What is the Techno Union? The Bad Batch season 2, episode 10 reference explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Bad Batch season 2, episode 10. 

Season 2, episode 10 “Retrieval” follows the Bad Batch as they try to retrieve the Havoc Marauder. They soon realize that recovering their stolen ship is only part of the problem as they learn the Marauder was stolen by Benni, one of many children who toil in an ipsium mine or steal for a slaver named Mokko.

Benni mentions to the Bad Batch that the Techno Union ran the mine during the Clone Wars and that Mokko took over when the Techno Union was forced out. The Techno Union was a powerful force during the Clone Wars and the Bad Batch even has history with them.

What is the Techno Union?

The Techno Union was a commerce guild led by Wat Tambor during the Clone Wars. Wat Tambor and the Techno Union were first introduced in Attack of the Clones. Before Obi-Wan Kenobi was captured on Geonosis, he saw Wat Tambor holding a seat on the Separatist Council and pledging the Techno Union’s droid army to Count Dooku and the Separatists.

Despite their involvement with the Separatists, the Techno Union had corporate neutrality during the war and still had representation in the Galactic Senate. They built warships for the Republic while also building millions of battle droids, thus helping to prolong the Clone Wars for their own gain.

The ipsium that the Techno Union mined from the planet in The Bad Batch episodes “The Crossing” and “Retrieval” was definitely a source of profit and a valuable resource during the war.

The Bad Batch’s history with the Techno Union

When the Bad Batch were introduced in Star Wars canon in season 7 of The Clone Wars, they were part of a mission that actually involved the Techno Union.

Along with Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex, the Batch traveled to the Techno Union’s headquarters on the planet Skako Minor to find and rescue Echo. The Techno Union were the ones who tortured Echo, turned him into a cyborg, and used his knowledge to transform him into a strategy algorithm against the Republic.

Alongside Anakin and Rex, the Bad Batch infiltrated the Techno Union’s headquarters on Skako Minor and fought the Techno Union’s droids as they successfully found and rescued Echo. Between the events on Skako Minor and the Battle of Anaxes, Echo realized he belonged with the Bad Batch and that was where he was needed. Echo’s decision to join them is one of the best moments in The Clone Wars season 7 Bad Batch arc.

What the Techno Union did to Echo shows the brutal lengths they were willing to go to profiteer off the war, leaving one to only imagine what kind of horrors they inflicted on their workers while controlling the ipsium mine from the latest Bad Batch episodes.

What happened to the Techno Union after the Clone Wars?

As Benni mentions, the Techno Union was forced out of the ipsium mine, leading to a power vacuum that was filled by Mokko. Losing the ipsium mine was part of the Techno Union’s larger loss of power.

The Separatists losing the Clone Wars was a game-changing loss for the Techno Union because despite their supposed neutrality and building some ships for their Republic, their real loyalties and power were tied to the Separatists.

Their leader Wat Tambor was killed along with the rest of the Separatist Council by Anakin on Mustafar. What remained of the Techno Union was absorbed by the Galactic Empire.

With the Techno Union gone and Mokko now dead, life in the ipsium mine should be much better for Benni and the others, especially now that they can equally share the profits that Mokko and before him the Techno Union used to keep all for themselves.