Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 7 Ending Explained

Contains spoilers for "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" Episode 7, "Battle Scars"

For as much as "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" has committed itself to moving away from the shadow of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," it hasn't abandoned the fan-favorite program quite yet. The rise of the Galactic Empire is very much at hand, the Jedi are all but extinct, and the time of the clone trooper is nearing its end, but remnants of old wars and old regimes persist. Look no further than "The Bad Batch" Episode 6, "Decommissioned," during which Clone Force 99 (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) had to secure a Separatist tactical droid head and were thwarted by late "Clone Wars" additions Rafa (Elizabeth Rodriguez) and Trace Martez (Brigitte Kali Canales).

Its successor — Episode 7, "Battle Scars" — keeps this trend going while also reminding audiences that the prequel era is on its way out. The Bad Batch continue running jobs for Cid (Rhea Perlman) to make ends meet, struggle to adjust to mercenary life, and are constantly looking over their shoulder with the Empire intent on capturing them. At the same time, more callbacks and the return of a familiar face that fans of "The Clone Wars" will jump for joy over make a somewhat expectedly dark installment worth watching.

Here's where "The Bad Batch" is at the conclusion of its seventh episode, and where it leaves us ahead of its eighth.

Clone Force 99 has resumed working for Cid, partially because of their need for funds and supplies but mostly because she continues to subtly threaten that she'll rat them out to the Empire should they leave her out to dry. Expectedly, tensions are beginning to rise between the two parties, but the return of a beloved clone, Captain Rex (Baker) — who turned out to be the individual that Trace and Rafa got ahold of at the end of Episode 6 — defuses the situation before it can get any further out of hand.

Since arriving to the "Star Wars" universe in 2008 via the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" movie, Rex has popped up all over the place. From playing a huge hand in every season of the "Clone Wars" TV series to spending some time with the Ghost crew of "Star Wars Rebels," he's built a reputation as one of the franchise's most popular names. Rex's first on-screen contact with the Bad Batch came at the beginning of the final season of "The Clone Wars," when they teamed up to free Echo from his imprisonment by the Techno Union.

Being one of the few first-generation clone troopers still around at the time of the Republic's fall, Rex is a valuable ally for the squad to have — especially for the mission he's leading them on.

Captain Rex's visit with the Bad Batch goes from pleasant to quite serious very quickly. The team admits that they haven't yet removed their inhibitor chips since none of them activated, but the grizzled Rex would prefer to be safe and not sorry. He tells them to meet him on Bracca — a junkyard planet popularized by the "Jedi: Fallen Order" video game — so that they can use the medical bay of a wrecked Venator-class star destroyer and get the chips removed from their brains.

For those confused about Rex's knowledge of the inhibitor chips, a clone nicknamed Fives (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) once told him of them, but he wrote off his comments as paranoid ramblings. Come the execution of Order 66, it turned out that Fives was right, and Rex as well as every other clone in the Grand Army of the Republic had succumbed to the chips' programming. Thankfully, former Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) removed Rex's chip using the exact same kind of medical facility he takes the Bad Batch to, thus reinstating his free will. 

Had it not been for Ahsoka's quick thinking back then and Rex's desire to help his clone brothers, it's entirely likely that the entirety of Clone Force 99 would have become hive-minded brutes like every other clone in due time.

Reaching Bracca is easy enough, but accessing the medical bay and getting the operations underway are other feats entirely. For one, getting everyone to the operating table is greatly hindered by the ship's dilapidated state, and, of course, the Dianoga that nearly drowns Wrecker on their way in. This brings us to the issue of the Bad Batch's powerhouse member, whose chip activates before he's even fully prepped for the procedure, thanks to his multiple blows to the head over the past few weeks.

As fans feared for so long, Wrecker finally falls victim to his programming and goes on a gun-toting rampage throughout the ship. He momentarily takes out Tech, Echo, Hunter, and Rex before turning his attention to Omega (Michelle Ang). Watching Wrecker relentlessly hunt Omega down with murderous intent is harrowing to watch given just how close they've grown. He made her a room on the Havoc Marauder, they constantly joke and play with one another, and their new tradition after every mission is to celebrate with some well-earned Mantell Mix.

But just before Wrecker can fire upon his little sister, Rex regains consciousness and stuns him. Wrecker's surgery goes off without a hitch, and he makes sure to apologize to Omega for his mindless violence over a handful of Mantell Mix.

Shortly after the group's rendezvous on Bracca, Captain Rex informs the Bad Batch to keep a close eye on the skies and stay out of sight. The entire planet is under the control of the Scrapper Guild, and they won't hesitate to turn them in to the Empire if they catch wind of their presence. Though members of the guild don't pose a threat for the bulk of the episode, appearing only once far off in the distance, their actions just before the credits roll will greatly influence the coming installments. 

With all of the inhibitor chips removed, Rex bids Clone Force 99 farewell and makes his exit from Bracca. But before he does that, he makes sure to pull Hunter aside and let him know that should they ever want to leave the mercenary life, there's a place for them with him and similar individuals who hope to topple the Empire before it can assert itself too heavily. A couple of Scrapper Guild members notice this brief moment outside the Venator, and they have every intention of alerting the new regime that they've found their rogue clone squad.

Several weeks have passed since we've heard anything about Crosshair, a Clone Force 99 member who became an Imperial special forces leader, and his new position in the Empire. Now that his brothers have been spotted, it's entirely likely that a less-than-warm family reunion is on the way — if not next week, then certainly in the next few to come.