The Bad Batch

What’s it about?

Clone Force 99, also known as the Bad Batch, are a group of elite clone troopers who have genetic mutations which gives them unique abilities. This mutation also allowed most of them to resist ‘order 66’, unlike their brethren, and stopped them from blindly following the Galactic Empire. Now fugitives, the force must find a new purpose and their own way in the world.

The facts

• Created by Dave Filoni (Star Wars the Clone Wars series, Star Wars: Rebels)
• English language and fictional alien languages with English subtitles
• Runtime: 33 minutes
• The Bad Batch is a part of the Star Wars franchise and follows aftermath of the Clone Wars.
• Episodes release weekly on Disney+
• Produced by Lucasfilm (Star Wars franchise, Indiana Jones franchise)

Why did it get this rating?

This series is self-rated by DisneyPlus. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Violence and cruelty

This show is animated but still intense. Laser guns and lightsabres are wielded frequently resulting in characters being shot, punched, and killed. Explosions are common but the violence is never gory and when blood is shown it is minimal.

The series gets progressively darker and more violent, with more deaths, as it goes on.

Some of the strongest moments of violence include:

• Clones are tortured and experimented on by members of The Empire.
• The last episode of the series is the most violent, with many character deaths during battle by being shot and impaled.
• A captive rebel is executed. A soldier protests the execution only to be executed by his own commander. The commander then orders his soldiers to kill the remaining captive refugees with a flamethrower. Though the killings aren’t shown, we can hear the screams, and it is a disturbing scene.
• One character is severely burned by an ion engine, resulting in him being wrapped in bandages and later seen with a gruesome burn scar on his head.
• A clone is shot point blank in the head by an Admiral. The killing occurs offscreen, but we see his body falling off a cliff.
• Two characters follow a trail of blood in the snow which leads to a body lying in a pool of blood, in episode twelve of season two.

Suicide

An assassin is captured and kills himself when interrogated using a shock device implanted in his tooth.

Frightening scenes

A young boy watches his mentor get killed. We see the mentor shot a few times on screen, before we hear her final scream off screen.

One scene involves large swarms off giant bugs that attack a group of characters.

A character falls under mind control and is seen choking, beating, and nearly killing his own brothers.

When content stays with you: 

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.  

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau? (Blog)
• Ahsoka (content guide)
• Andor (content guide)