Star Wars Brings Back A Fan-Favorite Clone Wars Character

Star Wars just brought back a fan-favorite character from The Clone Wars series, for an exciting new arc. That new arc is taking place in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which sees the elite Clone Force 99 on the run from the newly-formed Galactic Empire. With the Clone Wars now over and Emperor Palpatine seizing power, there are any number of characters and factions that have to find their way in the new world order. Well, in The Bad Batch episode 8, “Reunion”, we get to learn how one pivotal figure from The Clone Wars is getting along during the Rise of the Empire era. And not surprisingly, it’s business as usual.

Warning – Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 8 SPOILERS Follow!

In The Bad Batch episode 8, Clone Force 99 is still hiding out on a crashed Jedi ship after removing their inhibitor chips. When some local scrappers spot the clones, they put in a call to The Empire, and former Bad Batch member Crosshairs is assigned to lead a regiment of Stormtroopers to kill them.

What transpires is a deadly game of hide-and-seek between the Bad Batch and Crosshairs, across the ruins of the Jedi ship. In the end, the Bad Batch manages to outwit their rogue member by activating the crashed ship’s engine and nearly roasting Crosshairs. However, in the process the team gets separated and has to rendezvous back at their ship. That’s when we find out a second threat has been waiting for the Bad Batch, all along.

Hunter arrives back at the ship first, with young Omega at his side. Waiting for them is none other than Cad Bane, the infamous Duros bounty hunter! Cad has accepted the bounty for Omega, and he and Hunter get into a classic western-style pistol duel. Hunter ends up losing and taking a shot to the chest, while Cad Bane takes off with Omega.

Cad Bane has become one of the most famous and celebrated bounty hunters of the Star Wars Universe, thanks to Clone Wars. Last we saw him onscreen, Cad had hard turn of fate during the Clone Wars, when he kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine only to be defeated and imprisoned by Obi-Wan Kenobi. At the end of the war, he took a job delivering the layouts of the Jedi Temple to Separatists, and took a young Boba Fett under his wing to train him, just like Jango Fett had once trained Cad.

The Bad Batch now sees Cad Bane back on his game, taking on a job from the Kaminoans to retrieve Omega before the Empire can destroy her. It remains to be seen if Cad Bane has any connection to The Mandalorian‘s Fennec Shand, who already made an appearance in The Bad Batch as another bounty hunter who tried to capture Omega. At the end of that episode we saw Fennec call in to someone to report her failure – was the Kaminoans? Or Cad?

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