WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 9, "Bounty Lost," now streaming on Disney+.
Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch drew heavily from an unused sizzle reel from Star Wars: The Clone Wars that showed a pivotal duel between bounty hunter Cad Bane and a very young Boba Fett. Although the scene never made it into The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch found a replacement for Boba in Hunter and delivered an apt reimagining in which Bane emerges victorious. However, this week’s episode of The Bad Batch, "Bounty Lost," goes further, presenting a little detail suggesting the showdown with Boba was more than a discarded idea.
The original duel between Boba Fett and Cad Bane, which was inspired by classic Westerns such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, saw the two fighters gunning each other down. Boba's helmet saved him from death while also explaining the dent in his helmet. Bane's fate following the duel, though, was left unclear.
The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 9, “Bounty Lost,” gives some indication that the duel did happen. In the episode, Bane headbutts Fennec Shand, revealing that he's got a metal plate in his head. Later, he loses his hat after nearly falling to his death, which shows the plate more clearly. Bane didn't have that plate in his last appearance on The Clone Wars. This then means he got it between that show and his arrival on The Bad Batch.
The placement of the injury also seems to indicate that Boba was involved. Cane’s metal plate is on the left side of his head, which mirrors the blast to Boba's helmet in the mock-up, making it thematically appropriate. Both fighters struck the same place on their opponents at the same time. So while the helmeted Fett presumably walked away, Bane likely required medical assistance, thus explaining the metal plate in his head.
Of course, Bane could always have been hurt in another way, as there's plenty of time between his last appearance in The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch. However, the cut scene being canon is the strongest explanation for Bane's injury, as it also explains the dent in Fett's helmet. It would also be a huge coincidence that Bane got injured in a way that matches what happened in the unused footage. As such, while his duel with Fett may not be confirmed canon, it's almost certainly the best explanation for his injury in The Bad Batch.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes premiere Fridays on Disney+.