WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 1, "Aftermath," which is streaming on Disney+.
The climax of the Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiere entails the surreptitious help of a Kaminoan scientist at precisely the right moment. Nala Se, one of the chief architects of the Clone Army and ward of the female clone Omega, allows Clone Force 99 to escape with Omega by overriding any effort to close the hangar doors. However, Nala Se and the rest of the Kaminoans may pay a grievous price for her actions.
A sea change in Stormtroopers took place between Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, as the Empire replaced Clone Troopers with more traditional (and less expensive) volunteers and conscripts. The mystery as to why has remained elusive, mostly being buried in the dialogue of canon novels or used in Star Wars video games. Well, The Bad Batch looks like its gearing up to answer the question, and Nala Se’s assistance may mark the beginning of that.
Canonically, the Empire had replaced Clone Troopers completely before the beginning of A New Hope, and the facilities in Kamino were shut down. The exact reasons why, however, are a little murky. The 2014 novel Tarkin confirmed that Clones age more quickly than normal humans, giving them a shelf life that might restrict their usefulness. Star Wars: Battlefronts II then goes on to depict a revolt among the Clones in the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Unfortunately, that event isn’t canon, and neither are most of the other outliers specifying the reasons for the change.
That leaves the issue largely open, but The Bad Batch wastes no time inferring that that’s about to change. “Aftermath” centers around Admiral Tarkin’s assessment of the cloning facility in order to determine its value to the Empire. He strongly suggests that Palpatine is about to stiff the Kaminoans for the army they built the Republic, and the defiance of the Bad Batch during the episode likely did little to alter his opinion. That makes Nala Se's actions to protect the Bad Batch all the more pertinent. The Kaminoans clearly have few illusions about the Empire’s intent, and they have experience with building armies that go beyond Palpatine. Nama Lu said as much to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones when she stated that the Clone Army was the best they had produced, indicating a long line of similar projects, some of which could be marshaled in Kamino’s defense.
Besides the immediate effects of allowing the Bad Batch to escape, though, the larger reasons for Nala Se's actions remain a mystery. Presumably, she hopes to protect Omega, who clearly possesses special abilities and may play a vital role in the Kaminoans’ plans. But beyond that, Nala Se may believe the Bad Batch has a part to play in the impending conflict. Whether the squad consents to be their creators' cat’s paw has yet to be seen, but their fate clearly has a role in the burgeoning politics of the freshly minted Empire.
Regardless, the Kaminoans acted directly against the Empire’s interest in letting the Bad Batch escape. They may not have had a choice, but the act is still likely to carry dreadful consequences. The fact that Nala Se conferred with Prime Minster Lama Su -- and that they agreed to stay silent -- indicts the whole of their people in the Empire’s eyes. With a new order coming to the galaxy, the Kaminoans will have to move quickly if they want to survive.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes premiere every Friday on Disney+.