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The Bad Batch is back for one more adventure and it seems as if the final season is looking to tie into multiple aspects of the Star Wars franchise. As Omega and Crosshair work together to get free of Dr. Hemlock, it seems as though the Emperor himself will be taking a vested interest in Omega and The Bad Batch. Omega is essential to Palpatine and what he has stored in his vault at the Mount Tantiss base. The vault is a source of great curiosity among fans, yet there are two theories about what is stored in the vault that seem particularly important.
In the first few episodes of The Bad Batch Season 3, a highly secure and secretive vault is shown at the Imperial Base at Mount Tantiss. The vault is protected by stormtroopers, Clone Commandos, and an array of other security measures including energy barriers like the ones on Naboo in The Phantom Menace. With all of this secrecy and the series itself playing coy about giving away too much about the vault, it's clear that Palpatine's vault is of great importance. Fans are itching to find out exactly what is locked away from prying eyes and it may be that the specimens inside the vault are of huge value to the future of Star Wars.
Snoke is an Obvious Choice For What is in the Vault
Snoke was first introduced to audiences in The Force Awakens as a massive hologram.
Snoke seemed as if he was poised to take over as the Palpatine-type figure before his shocking death in The Last Jedi.
Andy Serkis played Supreme Leader Snoke and also played Kino Loy in Andor.
In Season 3, Episode 3 "Shadow of Tantiss," fans finally get their first glimpse inside the mysterious vault. It is full of tubes with metal shielding that can only be cloning tubes. The specimens in the tubes are clearly part of Project: Necromancer, the plan to bring Palpatine back to life if he dies. This immediately has fans thinking that these tubes must contain the early clones of what would become Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order. Dr. Hemlock is a brilliant, if evil, scientist and presumably will be the first person to crack how to create Force-sensitive clones, this makes perfect sense then that he would also pioneer the work on Snoke before the Empire fell.
When fans first met Snoke in The Force Awakens, not much was known about the character. The rumor mill and online theories were working overtime on every possibility of who or what Snoke could be. All of these theories and rumors were dashed against the theoretical rocks when Snoke was killed in The Last Jedi. Fans were of course shocked and all speculation on Snoke mostly ended until Rise of Skywalker came out and revealed that Snoke was indeed a clone that Palpatine used to sustain his life after his near death on the Death Star II. As Kylo Ren entered the Sith base on Exegol he walked past numerous tubes, similar to other cloning vats in Star Wars, and in some of them were old Snoke clones. Snoke had been essential to rebuilding the Empire under the guise of the First Order which in turn led to Palpatine trying to bring back the Final Order and completing Project: Necromancer.
Dr. Hemlock could be starting the work that Dr. Pershing picks up later on in The Mandalorian. Snoke was not created overnight, it likely will take the Empire years to gather the resources and knowledge to perfect the process. If it had been perfected by The Return of the Jedi, then Palpatine would have been back at the start of The Force Awakens. If Snoke is in the vats at the Mount Tantiss vault then it would help to make Snoke's role in the Sequels more meaningful. Fans would be able to see the work that went into keeping Palpatine alive, instead of seeing it as a messy behind-the-scenes decision from the studio. The Bad Batch has a chance to become essential to the fabric of Star Wars in a way that has a massive lasting impact.
Grogu May be Hidden in the Tantiss Vault
The introduction of Grogu or "The Child" in The Mandalorian Season 1 left fans flabbergasted.
The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have slowly expanded on Grogu's backstory, but there is plenty left unexplored.
Grogu could have ended up back with the Empire after being rescued by Kelleran Beq.
Grogu being locked away in the Emperor's vault is less likely but it cannot be ruled out entirely. Fans have speculated that Gideon, Dr. Pershing, and the Imperial Remnant wanted Grogu back to create Force-sensitive clones. Yoda and Yaddle were incredibly powerful Jedi Masters who were known for their strength in the Force. With them being the same species as Grogu, it would make sense that he would also possess a high Midichlorian level and a strong connection to the Force. With Dr. Hemlock trying to transfer Midichlorians, or M-Count, to a new host, Grogu could be a valuable resource for the Imperial scientists to have.
In the era of the Empire, the last fans saw Grogu was when he was escaping the Jedi Temple with Kelleran Beq. Kelleran evacuated Grogu from the Jedi Temple, with many other Jedi giving their lives so that Grogu could escape. After that, there is a long period where Grogu's whereabouts are unknown. Even with Kelleran protecting him, Grogu could have still fallen back into the hands of the Empire, maybe Darth Vader even killing Kelleran and taking Grogu back to the Empire as a prize. The Emperor could have put Grogu into some kind of stasis tank to keep him alive with the most minimal effort. The other tanks in the vault could be failed clones that had too much M-count degradation or failed completely. The Emperor wouldn't be likely to give his blood to be worked on, so he would want another being with a high M-Count, one that matches or exceeds his. Yoda is out of reach, Luke isn't a known figure yet, which leaves Grogu as the perfect candidate. The Mandalorian made it seem like Grogu was of particular importance to the Empire and the Jedi during Order 66 and it could have been because of his high M-Count and the potential of his DNA.
For a long time, fans have held a theory that The Bad Batch may have rescued Grogu from the Empire and used their mercenary contacts to set him up with protection. This theory was thought to be dead when Kelleran rescued him, but it could be back on the table. As the Bad Batch comes into conflict with Dr. Hemlock more because of Omega's importance to Project: Necromancer, they may end up breaking into the Emperor's vault and finding Grogu. They wouldn't leave him there and could end up freeing him from Imperial experiments.
The Bad Batch Season 3 has come out swinging with some huge opening episodes. The Emperor's vault is a huge mystery for this season and both Snoke and Grogu seem like viable candidates for who could be contained in the tubes. Project: Necromancer will secure the Emperor's future in Star Wars and The Bad Batch can easily set up that future by revealing who or what is in the Mount Tantiss Vault.
Stream new episodes of The Bad Batch every week on Disney+.
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