Could 'The Bad Batch' Season 2 Bring Back A Forgotten 'Clone Wars' Monster?

A Fearsome Proposition

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 4 min read

The Bad Batch Season 1 was a great continuation of The Clone Wars storyline and was very well received by fans. Speculation is mounting as to where the story will go once The Bad Batch Season 2 finally releases. With no confirmed release date for 2022 so far, fans are mounting for more information.

With The Clone Wars animated series covering seven seasons and 133 episodes, there was a lot of storytelling that took place. It also left many seeds that could be picked up and planted elsewhere in other Star Wars projects. The Bad Batch was a spin-off sequel series so we already have continuing stories and themes. Supervising director Dave Filoni always had an amazing knack for being able to reference or tie together characters and events from across the Star Wars universe, bringing further depth to the experience.

Dave Filoni could delve into the past and bring back a monstrous creature from The Clone Wars in the form of the Zillo Beast. The Zillo Beast was an inhabitant of the planet Malastare. Thought to be extinct, a live Zillo Beast was awakened from its slumber after a Galactic Republic electro-proton bomb exploded during the Battle of Malastare. The Zillo Beast was a gargantuan serpent-like creature that had heavily plated hide that was invulnerable to explosions, blaster fire, and even lightsaber strikes. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine wanted to utilize the hide of the Zillo Beast to help the Grand Army of the Republic.

The reptilian creature was captured and brought to Coruscant for further study. During her studies, Doctor Sionver Boll believed the Zillo Beast was a sentient creature as it appeared to focus its hostility towards Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in particular. Things did not go as planned though as it escaped from its containment facility and wreaked havoc in the capital while attempting to kill Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. It was subsequently killed by the Jedi and Grand Army of the Republic using toxins. However, after its body was recovered, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine ordered Boll to clone the beast.

The Zillo Beast appeared in Season 2 of The Clone Wars in the episodes “The Zillo Beast” and “The Zillo Beast Strikes Back.” George Lucas believed that the Zillo Beast did not like Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Dave Filoni had joked that it could sense that he was a Sith Lord and was probably trying to warn the citizens of Coruscant about this potential threat.

After the eventual cancellation of The Clone Wars animated series, Dave Filoni was asked if the Zillo Beast might be seen in the newly announced Star Wars Rebels. In his interview with StarWars.com Dave Filoni said it was not feasible to bring the Zillo Beast back as its gargantuan scale made it too difficult for the production. At the time, they also had no explanation for why the Galactic Empire would have cloned it. Dave Filoni did hint that they might look at introducing a baby specimen of the Zillo Beast in Star Wars Rebels. However, this never happened in the series.

Season 1 of The Bad Batch brought the Imperial cloning facility Mount Tantiss out of Star Wars Legends arena and reintroduced it to canon. We already know that Palpatine was big on cloning ever since the prequel trilogy all the way through to his eventual return in the sequel trilogy. With The Bad Batch being a sequel to The Clone Wars, both shows carrying the same animation style, and Mount Tantiss finally coming into play, it would make perfect sense for the Zillo beast to potentially make a return in the series.

Introducing the Zillo Beast into Season 2 of The Bad Batch would not only complete The Clone Wars storyline but also built on the cloning theme that has been brought forward in other series. We can only speculate on what might happen while we eagerly await the official announcement for The Bad Batch Season 2 release date. Would you like to see the appearance of the cloned Zillo Beast in The Bad Batch?

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