Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 7 makes the clones’ enforced obedience to Order 66 all the more terrible. When Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas hired the Kaminoan clone army, he intended them to be the Jedi’s ultimate allies in hopes that they would save the Republic from the dark shadows he felt rising. Unfortunately, he was outmaneuvered by the Sith, having no idea that his old friend Count Dooku had become a Sith apprentice. And so Sifo-Dyas was killed and his clone army became an important part of the Sith’s vengeance.
Dooku pretended to represent the Republic and had inhibitor chips implanted in each clone to enforce their obedience. As seen in … Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the SithWhen Palpatine issued Order 66, it resulted in the clone troops hiring, respecting, and in many cases even making friends, the Jedi they had served under. Already Star Wars: The Bad Batch revealed that these chips did far more than just turn the clone soldiers into assassins; Order 66 also rewrote the clones’ personalities in what appears to be a form of brainwashing. But Episode 7 of the Lucasfilm animated series reveals the true horror of it all.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch In episode 7, Wrecker’s inhibitor chip is briefly activated and he turns his friends on in Clone Force 99 and even tries to murder Echo. Fortunately, he is stunned, the chip is removed and Wrecker is soon back to normal. But when he apologizes to Echo for his actions, he shockingly reveals that his true consciousness was there all along, suppressed and unable to control his body. If this was true for Wrecker, then most likely it is true of any clone that followed Order 66. Imagine the mind of every single clone soldier watching in horror as their bodies became little more than weapons aimed at the Jedi. Imagine the clone troops cheering for the founding of the empire on the so-called “Empire Day”, even when their own consciousness looked on in horror and was unable to prevent themselves from serving this fascist dictatorship.
That is the end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 even worse. In the past few episodes, Ahsoka Tano led a mission to capture Darth Maul, and clone soldiers painted their helmets in their colors in their honor. She had always been a friend to the clones, viewed them as human beings in their own right, refused to throw away their lives unnecessarily, and did everything possible to save them. And then some clones became assassins trying to kill Ahsoka when Order 66 was issued. Well, it seems that any of these clones’ own thoughts were still active in their bodies, and they would undoubtedly have screamed silently at what their own bodies were forced to do. Ahsoka triumphed and survived, but these clones did not. She mourned her death, maybe she had felt part of the conflict in them through the Force.
The Clone Wars were the ultimate Jedi trap that ended when the Clone Warriors turned on the Jedi. But Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 7 shows that betrayal was far more shocking than anyone thought at the time, as the clones no longer became slaves and couldn’t resist the influence of the inhibitor chips implanted in their heads.
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