Star Wars: Did The Bad Batch Tease Ahsoka Tano's Return?

Did Star Wars: The Bad Batch tease the return of Ahsoka Tano at the end of its latest episode? (Warning: SPOILERS Follow) In "Decommissioned" Clone Force 99 officially became mercenaries, hired by Cid to retrieve a Separatist tactical droid before it is decommissioned on Corellia. As it turns out, Clone Force 99 aren't the only ones after the droid: sisters Trace and Rafa Martez were also hired to retrieve the droid, on behalf of a client that is said to be fighting against the Empire. After the job goes sideways, Trace and Rafa call their client to report about Clone Force 99.

Many Star Wars fans saw the robed figure on the holographic message and started buzzing with excitement. So is Ahsoka Tano about to appear in Star Wars: The Bad Batch? While it's a fantastic prospect to consider, fans may want to be careful with their expectations.

The Martez sisters were introduced in one of the final arcs of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. They crossed paths with Ahsoka Tano on Coruscant, during a spice smuggling job for the Pyke Syndicate, and the end of that arc so Ahsoka bond with Trace and Rafa - despite their dark history with the Jedi. It makes sense from the point of view of fan logic that Trace and Rafa would be contacting Ahsoka - their only known connection to the Star Wars Universe - as the anti-Empire operative. However, there is another strong possibility...

Trailers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch already made the reveal that Captain Rex was a major Clone Wars character that would be returning in this new series. It makes sense that Rex was the client that Trace and Rafa contacted, based on the gap of time between The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, which The Bad Batch is now filling in. In fact, the emphasis in Rafa's dialogue about the Bad Batch being clones seems like a big giveaway.

The ending of Clone Wars saw Ahsoka Tano escape Order 66 and go into hiding alongside Clone Tropper leader Captain Rex. Rex was one of the few Clone commanders to disable his inhibitor chip; in Rebels Rex eventually turns up on the planet Seelos living in the company of other liberated clone commanders who all become key agents of The Rebellion. One key detail of continuity we still need to be explained is how Rex and Ahsoka went into deep-cover hiding after escaping Order 66 - or rather, who helped them do it.

Trace and Rafa are smugglers - and two people that almost no one could connect to Ahsoka Tano. It would make perfect sense that Ahsoka returned to her new friends after Order 66 to get help in escaping the Empire's radar; that job would've introduced Trace and Rafa to Rex, and helped establish a line of communication between them.

Behind the scenes, there's a lot going on with Ahsoka Tano right now, which would make Rex a much easier choice for a Bad Batch cameo. The Ahsoka novel from 2016 makes the character a hot-button choice for Bad Batch since the book has continuity about Ahsoka's pre-Rebellion years that is already being infringed upon by on-screen storylines. The Ahsoka live-action series is also on the way, which could cover the backstory of how Ahsoka spent her years in hiding, which is again already a fragile time period to play in.

That's all to say: it would be outstanding if The Bad Batch has an Ahsoka episode, but we'll definitely take a Captain Rex episode as conciliation. Or, you know, both characters in one joint cameo.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch streams episodes Fridays on Disney+.