Warning: SPOILERS for the Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode “The Harbinger” are ahead!
When Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which one should watch as they go through the Star Wars movies in order, was originally cancelled by Cartoon Network in 2013, many episodes that had been written or even begun being animated were shelved. This included an eight-episode arc featuring Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos that was adapted into the 2015 book titled Dark Disciple, which ended with the former’s death. Yet surprisingly, the Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 trailer revealed that Asajj is somehow alive in the early years of the Empire’s reign, and the episode “The Harbinger” finally brought Count Dooku’s former apprentice back into play.
The bad news is that “The Harbinger” doesn’t shed any light on how Asajj Ventress is still breathing, though she does offhandedly say to Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair at the end of the episode that she has “a few lives left.” The good news, at least potentially, is it appears as Ventress could hold the key to Omega’s future, though it would be one requiring her to leave Clone Force 99 behind.
How Omega And Asajj Ventress Met
At the end of “Bad Territory” last week, Fennec Stand contacted an unseen individual about Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair’s interest in M-count, which is the reason why the Empire wants to recapture Omega (one of the franchise’s best female leads), as it turns out she’s the key to Dr. Hemlock’s experiments. In “The Harbinger,” Asajj Ventress was identified as Fennec’s contact, and she traveled to Pabu to meet Omega, Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair. After informing them that M-count measures how much a person can connect to the Force (i.e. the number of their midichlorians), Ventress decides to test whether or not Omega has the potential to become a Force-wielder.
Omega fails Ventress’ first test, standing on one leg atop a slippery rock as a piece of fruit is balanced on her head, but she’s then sent to retrieve a white blossom from a weeping Maya tree in the Pabu colonnade before the sun sets. While Omega races to accomplish that goal with Batcher’s help, Hunter, Omega and Crosshair confront Ventress, as they’ve learned her name and that she was once a Separatist assassin. They demand she leaves, but she refuses, resulting in a fight. Omega comes back just in time with the blossom, and Ventress then stands down, telling the clones she’s not their enemy. Omega convinces her brothers to give Ventress a chance to prove her trustworthiness.
Omega’s final test involves her trying to reach out with the Force to sea creatures in Pabu’s waters, but that ends up going badly when Ventress, while demonstrating this ability, unintentionally calls up a sea monster. However, Ventress is eventually able to calm this monster down, and thus gain better standing with Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair. By the end of “The Harbinger,” Ventress informs Omega that she doesn’t have a high M-count, but after the girl walks away, the former Separatist tells the adults she was lying and advises them to leave Pabu, as none of them will be safe as long as the Empire is hunting Omega.
We May See More Of Omega And Asajj Ventress Paired Together
Star Wars: The Bad Batch head writer Jennifer Corbett told StarWars.com that how Asajj Ventress survived the events of Dark Disciple will be revealed in “future content,” so at least fans of the character can look forward to at least one more appearance from her, whether it’s in one of the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, another book, a comic book series, etc. But as far as this show is concerned, it’s clear that Ventress is, as voice actress Nina Futterman put it, “closer to the [light side of the] Force than she is, really, to the evil part of power.” There’s still an edge to her, but she seems to be genuinely concerned for Omega’s well being and wanting to do good in her life.
Omega already stood out in the Star Wars lore as being one of only two Jango Fett clones who age normally, the other being Boba Fett. But with Ventress confirming that her M-count is indeed high, then there’s a chance that before The Bad Batch is over, we could see Omega tap into the Force. If that happens, then she’s destined to be more than just a soldier/mercenary like her brothers. That’s not to say Omega will become a Jedi, but a unique individual like her deserves to embark down a unique life path, albeit one that Clone Force 99 would walk on too.
As such, she’ll need someone to train her in the Force, and Asajj Ventress can be that teacher. Now that she’s alive again, the sky’s the limit on where Ventress’ journey could take her and how long she sticks around on the Star Wars timeline. She had an abusive relationship with Count Dock, but with Omega, Ventress can be the kind of teacher that she deserved. But more importantly for the Star Wars fans, just picture Ventress and Omega going on adventures together across a galaxy far, far away. Doesn’t that sound appealing?
If this happens, we’ll let you know. Until then, remember that new episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiere Wednesdays to Disney+ subscribers.
