When Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 premiered back in 2020 exclusively on Disney+ (where you can easily watch the Star Wars movies in order), it planted a seed for the future by introducing Clone Force 99, a.k.a. The Bad Batch, a team of elite clone troopers with genetic mutations that made them stand out from your average Jango Fett duplicate. A year later, Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiered to Disney+ subscribers, and now the spinoff is in the midst of its final season. The Dee Bradley Baker-voiced starring characters continue to be joined in Season 3 by Michelle Ang’s Omega, whom I consider to be one of the Star Wars franchise’s best female leads.
With more than a month to go until The Bad Batch wraps up, we’re still in the dark about what fate awaits Omega and her brothers. However, that’s not going to stop me from hyping up the young woman, as Omega is this show’s MVP. Whether you’re already watching The Bad Batch or this is the first you’re hearing of Omega, here are the reasons why this character deserves a lot more attention in the Star Wars universe.
She Brings Heart Wherever She Goes
As someone who didn’t leave Kamino until she was roughly 13 years old, it’d be easy enough to understand if Omega had turned out jaded or distrustful, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. From the moment Clone Force 99 met her, she was brimming with heart and optimism, a sharp contrast from adults Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo and Crosshair, who’d witnessed the horrors of war and were definitely more on the jaded side. In fact, those qualities have only grown stronger since she started adventuring around the galaxy far, far away.
That’s not to say that Omega hasn’t matured during her time with Clone Force 99, but no one can accuse her of being a cynic. Even in the darkest of situations, including when she and Crosshair were incarcerated in Mount Tantiss, she never lost hope, and she’s been able to inspire plenty of people during her adventures. That’s a valuable trait to have, especially considering her appearances so far happen during the early days of the Empire’s reign, one of the darkest periods in Star Wars history.
She’s Becoming An Effective Soldier
Because Omega is only around 13 when Star Wars: The Bad Batch begins, and roughly between 14-15 by the time she and Crosshair escape Mount Tantiss, she’s obviously far from being fully-developed, both physically and mentally. However, under the tutelage of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo and some of their allies, she’s become an effective solider. Gone is the girl from Kamino who didn’t know how to defend herself and couldn’t contribute to Clone Force 99’s field missions. Now she’s actively able to look after herself and play integral roles in the team’s operations.
Sure, there are still times when Omega needs to be rescued by her brothers, and Hunter in particular still gets concerned about putting her in harm’s way, as any father figure would. But the character is far from being helpless anymore, particularly when she’s using that energy crossbow. If she’s this adept in her early teen years, then it’d be great to see what she’s capable of in her 20s, 30s and beyond, especially if someone’s playing her in live-action during this time. Her skills are useful for more than just mercenary work, but we’ll talk more about that in a bit.
She’s A Great Tie To The Clone Wars Era
Although Star Wars: The Clone Wars came to a proper end in 2020, six years after the series initially winded down with Season 6, Star Wars: The Bad Batch has kept the Clone Wars era alive, in a way. The conflict itself ended in the show’s first episode, which was then quickly followed by Order 66 (and we got to see how this affected one Caleb Dume), but because The Bad Batch is so clone-centric, the spirit of the Clone Wars lives on within them. In Omega’s case, we quickly learned that like Boba Fett, whom Jango Fett raised as his son, she’s a clone who ages normally rather than at the accelerated rate standard for the clone troopers.
Dee Bradley Baker called The Bad Batch Season 3 a “satisfying” end to the Clone Wars era. But by having Omega stick around, the spirit of that era can live on, just like it does through Ahsoka Tano. This isn’t to say the franchise is going to stop telling stories tied to the Clone Wars, but by having Omega stick around, that strong tie to arguably the most popular portion of the Prequel Trilogy timeline can stay strongly intact.
She’d Be A Worthy Addition To The Rebellion
It would be easy enough for Omega to use the skills she’s learned from Clone Force 99 to make a living as a bounty hunter or mercenary, but in case it wasn’t made clear earlier, she has a strong moral compass. Fighting for what’s right is just as important to her as her family is, and there’s been many times where she’s steered Hunter and the rest of the gang towards helping someone else out or improving some kind of messy situation when they could have easily escaped. Having a mindset like that makes her a worthy addition to the Rebellion.
By the time of A New Hope, Omega would be roughly 32 years old, so whether she’s only just joined up with the Rebellion or she’s been affiliated with them for a decade or more, the potential is there for her to be one of its most valued operatives. Eventually there’s going to come a time where Omega needs to embark on her own journey, and while that doesn’t mean she has to permanently cut ties with Clone Force 99 (assuming they’re still alive), the Rebel Alliance is where she can make a name for herself. We saw Rex, Gregor and Wolfe aid the resistance effort in Star Wars Rebels, so why not throw another clone into the mix?
She Should Meet Boba Fett
As mentioned earlier, Omega and Boba Fett, who was originally code-named Alpha, are the two Jango Fett clones who age normally. Unfortunately, with his father being killed during Attack of the Clones, Boba didn’t exactly live the rest of his adolescence healthily, instead surrounding himself with all sorts of unsavory, criminal types who helped him try to seek revenge on Mace Windu during the Clone Wars, and he ultimately pushed on to become one of the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunters. That’s not to say that Omega has had the best childhood either, but at least she’s under the care of Clone Force 99 and well loved.
It would be interesting for Omega and Boba eventually meet, though given their different outlooks on life, it stands to reason they’d be on opposite sides. Still, Omega would surely jump at the chance to meet a brother of hers who’s more genetically similar to her than any of the other clones she’s met, and just like how she didn’t give up on Crosshair, she’d likely do her best to pull Boba back into the light. Granted, we know Boba’s redemption won’t come until after he escapes from the Sarlacc Pit post-Return of the Jedi, but it’s still worthing seeing her give it a shot. As for when on the Star Wars timeline these two should meet, I’d prefer it be sometime before A New Hope.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch comes to an end on May 1, but my fingers are crossed that not only will more people discover the show after it’s over, but that they’ll join me in appreciating Omega and wish that the Star Wars franchise keeps spotlighting her. If the latter is fulfilled, you’ll hear about it as part of our ongoing upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows coverage.
