Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode 2, “Cut and Run.”
Star Wars: The Bad Batch reintroduces Cut Lawquane, a fascinating clone character who hasn’t been seen since Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 2. Cut Lawquane is a particularly unique character, as he is the only canon clone trooper who deserted the Republic, starting a family on the remote Outer Rim world of Saleucami. As shown in both The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, Cut has a history with Captain Rex and the Bad Batch commandos themselves, and when the Empire rose to power, he was one of the first people they sought out. Cut’s history with the Bad Batch has yet to be shown, and how he managed to avoid becoming brainwashed by his control chip also remains to be explained.
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The Bad Batch episode 2, “Cut and Run,” sees Clone Force 99 seek our Cut on Saleucami. He explains that Rex had visited him and his family the day before, warning him about the control chips, the Empire and that his home on Saleucami was no longer safe. After an intense conflict with the Empire’s now-brainwashed clone troopers, Cut and his family left Saleucami, headed for another remote planet, farther removed from the Empire and its influence, and it continues his story some time after his first appearance.
In The Clone Wars season 2, episode 10, “The Deserter,” Cut Lawquane is introduced as a standard clone trooper who served the Republic in the early stages of the war. A transport he was on during a mission was attacked by Separatist gunships, killing almost everyone on board. Cut fled in order to survive, leaving the army behind and eventually beginning a normal life on Saleucami, marrying Suu Lawquane and becoming the father of her children, Shaeeah and Jek. When Republic and Separatist forces clashed on Saleucami, Cut and his family protected themselves and an injured Rex from a formation of Commando Droids. It would seem that, sometime later in the war, the Lawquanes encountered the Bad Batch, becoming close friends with each other. Rex and the Bad Batch both kept Cut’s survival a secret, allowing the clone to continue living a normal life.
The Bad Batch’s encounter with the Lawquane family left additional questions as well. Aside from the obvious reasons, why did Rex seek out Cut and what did Cut do about his control chip? In The Clone Wars series finale, Rex and Ahsoka Tano mournfully buries Jesse and the rest of the clones who perished when the Tribunal crashed. They presumably parted ways sometime after this, and Rex visited Cut on Saleucami. This may imply that Rex is embarking on a personal mission to find other clones and either free them from the Empire’s brainwashing or prevent them from being brainwashed in the first place. In Star Wars Rebels, Rex is living on Seelos with fellow clones Wolffe and Gregor, but he may have attempted to free the minds of other clones, such as Cody or even the traitor Slick, during the timeline of The Bad Batch.
As shown in a trailer for The Bad Batch, the fan-favorite Rex will return and spend some time working alongside the fugitive clone commandos. Cut Lawquane and his family may also return. Crosshair, the only member of the Bad Batch who succumbed to his implant, knows of Cut’s survival, and though the Lawquanes fled Saleucami, Crosshair may attempt to hunt them down for the Empire. Moreover, it’s unclear if Cut somehow removed his control chip before his reappearance, but this too will need to be explained. The 2015 novel Aftermath strongly implies that Cut and his family survived the Empire’s reign, however, returning to Saleucami after the Battle of Endor. For these reasons, Cut may reappear in future episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, continuing the former trooper’s story.
Key Release Dates
- Rogue Squadron (2023)Release date: Dec 22, 2023
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