight with Crosshair. Rather than seeking to complete his objective of acquiring the target, Omega, and shooting down anyone who stands between him and her, CX-2 taunts Crosshair and fights him with a vengeance. During the fight, CX-2 even says “You had your chance to be one of us. You chose the wrong side.”

These words from CX-2 can be interpreted in two different ways. The first is, obviously, that CX-2 is telling Crosshair he chose the wrong side by betraying the Empire and not becoming a clone assassin. It could also, however, be referring to Crosshair’s past. Clone Force 99 gave Crosshair various chances to leave the Empire and stay with them, but he continued to choose the Empire over them. It stands to reason, then, then CX-2 could be Tech providing his perspective on the past here – as if a small part of him survived the mind-wipe.

7

CX-2 Proves His Tech Skills

Season 3, Episode 11 “Point of No Return”

Tech’s main characteristic is, of course, his namesake: technology. When CX-2 is able to break into Phee Genoa’s ship and acquire the data he seeks, it feels reminiscent of something only Tech would have been able to do so flawlessly. He even uses a datarod, a piece of technology that Tech often uses throughout his Star Wars appearances, and he talks about encryptions when rehashing his discoveries to Scorch later on.

6

CX-2 & Phee Sense One Another

Season 3, Episode 11 “Point of No Return”

While taking the coordinates to Pabu from Phee Genoa’s ship, CX-2 and Phee dance circles around one another, narrowly avoiding each other as CX-2 heads on and off her ship. CX-2 is careful not to be seen, and he stays on the lookout whenever possible to be sure his trace is clear. Phee, on the other hand, is highly aware that someone’s around – but this moment between them seems to go far beyond pure hide-and-seek.

There are two separate instances of CX-2 glancing in Phee’s direction, the second of which lingers for longer than necessary. Phee’s already boarded her ship, and thus the assassin is in the clear, yet he lingers as if there’s something familiar about her. Phee, on the other hand, gives off an air of recognition, as if she somehow knows that a familiar person is in the vicinity. This could, of course, be an over-analysis, but this moment between these two characters still feels significant – particularly given Phee and Tech’s relationship.

5

Tech’s Goggles Are Shown Again

Season 3, Episode 11 “Point of No Return”

In the true spirit of Chekhov’s gun, Tech’s goggles make another appearance later on in The Bad Batch season 3. This emotional moment sees Omega taking them from the Marauder just before it’s destroyed and putting them on display in a room of treasures on Pabu, along with her and Wrecker’s stuffed Lula. Omega is hesitant to let go of the item, but she does so, symbolizing her ability to move on from her past.

This re-appearance of Tech’s goggles adds another layer of foreshadowing to his return. This item could have been kept on the Marauder when it was destroyed, but instead, it was chosen to survive along with Lula. While this could very well be a sentimental choice to reassure viewers who would already be devastated enough by the ship’s destruction, it also harkens back to Chekhov’s gun as it approaches a third potential appearance, a number that’s highly significant in that narrative principle.

4

CX-2 Uses “Domicile,” One Of Tech’s Vocabulary Words

Season 3, Episode 11 “Point of No Return”

One of the things Tech was always known for was his unique vocabulary, which was always more enriched than the average person’s. In The Bad Batch season 2, episode 2, Tech refers to someone’s home as a “domicile,” a word that is later repeated in The Bad Batch season 3 by CX-2. When giving the order to look for Omega, CX-2 instructs the troopers to “search every domicile,” a concrete clue that directly ties CX-2 back to Tech – whether it’s been done intentionally or not.

3

CX-2 Is Eager To Correct The Mayor On Pabu

Season 3, Episode 11 “Point of No Return”

Another one of Tech’s beloved characteristics is his affinity for providing the correct information, something he always did even if it meant cutting someone else off mid-sentence. This is very similar to what CX-2 does while he speaks to the mayor of Pabu, Shep, in The Bad Batch season 3. When Shep begins to accuse CX-2 and the Empire of various things, such as ruining the islanders’ livelihood by destroying their boats, CX-2 insists that he’s solely cutting off “a means of escape.”

This is very different from the typical Imperial, who would have bathed in the glory of making these people suffer. Rather than rubbing salt in the wound, CX-2 is eager to provide the correct and most accurate information, which in this case means reminding the mayor that there is much worse that could still be done. This feels very much like an eerie, evil spin on Tech’s usual affinity for correcting others, which again points towards the possibility of Tech being behind CX-2’s mask.

2

CX-2 Is Gentler With Omega Than Expected

Season 3, Episode 11 “Point of No Return”

CX-2’s treatment of Omega isn’t exactly kind when she turns herself in, but it’s still kinder than most would expect when dealing with an escaped fugitive. Rather than taking Omega’s comm device from her forcefully, CX-2 requests her to hand it over, establishing an odd sense of trust between them as she does so. CX-2 is still rough and tough with the way he handles her, but even then, it could have been much worse for someone like Omega, who escaped the Empire’s most classified facility.

While this isn’t a direct piece of evidence proving Tech’s survival underneath CX-2’s mask, it is yet again a hint at something familiar. Like Phee and CX-2’s interaction, it establishes a sort of familiarity, as if the ghost of Tech’s past is haunting his present – even after a potential memory wipe. If that feeling is nagging at CX-2 again, it could be the reason why he’s more gentle with her, or at least more willing to give her some sort of trust.

1

Phee Talks About Tech With His Goggles In The Background

Season 3, Episode 12 “Juggernaut”

The most recent clue to Tech’s survival is another presentation of goggles, as well as another direct mention of him. Phee Genoa arrives on Pabu in a secret passage, where she confronts Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair, the latter of whom she has yet to meet in person. She knows it’s him, however, based on the memory she has of Tech describing what Crosshair was like, which she says is a “sparkling personality.” This establishes a relationship between Phee and Tech that goes even deeper than what was seen on screen in The Bad Batch season 2.

All of this is said with Tech’s goggles sitting in the background just behind Phee, as if representing his place alongside her. With Clone Force 99 now in need of a ship, it seems that Phee could continue to work with them until they get Omega back, which means she could witness a potential discovery of a surviving Tech, perhaps as CX-2. Phee’s last words to Tech were “See you around, brown eyes,” which implies unfinished business between them – and a hopeful spark that Tech will return in The Bad Batch season 3.

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