Who is Gregor?

As has been the case in a number of episodes in this first season, the latest episode of The Bad Batch featured an appearance from a character we’ve seen in Star Wars before.

And this one was a character many fans had been thinking and hoping would appear at some point, as the focus on clones and inhibitor chips seemed to set it up. I’m talking, of course, about Gregor, the clone the Bad Batch has to extract in the latest episode, “War-Mantle,” at Rex’s request.

But who is Gregor? And where have we seen him before?

Gregor first appeared in The Clone Wars, making his debut in the show’s 100th episode, in the season five episode titled “Missing in Action.” The heroic Republic Colonel Meebur Gascon crash-landed on the planet Abafar with his team of Republic droids (which included R2-D2), where he discovered Gregor as a dishwasher at a local establishment. Gregor didn’t remember anything about his past, but Gascon recognized him as a clone and eventually helped him remember that. It turns out that Gregor was a Clone Commando who was reported missing in action after the Battle of Sarrish, but he somehow survived and wound up on Abafar, not remembering what had happened or who he was.

Gascon and the droids helped him remember who he is, however, and Gregor found his old Clone Commando armor and dons it, fighting alongside the Republic forces once again. His heroic actions allowed Gascon and the droids to escape, but as Gregor was surrounded by droids, he ordered the others to leave. Gregor then orchestrated an explosion, destroying the droids and – seemingly – sacrificing himself.

But he somehow survived the explosion, and he would apparently wind up back with the Republic at some point, as he was one of the Clone Commandos assigned to Daro to train the Empire’s new enlisted recruits as part of Project War Mantle. But Gregor grew disillusioned with this and tried to escape, only to be captured again. He managed to get a message to Captain Rex, however, who sent the Bad Batch to extract Gregor. They did, but paying a price in the process, forced to leave Hunter behind.

We don’t know what happens immediately after that (though that story will be told in the ensuing episodes of The Bad Batch), but we do know that Gregor survived these events and would ultimately wind up fighting alongside the Rebellion as the Galactic Civil War got underway, as depicted in Rebels.

He retired to a quiet life on Seelos alongside Rex and Wolffe, as three clones who had removed their inhibitor chips, but a few years prior to the Battle of Yavin, a group of rebels showed up to enlist their help, sent at the behest of the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano. Thoguh all three of them fight with the rebels to fend off an Imperial attack, only Rex decides to join these rebels – led by Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. That is, of course, until a few years later Hera Syndulla and Rex, along with others, showed up to enlist their help in the liberation of Lothal. Both Gregor and Wolffe agreed, willing to help Bridger’s efforts, and joined a team that infiltrated the planet and launched an attack on the Imperial Dome in the capital.

But before the mission could be accomplished, Grand Admiral Thrawn arrived and began ambushing the city. As Bridger dealt with Thrawn, the clones were part of a team tasked with getting the power up and control of the facility back. They did this, but were then met with intense resistance, led by Thrawn’s assassin Rukh and formidable Imperial forces. As the rebels fought to hold the line, Gregor was shot and fatally wounded. He died while telling Captain Rex that it was an honor to serve alongside him, and Gregor’s efforts helped the rebels successfully liberate Lothal.