This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3.Star Wars has revealed the fate of Commander Cody after Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. To Palpatine, the clones were only ever pawns. They were mass-produced to battle on the front lines against the Separatist droid army. Each clone also had an inhibitor chip planted into their brains, one that would allow the Sith Lord to take control of them as soon as he issued Order 66. This effectively turned the clones into slaves, leaving them with absolutely no choice but to kill the Jedi Generals who had commanded them for years.
The tragedy, of course, lies in the fact most Jedi did not consider the clones as disposable at all. Obi-Wan Kenobi, for example, built a close friendship with clone Commander Cody. He was understandably shocked when Cody commanded the clones to open fire on him, but survived and escaped. The inhibitor chips rewrote Cody's mind, reducing him to a mindless automaton who was committed to following orders. Cody is known to have remained active in the Empire for some time after Order 66, even leading forces to enslave Wookiees on Kashyyyk.
Commander Cody Felt Guilt For Obi-Wan's Death
Commander Cody returns in Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3, in which he leads Crosshair on a mission to the planet Desix. Previous episodes have established the effect of Order 66 faded over time, with clones gradually regaining their normal state of mind. This is one reason the Empire ultimately discontinued the clone program, frustrated because the clones weren't the mindless drones the Emperor wanted. In Cody's case, he seems to have felt an increasing sense of guilt for what he presumably believed was Obi-Wan's death. He no longer believed orders should be obeyed without question, and instead considered himself responsible for following the orders he had been given.
Commander Cody Left The Empire In The Bad Batch Season 2
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3 reveals Cody continued to serve the Empire for months, but it was a mission to the Outer Rim planet Desix that broke his faith in the Empire. A former Separatist world, Desix refused to acknowledge the Empire's authority. When a new Imperial sector governor was sent to Desix, he was held hostage. The Empire sent Cody as leader of a mission to arrange the governor's freedom, and he was successful - by promising an amnesty for the Separatist leadership. It was an amnesty the sector governor had no intention of honoring, and the Separatist leaders were cut down before Cody's eyes.
"Good soldiers follow orders." That saying had long been the maxim of the clone army, but Cody no longer felt it was good enough. It's possible Cody had rationalized his actions during Order 66 by telling himself it had been necessary and would not happen again, but now he was brought face-to-face with the Empire's ongoing atrocities. Cody abandoned the Empire, apparently one of many clone troopers who deserted in the months that followed. Little wonder the Empire replaced clones with stormtroopers, a major change in the Star Wars saga.
New episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch release on Wednesdays on Disney+
