#c'baoth

Before the Ahsoka show came out, I figured I would read the Thrawn books to prep for the show. Even though the first several books were de-canonized after Disney bought the franchise, I feel that Dave Filoni has tried to be respectful to Timothy Zahn’s original character of Thrawn and his story. I feel like it could still be possible to bring back a lot from the original book, Heir to the Empire.

First off, I want to just point out that the events in Ahsoka do not necessarily have to replace the original story. In Heir to the Empire, we are not given the “how” of Thrawn’s return. In fact, he was a mysterious warlord that the original saga heroes didn’t know existed until he just suddenly showed up. The first season of Ahsoka could just be the bridge between Rebels and Heir to the Empire to explain this return.

Even though there are some things in the new canon that has changed, I do think there are other things that could still be revived through the final season of The Bad Batch. Anyone else who has read Heir to the Empire may have thought about this too, but I just wanted to share my hypothesis.

Mount Tantiss, and the Guardian

In Heir to the Empire, Thrawn travels to Wayland—where Mount Tantiss is located. While there, Thrawn seeks the Guardian and wants him to take him to the emperor’s storehouse inside the mountain. He encounters a strange, old man who says he could lead him to the Guardian. The old man takes him to the crypt of the Guardian and proudly proclaims that he killed the Guardian.

Mount Tantiss is the secret cloning laboratory of the new empire in The Bad Batch—the one where Omaga and Crosshair are being held. I suspect that “the Guardian” of Mount Tantiss is Dr. Royce Hemlock.

As the story continues, the man claims to be the jedi master Joruus C’baoth. He actuality turns out to be a clone of the dark jedi Jorus C’baoth, who disappeared before the Clone Wars. In Ahsoka, perhaps Baylan Skoll could have been the “replacement” dark jedi for the new canon. However, I feel like they could still bring C’baoth back.

Force cloning

I hypostasize that in The Bad Batch the secret project that Hemlock wants Nala Se to work on is the cloning of the dark jedi—but not just the cloning of the man, himself, but also the cloning of the ability to wield the force.

I know some people suspect that Omega is an experiment of this kind of force cloning. Perhaps she is. I actually suspect that all the original members of the Bad Batch might be as well. Perhaps the attempt to clone force sensitivity is what gave each of them their special enhancements. However, the difference is that they cannot wield the force. Force wielding is what Hemlock wants Nala Se to clone, and it actually does work. The clone of C’baoth can wield the force.

That brings to question: if force cloning is possible, why does Moff Gideon have trouble with it? In The Mandalorian season 3, he admits that this is why he needed blood from Grogu—because he needed a force sensitive subject to clone force sensitivity. But why doesn’t it work for him? It is well after The Bad Batch, so why did he not have the knowledge to complete it? I suspect that the knowledge was lost when Mount Tantiss fell, and that is something that The Bad Batch may just explain.

The Clone Rebellion and the Fall of Mount Tantiss

There is no question that at the end of The Bad Batch, there will be a final battle at Mount Tantiss to free Omega, Crosshair, and all of their clone brothers.

Before reading the Thawn books, I suspected that during this inevitable infiltration the Zillo beast would play a big part and possibly be the downfall of Hemlock. However, my hypothesis changed when I read Heir to the Empire and clone C’baoth claimed to have killed the emperor’s guardian. I do think the Zillo beast will still play a big role in the fall of Mount Tantiss, but it will not be the one to end Hemlock. C'baoth will be. It would be poetic irony: the project that Hemlock obsessed so much over would ultimately bring his demise.