Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 3 Episode 11 of The Bad Batch.The Bad Batch’s last week’s episode “Metamorphosis” finally returned to the mysterious Imperial base from the final moments of the first season. Throughout the episode, we learn that the Imperial scientists on the base are working on some mysterious cloning project. They’re also attempting to coerce Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo) into working on some mysterious project, one that likely involves cloned Zillo Beasts like the one that Clone Force 99 encountered during the episode. But most importantly, the show finally gave us a name for this facility, and it has a lot of implications for not justThe Bad Batchbut forThe Mandalorianand the upcomingAhsokashow as well.
What is Mount Tantiss?
Mount Tantiss is not a new idea forStar Wars. It originated in the now non-canon Legends Continuity, created byTimothy Zahnin his 1991 bookHeir to the Empire(and its sequelsDark Force RisingandThe Last Command, together referred to as the Thrawn Trilogy). Located on the planet Wayland, the mountain was the home of one of the Emperor’s secret storehouses. It held a wealth of dark artifacts, but most importantly it stored thousands of cloning cylinders that Grand Admiral Thrawn used to create a new Clone Army to crew his fleet when he went to war against the New Republic inHeir to the Empireand its sequels.
In the current canon, Mount Tantiss seems to be fulfilling a similar function.The Bad Batchhas established it as the heart of the Empire’s earliest attempts at establishing a cloning program. The Season 1 finale “Kamino Lost” showed the Empire relocating the remains of the Kaminoan cloning program to the facility. “Metamorphosis” continues to show the Empire consolidating its cloning projects under one roof, as it ships in the Zillo Beast clones that have been a personal project of the Emperor since the early days of the Clone Wars. GivenThe Bad Batch’s focus on the impact of the rise of the Empire on Clones, it seems likely that the show will continue to develop the facility, especially asthe new villain Royce Hemlock(Jimmi Simpson) seems likely to be coming for Omega (Michelle Ang) after the events of “Metamorphosis.”
Mount Tantiss Could Be Setting Up Something Huge
The choice to adapt Mount Tantiss from the Legends expanded universe should be particularly exciting for fans ofThe Mandalorian. “Chapter 12: The Siege” featured an Imperial base on Nevarro that was secretly using Grogu’s blood in what appeared to be an experiment intended to create force-sensitive clones. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his allies came across cloning cylinders with mangled humanoid bodies inside, as well as a message from Doctor Pershing (Omid Abtahi) that explained the problems the experiments were facing. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to assume that the cloning project inThe Mandaloriandeveloped out of the one we’re seeing inThe Bad Batch, especially when Pershing’s uniform looks very similar to Doctor Scalder’s (Helen Sadler) in the latter show and the insignia on his shoulder is inspired by the one worn by Clone soldiers on Kamino inAttack of the Clones.
Season 2 ofThe Mandalorianalso featured Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) on a quest to find Grand Admiral Thrawn that spun out of the events of the series finale ofStar Wars: Rebels. At the end of that show, Thrawn (voiced byLars Mikkelsen) was launchedinto deep space by a pod of Purrgil(like the ones seen inThe Mandalorian’s Season 3 premiere), removing him from the galaxy during the events of the Original Trilogy but leaving the door open for his return. The fact thatThe Mandalorianmentioned him in Season 2 indicates that that return is coming, andThe Bad Batchchoosing to bring Mount Tantiss back into the canon offers some hints as to what form that return might take. It seems likely that the Thrawn Trilogy might provide a template for the storyStar Warsplans to tell with the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn during the era ofThe Mandalorian, with cloning playing a big role. But for as big as an adaptation of the fan-favorite Thrawn trilogy would be, that doesn’t seem to be the only goal of this overarching cloning narrative.
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IsStar WarsFinally Going to Explain How Palpatine Returned?
The return of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) inThe Rise of Skywalkerwas one of many problems fans had with the much-maligned film. It felt like it came out of nowhere, adding nothing to the story other than replacing Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) as the primary villain of the trilogy. Yes, his return has been explained in some of MARVEL’s recentStar Warscomics and the various guidebooks and the like, but for fans that stick to the films and Disney+ series, his return still feels like it came out of nowhere.
Mount Tantiss andThe Mandalorianseem poised to fix that. Both series are establishing a narrative of the Empire attempting to master cloning technology for currently unspecified nefarious purposes. WhileThe Bad Batchis exploring the start of these experiments,The Mandalorianis exploring their endpoint–attempting to create force-sensitive clones, ones like those we see in the Sequel trilogy in the form of Snoke and Palpatine. IsStar Warsretroactively building up to the return of Palpatine? On one hand, this could cover up one of the most substantial weak spots with the Sequel Trilogy but it does so the cost of directly connecting one of Disney’s best-receivedStar Warsprojects to one of its worst-received.
Either way, Mount Tantiss will likely show up in theupcoming seasons ofThe MandalorianorAhsoka, almost certainly in conjunction with the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. This may not be a super explicit connection, and it may not build too directly onThe Bad Batchto keep from confusing viewers who haven’t watched both. But the connections are building up, and it’s only a matter of time until we find out what they’re building to.
