Star Wars Reveals Commander Cody's Fate After Order 66

Star Wars has finally revealed what happened to Commander Cody after Order 66 came down in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. SPOILERS follow for Star Wars: The Bad Batch's latest episode, "The Solitary Clone." After last week's two-part season premiere sent the Bad Batch to Count Dooku's homeworld, this week's episode catches up with Crosshair, who returned to the Empire even after being left adrift on Kamino for more than a month. He's cleared for medical duty, but not for command. Instead, he'll be serving under a familiar veteran of the Clone Wars, Commander Cody, who once worked closely with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Of course, Cody's working relationship came to a sour end when Darth Sidious sent Order 66 to all clone troopers. Obeying his programming, Cody turned on Obi-Wan Kenobi, ordering their squad to try to kill the Jedi, though Obi-Wan survived and escaped into hiding.

"The Solitary Clone" is the first time Star Wars has caught up with Cody since Order 66, and it's clear that the Republic's transformation into the Empire is weighing heavy on his mind. He meets the Crosshair outside of the First Battle Memorial. They discuss Clone Force 99 and other clones who have gone AWOL. Crosshair calls them traitors, like the Jedi. Cody shrugs it off, repeating the "good soldiers follow orders mantra," though it seems a bit half-hearted. 

Cody leads a squad, including Crosshair, the planet Desix, where a Separatist holdout is holding the duly appointed Imperial governor of the system hostage. Cody and Crosshair work together to fight their way through the planet's battalion of reactivated battle droids and it's almost like old times. That changes when they reach the governor.

Cody and Crosshair find themselves in a standoff with the Separatist, Tawni Ames. She tells them of a time when a group of Separatists offered a peace proposal to the Republic, only for Chancellor Palpatine to quickly reject it. "Peace was never an option," Ames says. Cody decides to offer peace in this situation, allowing Ames to live if she'll turn over her hostage. She agrees.

However, once freed, the Imperial governor demands that Ames be executed. Cody is reluctant after what he promised Ames. Crosshair doesn't hesitate and kills her.

Later, Cody reunites with Crosshair at the First Battle Memorial. He asks if they're making the galaxy better. Crosshair reminds him that they're soldiers. It's the last Crosshair sees of Cody. When he reports for his next assignments, he learns that Cody has gone AWOL. While it's only speculation, it seems possible that Cody might seek out Rex and join his efforts to help other Clones.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch debuts new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.