WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the series premiere of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, “Aftermath,” now streaming on Disney+.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch kicked off with a bang as it focused on the battle on Kaller with Order 66 being enacted. This was part of the Jedi purge, delving deeper into the attempted murders of Depa Billaba and her young Padawan, Caleb Dume, who’d become Kanan Jarrus. However, there were some key changes made when this story was told in Star Wars: Kanan #2 in 2015.
In the comics, Caleb and Depa were basking in the glow of a win over Separatists when the clones turned on them. They were forced to fight together, killing the former allies only for Depa to admit that they were outnumbered. It didn’t matter how many she beheaded or stabbed — they weren’t going to make it out.
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Not together at least — which is why she told Caleb to run before we see her getting gunned down by clones. Realizing his master would fall, Caleb headed off into the forest where he’d be picked up by Janus Kasmir, and turned into a smuggler and fugitive. The animated series, though, adds a lot more depth and emotion in its changes.
Firstly, Caleb is yards away from Depa, discussing tactics with Clone Force 99 when the clones try to ambush his master. He runs back after seeing the betrayal but she wards him off, as the Jedi are totally confused as to what’s happening.
Seeing as the Bad Batch aren’t chipped, they too are confused, apart from the corrupted Crosshair. As Caleb runs away, he hears Depa screaming in a chilling manner, but we never see her death. Ironically, she dies a proper Jedi in this case as she doesn’t kill any of her assailants; she just cuts their weapons down, holding to the Jedi code and setting an example one last time for her student.
As for Caleb’s escape on the series, we don’t see him meeting up and forming a partnership with Janus as that’s Rebels territory. Instead, the precursor is detailed as we see him trying to outrun Crosshair, who Hunter tries to stop. It ends with Hunter telling Caleb to come back with them so they can figure out what’s going on, only for the Padawan to leap over a cliff and flee to his salvation.
It’s at this point Hunter lies to Crosshair, telling him that Caleb fell to his death. This creates a nice piece of fodder for Crosshair to deem his crew disloyal to the Empire, informing how Caleb got away and would forge his new identity after the massacre.
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. A new episode debuts each Friday on Disney+.
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