What You Need To Watch Before Starting Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Season 2 of "The Mandalorian" delivered everything "Star Wars" fans wanted and more out of an adventure set in a galaxy far, far away. From the revelation of Baby Yoda's real name (it's Grogu) to the surprise appearance from Luke Skywalker, the show's second season certainly implies that there's a lot to look forward to with "The Mandalorian" Season 3. Before that time comes, audiences can become one with the Force sooner than expected thanks to the release of "The Bad Batch," the latest "Star Wars" series to come to Disney+. 

Instead of putting Jedi front and center, the animated show will focus on Clone Force 99, a group of deformed clones who become a renegade group of stormtroopers, working outside of the system most clones find themselves in. Judging from "The Bad Batch" trailer, it looks like the titular group find themselves on the wrong side of some very bad people, who want to wipe them out for their inability to be controlled. 

The first episode of the new show debuts appropriately enough on May the Fourth. But before that time, if you want to be as prepared as possible for the series, then you have some homework to do.

If you don't have a lot of time to catch up on your "Star Wars" lore prior to the premiere of "The Bad Batch," then there's one specific arc of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" you need to watch. A group of four episodes in Season 7 practically function as a backdoor pilot for "The Bad Batch" series, as Captain Rex brings on an elite squad of soldiers to rescue Echo. Anyone wanting a basic rundown of Clone Force 99 needs to watch the following episodes — "The Bad Batch," "A Distant Echo," "On the Wings of Keeradaks," and "Unfinished Business" — all of which can be viewed on Disney+. 

In the event you want a deeper dive into Echo and the clone who inspired the name of the group (99), then you have a little more digging ahead of you. We'd suggest the Season 1 episode "Rookies," which follows Bad Batch member Echo as he joins a different group of clones to hold off an oncoming attack from droids. Echo also shows up in several Season 3 episodes, including "Clone Cadets," "ARC Troopers," and "The Citadel."

There are other characters slated to make an appearance in the show you may want to catch up with. Saw Gerrera, who was played by Forest Whitaker in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," will show up, and you can see what he was up to prior to sacrificing his life for the Rebel Alliance in a Season 5 arc of "The Clone Wars," consisting of the following episodes — "A War on Two Fronts," "Front Runners," "The Soft War," and "Tipping Points." Another familiar face you'll see in the trailer is Fennec Shand, played by Ming-Na Wen in "The Mandalorian," so you can see where she ended up after "The Bad Batch" by rewatching "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" before May 4, 2021.