Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Bad Batch season 3

Summary

• The Bad Batch season 3 reveals secrets of the Empire and connections to other Star Wars projects.
• Project Necromancer aims to achieve Emperor Palpatine's immortality and future resurrection through cloning experiments.
• Grand iral Thrawn's role is confirmed post-exile in connection to the New Republic Era and Project Necromancer.

Set during the Dark Times, The Bad Batch season 3 along with exciting confirmations regarding the Star Wars franchise's future. To that end, there are multiple connection points to other projects (some of which haven't yet been released by Disney and Lucasfilm).

With Clone Force 99's youngest member Omega captured by the Empire at the end of The Bad Batch season 2, this new season sees the young girl imprisoned inside a secret Imperial cloning facility on the planet Wayland alongside Clone Force 99's Crosshair who initially remained loyal to the Empire during Order 66's aftermath (unlike his brothers). Now, The Bad Batch season 3 has been laying the groundwork for the Star Wars canon's future beyond the Dark Times, featuring connections to Emperor Palpatine, events in The Mandalorian, and more Star Wars stories.

5 The Bad Batch's Cloning Plot Culminates In Rise Of Skywalker's Palpatine Return

Resurrection Via Cloning Experiments

The Bad Batch season 3 confirms that the experiments being done on the former Republic's clone troopers are all in service to the darker goals of Emperor Palpatine. Using various blood samples, Doctor Hemlock and the Empire's Advanced Science Division are in search of a prime genetic template that can meet or exceed the midichlorian count of their original (and closely guarded) test specimens. Confirmed to be none other than Project Necromancer, all this work being done during the Dark Times is to provide Emperor Palpatine with a viable clone host body.

In the event of his death (like in Return of the Jedi) Palpatine's dark spirit can enter a waiting clone body via an essence transfer, preferably one that can his dark side powers. The Emperor is essentially seeking immortality, and Project Necromancer explains Palpatine's resurrection as seen in the sequel trilogy's The Rise of Skywalker. That said, the Emperor's experiments seem to have been only a partial success given the deteriorating state of his cloned body, the implication being that the bodies used in Rise of Skywalker couldn't hold an M-count for very long without being severely diminished.

4 The Bad Batch's Project Necromancer Is Tied To The Mandalorian Season 3

An Ongoing Project Decades In The Making

Project Necromancer was first referenced by name in The Mandalorian season 3 during Moff Gideon's meeting with the Imperial Remnant's Shadow Council. It was confirmed that the project was being run by Brendol Hux in the wake of the shattered Empire and the rise of the New Republic following the events of the original trilogy. However, the details were not fully revealed despite the obvious implications pointing to Palpatine's resurrection in The Rise of Skywalker.

The Bad Batch season 3 officially confirms that Project Necromancer was the name of Palpatine's cloning resurrection plans, a project he put into effect almost as soon as his hold over the galaxy was secured in the aftermath of Revenge of the Sith and the Jedi Purge with Order 66. As seen in The Bad Batch season 3, episode 3, the Emperor gives Hemlock his full and all the Empire's resources to accomplish the goal of identifying a viable clone template that can hold high M-counts: "There is nothing of greater importance to secure the future of this Empire."

3 The Bad Batch Just Confirmed Grand iral Thrawn's Role After Ahsoka

A Stop-Gap During The New Republic Era

The confirmation from The Bad Batch season 3 that Project Necromancer is Palpatine's resurrection solidifies Grand iral Thrawn's role during the The Mandalorian & Grogu. However, it now seems likely that Thrawn be just as loyal to the Empire as ever.

As noted by Captain Pellaeon during The Mandalorian season 3's Shadow Council meeting, "Grand iral Thrawn's return will herald in the re-emergence of our military and provide Commandant Hux enough time to deliver on Project Necromancer." Now that it's been confirmed what Project Necromancer truly is, it's clear that Thrawn's goal in future Star Wars projects will be to keep the New Republic busy with various conflicts, allowing the work toward Palpatine's resurrection to continue unnoticed ahead of the events seen in Star Wars' sequel trilogy.

2 The Bad Batch Season 3's "Slither" May Have A Surprising High Republic Connection

Genetic Offshoots Of The Drengir?

Another one of the Advanced Science Division's experiments is known as "slither vines", plant-like creatures that appear to be quite carnivorous in The Bad Batch season 3, episode 2. As such, they appear to have a lot in common with The High Republic's plant-based carnivores known as the Drengir, monstrous creatures who were seeded across the Outer Rim during the Nihil marauders' ongoing conflict with the Jedi Order and the Republic of the age hundreds of years before the prequels. To that end, it's possible that the Empire created genetic offshoots of the Drengir, resulting in these new "slither vines".

1 The Bad Batch Season 3 Connects To Clone Wars' Boba Fett Episodes

Young Boba Fett Actor Returns In The Bad Batch

The Bad Batch season 3, episode 2 also features a trio of clone cadets who never saw any action during the Clone Wars. Instead, they were immediately taken by the Empire to be experimented on, an altogether tragic fate in the Star Wars canon. However, these cadets were then abandoned when the Empire's Advanced Science Division moved its labs and facilities to Mount Tantiss on the planet Wayland.

As confirmed by the episode's credits, the oldest of the cadets named Mox is voiced by none other than actor Daniel Logan who played young Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones and also voiced the character in The Clone Wars. Logan also provided the voices for various clone cadets in The Clone Wars just as he is here, helping to continue the clones' legacy with The Bad Batch. However, it's also pretty fun that Deadpool 2's Julain Dennison voices the two younger cadets in the episode (named Deke and Stak).

Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 1-3 are available now on Disney+. Future episodes release Wednesdays at 12:00 a.m. PT, 3:00 a.m. ET, and 8:00 a.m. GMT.