The Bad Batch: Is there more to Omega than we think?
Speculation about the newest member of the Bad Batch runs rampant. Omega outs herself as a fifth genetically enhanced clone (Echo, the fifth Bad Batch member being a technologically enhanced version), but Star Wars: The Bad Batch also makes us painfully aware that the Kaminoans do not create without purpose.
It’s unlikely that a clone of Omega’s obvious skill and knowledge is a simple mistake, so the question persists: Who is she, really?
Omega’s look
Fans of the series have pointed out that Omega’s skin tone is noticeably lighter than most clones, who are modified from Jango Fett. Jango’s dusky hues are echoed in his son Boba, who is himself an unmodified clone that passes perfectly for a young “reg” throughout the Clone Wars. Her eyes mirror that of other clones, however.
Her hair is a shade of blonde that definitely belies any Jango heritage, and it’s stylized to look very similar to former Chancellor, now Emperor, Palpatine. She also has a jawline very similar to the secret Sith Lord. Some fans speculate that she is herself part-Palpatine. Others that she may have been designed as a gift to him (or an affront).
Omega’s voice
Omega still shares many traits with her Bad Batch brothers. Among those is her speech pattern, an accent known in Star Wars as the Concord Dawn inflection and most similar to actor Temuera Morrison’s New Zealander speech. While this may be due to the large number of clones around her, she definitely speaks much more like they do than her Kaminoan handlers.
Omega’s knowledge
Omega speaks freely about the inhibitor chips that the regular clones possess, which contain secrets that clone troopers Tup and Fives both died to keep. This indicates that Nala Se gave her access to, if not told her outright, some of the deepest secrets shared between the Kaminoan cloners and the Republic.
She also knows droid AZI-3, who helped Fives discover the inhibitor chips, knowledge that was then passed on to Captain Rex and allowed him to survive Order 66 without killing Ahsoka Tano.
Omega’s abilities
The last key we have so far to the secret of Omega is the abilities she has displayed to date. Firing a blaster is a skill that even young clones are taught, as Boba discovers in his time infiltrating the Republic, yet she seems to have mastered it with precisely zero training.
She also has exceptional sensitivity, knowing Crosshair’s actions before he even does and empathizing with him. This may just be a personal quality, but empathy is common in those strong with the Force, as is the ability to know things before they happen.
The Tarkin element
One element that hasn’t been much discussed is why Nala Se and the Kaminoans allowed her to escape with Clone Squad 99. They even went so far as to open the door. It seems likely that they were trying to hide something about her from Admiral Tarkin and the Empire. Something that Crosshair is likely to encounter and lead to him once again targeting a child under the protection of his former sergeant, Hunter.
Who is Omega? (Theorycraft)
It stands to reason that Omega is exactly what she’s been shown to be. A genetically modified clone possessing at least some similar origins with the others in the Bad Batch. There are more than a few clues that she may have heightened midi-chlorians, possible ties to Palpatine, and may well be the very impetus that leads to midi-chlorian cloning exploration in the future.
This is definitely something that the Kaminoans would not want the Empire prying into, doubly so if they only recently discovered themselves that the Emperor was powerful in the ways of the Force or in possession of unusually high “M-count.”
Even if all the Force speculation comes to naught, why a female version? Is it because clones have become too recognizable? Was she to be an infiltrator? A potential assassin looking like Palpatine to get him to lower his guard before she cut him down? An insurance plan against the Empire severing ties with the Republic? And what secret orders may she be carrying, even subconsciously?
For now, she is the best-kept secret in The Bad Batch, and we can’t wait to see more.
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Do you think there’s more to Omega than meets the eye? Let us know in the comments!