The latest chapter of the Star Wars galaxy has arrived, and The Bad Batch has revealed how Clone Force 99 helped form the Rebellion. Thanks to the Bad Batch, they helped ignite a critical spark of resistance even during the horrors of Order 66 and the Jedi Purge. Due to their genetic enhancements, their behavioral modification chips were not as effective (for most of them), leading to a greater amount of free will to do the right thing when it came to young Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume, even in the midst of the birth of a dark galactic regime.
At the beginning of The Bad Batch’s premiere episode, Clone Force 99 were assisting Jedi Master Depa Billaba and her troops. However, just as her Padawan Caleb was about to go and assist the Bad Batch against the incoming droid garrison, Order 66 was given and his master was shot and killed by their own clone forces, just as the majority of the Jedi Order were likewise slaughtered at the dawn of the new Galactic Empire. That being said, seeing as how Clone Force 99 were not as effected by the kill order (save for the squad’s sniper, Crosshair), the Bad Batch did not immediately kill young Dume. While Sgt. Hunter eventually managed to track Caleb down, he decided to let the Padawan escape, much to Crosshair’s frustration for his refusal to follow orders.
Because Hunter allowed Caleb to live, the Bad Batch was instrumental in starting the eventual Rebellion that would rise to fight back against the Empire in the original trilogy of Star Wars films, and this is due to who Caleb Dume becomes. After years of surviving on his own, Caleb would grow up and take on the name Kanan Jarrus. He eventually partnered with Hera Syndulla, and together they formed the crew of The Ghost as seen in the Star Wars Rebels animated series. Kanan would eventually take on his own apprentice known as Ezra Bridger, and together they worked to thwart the Empire in the years before A New Hope, gathering the individual cells of resistance fighters that would eventually grow to become the fully-formed Rebellion.
Kanan proved to be an instrumental hero of the Rebellion and without him, the Rebellion might have never gotten off the ground, but it’s all thanks to the Bad Batch’s Hunter who spared Caleb Dume’s life years prior. That being said, Caleb’s escape and survival in The Bad Batch is essentially a retcon, though it’s certainly a dynamic one that puts this new series’ protagonists in a position where they’ve become big parts of the formation of the galaxy’s future, even if they themselves don’t know it.
One can imagine that Clone Force 99’s exploits in future episodes will continue to feature new reveals as their involvement in this transitory time period is further fleshed out, though this first one is pretty big. Without Hunter making the right call and sparing Caleb, who knows what the Rebellion would have turned into, or if it would have even begun at all? In any case, The Bad Batch has already proven itself to be quite significant to the Star Wars timeline and continuity, ensuring that it won’t be a series fans will want to miss as it continues on Disney Plus.
Originally from https://screenrant.com/star-wars-bad-batch-rebellion-kanan-setup-order-66/