Who are the Imperials at the summit in The Bad Batch?

Episode 15 of Star Wars: The Batch features a summit of high ranking Imperials coming together to talk about the future of the Empire. There are five of them in total, and surprisingly, all of them have appeared in previous media. So here’s an explainer to who they all are, and their backgrounds.

Governor Tarkin

The head of the meeting, Governor Tarkin is perhaps the most well-known Imperial among the lot. His appearance is unsurprising, but what is perhaps more noteworthy is the summit takes place on his home world of Eriadu. He is voiced once again by Stephen Stanton.

Eriadu is a location that’s been visited multiple times in both canon and Legends, but this is the planet’s first onscreen appearance. It’s great to finally see such an important location play an important role.

Doctor Royce Hemlock

Another unsurprising face is Doctor Royce Hemlock. He is the Imperial in charge of the Advanced Science Division, a branch of the Empire that specialising in cloning and unethical experimentation. He was kicked out of the Republic for his unusual tests, and now heads up operations at Mount Tantiss.

His plan at the summit was to convince Tarkin and the other Imperials to allow him to use clones as test subjects for Palpatine’s evil plans. While Tarkin expressed concern at the cost of the project, he came away from the meeting with what he wanted.

Orson Krennic 

Moving onto the other faces, is Director Krennic himself, and he’s even voiced by Ben Mendelsohn, the actor who played him in Rogue One. He was in charge of construction on the first Death Star (Project Stardust), something that’s referenced by Tarkin in the episode. He’s only a commander in this scene.

This is his first appearance in animation, though there were ideas for him to appear in season four of Star Wars: Rebels that ultimately didn’t pan out. Him being at the meeting of Imperial higher ups makes sense, especially considering Tarkin’s interest in the Death Star.

Barton Coburn

Another surprising face is the return of Admiral Barton Coburn from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He served under the command of Plo Koon during the Clone Wars, and seems to stayed with the new Imperial regime. He’s voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who also voiced him in The Clone Wars.

In the episode, he defends the clones by arguing they are loyal to the end, something he’s seen several times during the Clone Wars. He also raises the prospect that the clones might rebel against the Empire once they realise they’re being tested on, something that might happen in a potential season three.

Hurst Romodi

But the most surprising face of them all is the return of General Hurst Romodi. He originally appeared in the conference room on the Death Star in A New Hope, and later appeared at the end of Rogue One. He was originally played by Ian Selby, but after his death in 1999 Andy De La Tour took over the role. He returns to voice the General here.

At the meeting, he expresses concern that the Senate and clones will find out what the Empire are doing to the clones, which will harm their goals. He also warns that the clones haven’t given their consent for this, but Hemlock reminds him that they are Imperial property.

One thing that’s notable about all five of the members present is that they all served during the time of the Republic, and so they all at some point encountered clones. And they have different outlooks on them now, Hemlock sees them as nothing but a resource, Coburn looks at them with respect, Krennic is apathetic and Tarkin and Romodi see them as a threat.