Who is Commander Cody? Bad Batch’s villain gone SPOILOR
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 3 review “The Solitary Clone”
Commander Cody was a pivotal figure in the Grand Army of the Republic. While he was most famous for his role as commander of the 212th Attack Battalion, he was also the commanding officer of the 7th Sky Corp. He was also normally with Obi-Wan Kenobi as his clone general. Unlike Captain Rex and the Bad Batch, he did not have his inhibitor chip removed. This resulted in Cody expecting Order 66 and attempting to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi.
In the aftermath of Order 66, Commander Cody started out as a loyal clone of the empire. Before Star Wars: The Bad Batch there were quite a few non-canon stories about Cody’s fate many of those assumed that he remained loyal to the empire, and the fact that Cody was never mentioned or seen in Star Wars: Rebels led many to believe that he had sided with the empire. He certainly was not the only of the Jedi’s allies to choose to support the empire. Tarkin and Wulf Yularen both freely supported the empire and were promoted high into the Imperial ranks until their untimely demise in the original Death Star.
As for Commander Cody, many would have been surprised that he was loyal to the empire. He served under a good Jedi general and was friends with Ahsoka, Captain Rex, Anakin, and others. During all of that time, he was loyal to the republic. Even during his short stint in the Bad Batch, we see several repeated themes that stand out from arcs such as the Umbara Arc. Commander Cody once said “Yeah, regular folk don’t understand. Sometimes in war, it’s hard to be the one that survives.” Both Commander Cody and Captain Rex wondered what would become of them after the war. It seems like Cody has finally decided that Empire was lying about its peaceful intentions.
While Vice Admiral Rampart says that Cody is AWOL, Rampart isn’t what we would consider a reliable choice. As a fan, I hope that Cody has in fact gone AWOL and will find the bad batch. However, I worry that Cody has actually been condemned to an Imperial prison or that he won’t make it out of this season alive.
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