Season 3 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiered without Tech, a core member of Clone Force 99, leaving audiences to question what happened and if he's truly dead.
True to his name, Tech (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) was the elite squad's computer and weapons specialist known for his practical, analytical approach and dry sense of humor.
While Hunter and Omega were typically at the forefront of the Star Wars Disney+ series, Tech proved to be the hero of Season 2, leaving the squad reeling from his loss.
[ Star Wars: Bad Batch Season 2 Finale Ends with Major Cliffhanger (SPOILERS) ]
What Happened to Tech in The Bad Batch?
In Episode 16 of The Bad Batch Season 2, Clone Force 99 finds themselves in an impossible situation trapped atop a train rail on Eriadu.
In true Tech fashion, he reboots the power to the train cars, but he's left dangling from a grappling cable with the squad taking on enemy fire.
It's here that Tech decides to execute Plan 99 - sacrificing himself for the sake of his team.
In response to Wrecker's plea of, "Don't you do it, Tech," the clone asks, "When have we ever followed orders?" before severing the cable and falling out of sight.
When asked about Tech's tragic death and its Season 3 implications, Jennifer Corbett, The Bad Batch's head writer, told The Direct's Russ Milheim that Tech's "absence is definitely felt in what they're [Clone Force 99's] doing:"
“The whole squad has changed since the end of Season 2. Tech has always been the character that has kept the squad going and was able to solve a lot of problems for them. And now that he's gone, not only are they dealing with his loss, but also what it means for how they work as a team. And, throughout the season, his absence is definitely felt in what they're doing.”
Recent episodes have proven this true, particularly regarding Omega using the skills Tech taught her to help the squad.
But despite the nobility of Tech's sacrifice and its storytelling contributions, there is the question of whether "Goggles" is actually dead.
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Is Tech Truly Dead in The Bad Batch?
Audiences may have seen Tech fall, but they never saw a body.
This is a Star Wars show, part of a franchise famous for "Somehow Palpatine returned," lightsaber midsection survival stories, and a family tradition of hand amputations.
But one of the main reasons behind the speculation that Tech may not be dead is the scene in the Season 2 finale, where Doctor Hemlock produces Tech's broken goggles.
While he claims the eyewear was all his troops found, Hemlock is the Chief Scientist of the Empire's Advance Science Division with a mountain facility filled with clone prisoners on which he experiments.
If Tech survived, he may be one of Hemlock's prisoners; and if he does return, he may no longer be the Tech the Bad Batch once knew.
Facing and then ultimately rehabilitating Tech could contribute to Crosshair's long-running arc and potentially bring Echo, a former Imperial experiment himself, back into the fold.
However, it's important to remember that Season 3 has only just begun, and various twists and turns are expected between now and the series finale.
Regardless, Tech's Season 2 sacrifice has clearly contributed to the series' stakes, story, and surrounding conversation.
New episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 drop on Wednesdays on Disney+.
