WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 7, “Battle Scars,” streaming now on Disney+.
Sometimes, it seems like every Star Wars project is just one big Easter egg, and “Battle Scars” is no exception. The latest episode of The Bad Batch is littered will all kinds of callbacks to previous Star Wars shows, movies and even video games Here's a chronological list of all of the references in “Battle Scars.”
“Battle Scars”
The callbacks start early in this entry, with the episode title acting as a milt-faceted callback. "Battle Scars" speaks to the general theme that actions have consequences and that war is a difficult thing, even for Clone bred specifically to fight. But more than that, the scars are a literal reference to the wounds that will be made when the Bad Batch removes their inhibitor chips later in the episode, and also acts as a callback to Star Wars Rebels Season 2, Episode 3, “The Lost Commanders.” In the episode, Rex tells Ezra, “The war left its scars on all of us.” He was referencing how Order 66 took an obvious toll on the Jedi, but it also was problematic for the Clones who were being forced to act against their will.
Hyperdrive
As the episode opens, Clone Force 99 is fleeing from the Rhokai after stealing some kind of a lizard. Unable to escape two pursuing ships, they try to jump to lightspeed, only for the hyperdrive to be offline. Echo scrambles to fix it, and right before the Rhokain ships are able to shoot the ship down, it comes back online. This sequence is a subtle Easter egg that references the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back when Han, Chewbacca and Leia are fleeing from the Empire and only narrowly escape because the Millennium's Falcon's hyperdrive was offline.
Dejarik
Back at Cid’s cantina, Hunter sees about payment for the mission while Wrecker and Omega go out for a snack. In the background of the cantina, there is a Ithorian and a Weequay playing Dejarik, which is also known as holochess. Dejarik has been seen in various Star Wars media, but its most notable appearance came in A New Hope when Han Solo advises R2-D2 to let Chewbacca win.
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Captain Rex
It’s kind of surprising that it took so long for Captain Rex to make an appearance in The Bad Batch, but it finally happened in "Battle Scars." As Clone Force 99 is conversing with Cid in the cantina, Rex fires a warning shot to get rid of the Ithorian and Weequay, building up to a dramatic reveal. As the group rushes out of Cid’s office, Rex takes off his hood and reveals that he was the mysterious figure from the last episode’s hologram.
Rex Is Dead?
Clone Force 99 begins catching up with their old friend, and he tells them that he has been keeping a low profile since the rise of the Empire, despite setting up a rebellion. However, Tech points out that, according to Imperial files, Rex was killed. This creates an interesting mystery because the Empire knows that Rex is alive by the events of Rebels, which means he still has some fighting to do before it's all said and done.
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Inhibitor Chips
When Wrecker sees Rex, the Captain immediately takes note of the Clone's headaches and realizes that the inhibitor chip is causing it. He knows what might happen if the chip activates, being that he succumbed to his programming in The Clone Wars Season 7 when he tried to kill Ahsoka Tano, and immediately advises the team to get their chips removed.
Omega's Chip
While it had been speculated in the past, "Battle Scars" reveals that Omega doesn’t have an inhibitor chip. Clearly, she wasn't made to fight against the Jedi, but it remains a mystery why her creators left out such a vital part of nearly every Clone. It's possible Omega doesn't have one because she was made unaltered like Boba Fett, or maybe, she's part of the Kaminoans' secret plans to maintain relevance in the galaxy.
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Bracca and the Scraper Guild
After Rex leaves Cid’s, he instructs Clone Force 99 to meet him at a crashed Jedi Cruiser on the planet of Bracca to have their chips removed. Bracca, of course, is that same planet that Cal Kestis crash-landed onto in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. There are multiple references to the game in the episode, including a musical motif as the Bad Batch exits hyperspace, the Scraper Guild and even a possible reference to the Ibdis Maw. Hopefully, with all these direct references to Fallen Order, Clone Force 99 will cross paths with a young Cal Kestis before the series ends.
Fives
As the group is walking to the Jedi cruiser on Bracca, Rex mentions to Echo that Fives had tried to tell him about the inhibitor chips before he died in The Clone Wars. Rex didn't understand at the time and was forced to hunt down his friend, who Palpatine falsely accused of an assassination attempt in an effort to eliminate him, but still wishes he had listened all this time later.
Dianoga
As Rex leads the Bad Batch through the cruiser, they have to shimmy their way across a cable over a high gouge in the ship. Wrecker is the last to go and ends up breaking the cable, forcing him to fall directly into the mouth of a hungry monster. While the beast could be part of the Ibdis Maw, it's more likely a Dianoga -- the same kind of creature that tried to eat Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie on the first Death Star in A New Hope.
Rex's Rebels
Near the end of the episode, Rex is talking on a commlink to someone about meeting at a rendezvous point. Once again, The Bad Batch leaves the figure a mystery, but there's plenty of potential candidates out there, including Ahsoka Tano, Bail Organa, Saw Guerra and Wolfe and Gregor. Regardless of who it is, though, The Bad Batch will likely act as a bridge between The Clone Wars and Rebels for Rex.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.