Star Wars: Fan-Favorite Character Makes Surprise Return in The Bad Batch

Star Wars: The Bad Batch continues to bring back characters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This time, it's one of the animated series' most popular characters, answering the question of whom the Martez sisters contacted at the end of the episode "Decommissioned." The newest episode of the show, "Battle Scars," sees Clone Force 99 reunited with Captain Rex, the clone trooper formerly assigned to Anakin Skywalker during the war between the Republic and the Separatists. In the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, fans saw Ahsoka Tano free Rex of the inhibitor chip, and they escaped Order 66 together.

That experience proves vital in "Battle Scars." The Martez sisters tipped Rex off to a squad of clones operating outside of Order 66's parameters. Rex searched for the Bad Batch and found them at Cid's place on Ord Mantell. Having felt the inhibitor chip's influence, Rex knows how compelling it can be and worries when he learned the Bad Batch hadn't removed their chips. He feels a particular urgency about it when he hears about Wrecker's headache.

Thus, "Battle Scars" becomes a personal mission for the Bad Batch. Rex leads them to the planet Bracca (the same planet Cal Kestis is hiding out on at the beginning of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order). A starship graveyard full of the trashed remnants of the Clone Wars is an appropriate setting for a mission where five rogue clones attempt to discard their inhibitor chips.

Rex leads the Bad Batch to a ship like the one he was on when he removed his chip. Tech and Echo get the medical bay up and running. However, Rex can only provide limited information on how the operation should work. He had help, referring to Ahsoka, and was in a different position as the patient.

Things go from bad to worse when Wrecker's chip finally kicks in, and he attacks the others. Rex manages to stun Wrecker and get him in the medical machine. It takes a while for Wrecker to recover, but the operation succeeds, and his squadmates undergo the same process.

The shadow of the inhibitor chips is now cast aside for the Bad Batch. They also know that the same procedure might help Crosshair, assuming the Kaminoans' most recent meddlings with his brain haven't created new complications. Rex invites the Bad Batch to join his movement resisting the Empire. Hunter declines the offer, echoing what Cut said in the episode "Aftermath" about needing to do what's best for his family. Hunter and Rex make sure that they know they have each other's backs if the need ever arises before they part ways.

Star Wars Rebels fans know that Rex eventually winds up retiring from the fight and living with two other surviving clones, Wolfe and Gregor, on Seelos. His retirement ends when Ahsoka seeks him out and joins the early rebellion alongside the Ghost crew.

What do you think of Rex returning in Star Wars: The Bad Batch? Let us know in the comments section. New Star Wars: The Bad Batch episodes debut Fridays on Disney+.