One year after their first on-screen fight,Asajj Ventresswill yet again be facing off against a beloved group ofcharacters in a newStar Warsstory. It was in 2024 that the iconic villain known for her role inStar Wars: The Clone Warsreturned to the small screen inStar Wars: The Bad Batchseason 3, revealing that Ventress had survived her supposed death in the 2015 canon novelDark Discipleby Christie Golden.
In the months following this triumphant return,Star Warshas been bringing Ventress back to add even more context to her story. On May 4th of this year,Star Warsreleased the animated miniseriesStar Wars:Tales of the Underworld, which helped to explainhow Ventress had been resurrectedfollowing herDark Discipledeath. Now, this other newStar Warsstory is going to add more context to her appearance inThe Bad Batchby giving her a notable rematch.
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The comic miniseriesStar Wars: Hyperspace Stories — The Bad Batch — Ghost Agentsby writer Michael Moreci and illustrators Reese Hannigan, Elisabetta D’Amico, Michael Atiyeh, and Valeria “Lux” Favoccia follows the titular Bad Batch, also known asClone Force 99, through a dangerous mission in the Clone Wars era - one that sees them come face-to-face with Asajj Ventress yet again. This is, however, technically their first meeting.
Ghost Agents#3 has left off on a cliffhanger ofVentress' true identity being fully revealed to the Bad Batch just before she launches into attack. Ventress, up until this point, has been harboring a stolen list of titular “ghost agents” in the Republic’s intelligence that Clone Force 99 has been seeking to steal back before their identities are revealed. After attempting to hand off the list to the bounty hunter Aurra Sing, Ventress confronts the Batch.
Based onThe Bad Batch’s timeline, this is, as aforementioned, actually their first meeting, but it’s still a rematch of the excellent fight that took place inThe Bad Batchseason 3, episode 9 “The Harbinger.” What makes this one even more interesting is the fact thatTech will be present for this one; byThe Bad Batchseason 3, he’s sadly met his fate, and thus isn’t present for their rematch. We’re still waiting forGhost Agentsto reveal how the Batch fares against Ventress in #4, but it will no doubt be another incredible showdown.
There Are Many Ways To Work Around It
Of course, this initial fight between Ventress and Clone Force 99 during the Clone Wars has some fans wondering if the events ofThe Bad Batchseason 3 will have to be retconned. This is because,initially, neither Hunter, Wrecker, nor Crosshair recognized Ventressright away. Instead, Crosshair was sent to retrieve a datapad with Tech’s old Republic files, which had information about Ventress at the ready for them to properly identify her.
Their first meeting, however, doesn’t have to retcon that particular moment. It can be easily explained that the three enhanced clone troopers were suspicious that it could be Ventress, but waited until they could be certain, especially if they had heard during the war that she had been killed. As for Ventress,if she recognized these three clones from their first fight, it would be smart for her not to mention it; airing out her true identity isn’t exactly a smart move for her.
It will further enrich that moment in the animated TV show, providing more backstory and context for why the Batch attacks her as fiercely as they do.
It’s very unlikely, then, that the nature of this first fight between Ventress and Clone Force 99 will attempt or execute any retconning ofThe Bad Batchseason 3. Instead, it will further enrich that moment in the animated TV show, providing more backstory and context for why the Batch attacks her as fiercely as they do on Pabu to keep Omega safe. Any story, and fight, withAsajj Ventressis a welcome one, and adding Clone Force 99 into the mix makes it even better.
