Bad Batch just solved a huge Snoke mystery from the Star Wars sequels

The Bad Batch has answered plenty of Star Wars mysteries in just three episodes. So far, we’ve learned:

• What happened in the initial aftermath of Order 66
• How the Death Troopers came to exist
• Why the Empire moved from a clone army to a conscripted army

But the series is also asking questions of its own, mostly related to Omega, the renegade clone unit’s mysterious new member. One new theory answers many of those questions, while also explaining massive plot holes from both The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian.

Omega appears to possess unusual powers of perception, which has led fans to speculate that she’s actually Force-sensitive. However, there’s already one pretty major snag in that theory: the official novelization for The Rise of Skywalker specifies that Force-sensitive clones were all horribly disfigured (i.e. Snoke). Omega – a young blonde girl – is far from disfigured, suggesting that her origins might be more complicated.

One recent theory from redditor u/rudboi12 theorizes that Omega is in fact a Force-sensitive clone, but one created by the Kaminoans. When the Empire discovered this technology had been harnessed by an outside group, Palpatine likely tried to get his hands on it. After all, achieving eternal life through the use of Force-sensitive clones had been a mission of Palpatine’s since the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise.

So Palps sent one of his operatives after the Kaminoans. (The theory suggests Darth Vader, though that’s perhaps wishful thinking even within such a piece of speculation.) Rather than surrender their secret, the Kaminoans were wiped out, explaining why no further members of the long-necked alien species show up in later Star Wars stories.

While it’s true the Kaminoans haven’t yet appeared past The Bad Batch in Star Wars chronology, their legacy as it pertains to cloning has long outlived them. In the tie-in book The Art of The Mandalorian, it was confirmed that cloning expert Dr. Pershing wore an insignia on his shoulder inspired by the Kamino-based clone soldiers. Could this mean Dr. Pershing has a connection to Kamino, despite not being from there? Quite possibly.

Here comes the kicker: there’s one way Lama Su and Nala Se, both Kaminoans, might have moved to save themselves from the Empire’s wrath. Just as the Empire programmed Order 66 into its clone soldiers, the Kaminoans could have worked a fail-safe into the same inhibitor chips, bringing the clones on Kamino to their aid during an attack — excepting Crosshair, of course, who led an Elite Squad in fighting off his clone brothers.

This theory is convincing, if only through its sheer effectiveness. Palpatine had the Kaminoans working on clone technology for years, so it’s hard to believe they never developed the tech he wanted most (the ability to create a perfect, Force-sensitive clone). Kaminoans unlocking the secret that Palpatine had spent his entire life working to solve and then refusing to reveal their methods would both solve this plot hole and realistically heighten tensions between Kamino and the Sith-controlled Empire. It also explains why Palp’s clones were all either beautiful but powerless (Rey’s dad) or powerful but ugly (Snoke).

But most important of all, at least for the Bad Batch’s story, it sets the stage for Omega to discover something incredible about her own Force sensitivity — and where it comes from.

The Bad Batch is now streaming on Disney+.