What will happen in The Bad Batch season 1 finale?

Say what you will about the overall quality of the first season of The Bad Batch, but when it hits on all cylinders, it soars. That was the case for this week’s episode, “Return to Kamino.”

Episode 15 of The Bad Batch serves as Part 1 of the season one finale, and it delivered. The episode was powerful from an emotional standpoint, there was plenty of drama, and it had the all-important cliffhanger ending that’s needed for the first part of a two-part finale.

And that cliffhanger has everyone wondering: What’s going to happen in the end?

Spoilers ahead for episode 15 “Return to Kamino.”

Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, Omega, and Crosshair were the only people left on Kamino (along with medical droid AZI-3) when the Empire bombarded the planet with an orbital strike, effectively destroying all of Tipoca City with the whole Batch inside.

That’s where the episode ends, begging a myriad of questions that we will (hopefully) have answered in next week’s finale.

So what’s going to happen in part two of the finale? We’re a week away from seeing the episode, so let’s speculate about some possibilities while we wait.

Someone might die in The Bad Batch finale

One of the biggest questions I had after the end of “Return to Kamino” wasn’t if someone was going to die in part two of the finale, but who. There’s no guarantee that someone does die, but I just have a strong feeling someone will.

With the way part one of the finale built up to the final moments in the training room with Hunter and Crosshair, it felt like one of those two would end up dead in some way. The relationship between Hunter and Crosshair has been the emotional core of the entire first season of The Bad Batch, and it feels very Star Wars-esque to have that storyline end in tragedy, either via a noble sacrifice or a betrayal.

Will Hunter sacrifice himself to save Crosshair, thus putting Crosshair on a true path to redemption as he deals with the emotional fallout from that? Will Crosshair sacrifice himself to save the Batch? Or will Crosshair have to be killed by Hunter or one of the other members of the Batch after proving he’s too far gone to save now that he revealed his inhibitor chip was removed “a while ago” and he’s still been acting just as ruthless as before?

There’s also a chance someone like Wrecker or Echo has to stay behind to save the rest of the Batch, thus giving up their life to ensure the others reach safety.

The only two characters I don’t see possibly dying are Omega and Tech. There seems to be much more in store for Omega, and I can’t see her story ending here, and Tech just doesn’t seem like the self-sacrificing type to me.

Just because a second season of The Bad Batch has been announced doesn’t mean all the tension is gone heading into the finale of season one; not all of these characters have to be alive for the second season to work. In fact, there are many unique storylines that could spring up if someone like Hunter does sacrifice himself to end the season.

There doesn’t have to be a death in the season finale next week, but it wouldn’t be shocking, either.

A surprise guest appearance in The Bad Batch finale

The first season of The Bad Batch has featured several appearances of other notable Star Wars characters. Just like with the early stories of Rebels, the writers of The Bad Batch haven’t been afraid to connect the Batch to plenty of other known Star Wars characters.

Caleb Dume, Cut Lawquane, Saw Gerrera, Trace and Rafa Martinez, Rex, Cad Bane, and Hera Syndulla are just some of the many characters from other Star Wars properties to appear in The Bad Batch this season. So why not end the first season with another guest appearance?

If the writers want to up the ante heading into season two, introducing a big-time character into the mix would make sense. Do we see Ahsoka Tano come to save the Batch instead of Rex? Does the season end with Darth Vader being assigned to track down the Batch after they escape? Or do we see another clone like Commander Cody enter the mix? What about the Inquisitors? Maybe this is where they make their first appearance.

Even Boba Fett or Maul could be possibilities, especially with Boba being name-dropped in an earlier episode and the Pykes playing a role just a few episodes ago, too.

We’ve seen other Star Wars animated shows end seasons with a big character reveal before, so it’s certainly possible this is the route The Bad Batch will take.

A big plot reveal in The Bad Batch finale

“Return to Kamino” already gave us one big reveal. Crosshair told the rest of the Batch that his inhibitor chip had already been removed an undisclosed amount of time ago, meaning he has willingly chosen to fight for the Empire for most of this season.

That likely won’t be the only big reveal we get to close out the first season of The Bad Batch, however.

It’s long been speculated that Omega could be Force-sensitive. What better way to reveal that than in the season one finale? She could do what Grogu did at the end of the first season of The Mandalorian and use the Force to save her new family. That would be an intriguing way to end season one, and it would set up plenty of questions to try and answer in season two.

Though Vice Admiral Rampart stated near the end of episode 15 that the Kaminoan medical staff has been secured, what if Nala Se escapes and orchestrates the Batch’s escape from Kamino?

I wouldn’t discount some sort of revelation in part two of the season finale, and it could lead to an even bigger cliffhanger than part one.

What do you think will happen in next week’s season finale? With season two already confirmed, we know we will see at least part of the Batch continue on in 2022. What do you want to see happen as season one wraps up?

Part two of the season one finale of The Bad Batch will air on Disney+ on Friday, August 13.