Who is clone Commander Cody?

The latest episode of The Bad Batch, “The Solitary Clone”, featured the return of a fan favorite Star Wars character: Clone Commander Cody.

In the episode, Cody is leads a squad of clone troopers for the Empire in the post-Order 66 galaxy. He’s tasked with leading a mission to Desix to bring the planet under Imperial rule, and Crosshair is a part of his team. The mission puts the clones right back into The Clone Wars, fighting against battle droids on a Separatist world, but it also highlights how different and corrupt the Empire is compared to the Republic. As a result, Cody winds up going AWOL by the end of the episode.

I trust that many Star Wars fans watching The Bad Batch are familiar with Cody, but if not, here’s a refresher as to who he is and why it’s so exciting to see him appear in this series.

Simply put, during the Clone Wars Cody was one of the most influential clone troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic and being one of the highest-ranking clones in the Republic’s vast military. Cody was second-in-command of one of the Republic’s largest forces, serving under Jedi High General Obi-Wan Kenobi. Cody, like Kenobi, was most directly involved with the 224th Attack Battalion, which fought on many fronts throughout the war.

Though Cody did not fight in the First Battle of Geonosis seen in Attack of the Clones, by the time of the pivotal Battle of Christophsis early in the war he was already commanding the 212th under General Kenobi. From there, he was involved in a great many battles in the Clone Wars, including the Battle of Ryloth, the Second Battle of Geonosis, the Battle of Saleucami, the Battle of Kamino, the mission at the Citadel, the Battle of Umbara, the Battle of Anaxes, and the Battle of Yerbana, among many others. He proved to be a remarkably wise and resourceful clone, possessing terrific leadership skills and being quite proficient in combat. He quickly earned the complete trust of Kenobi, as well as those around him. Seeing as Kenobi often fought alongside Anakin Skywalker, Cody often fought alongside Captain Rex, who was second-in-command of Skywalker’s 501st Legion. Cody and Rex grew to trust one another deeply and developed a close friendship, and they were often seen working together throughout the war just as Kenobi and Skywalker were.

Near the end of the war, Cody led the 212th into battle on Utapau, where Kenobi engaged General Grievous in combat. The clones fought back against the droid army, while Kenobi killed Grievous. The General’s death marked a pivotal moment in the Clone Wars, one that seemed to mark the end of the conflict. It did, but not in a way anybody realized. Chancellor Palpatine defeated an attempt from the Jedi to arrest him, and he executed clone Order 66 – which ordered every clone trooper to turn on the Jedi, activated by an inhibitor chip in their heads that was unknown to them. In the aftermath of the fight on Utapau, Cody received the order, and he commanded his troops to fire upon Obi-Wan Kenobi. Cody presumed Kenobi dead.

From there, we haven’t had any canon stories about what Cody was up to – unlike Rex, who has appeared in many stories since then (he was originally planned to appear in the Obi-Wan Kenobi project, but it didn’t translate to the final series). Fans have long wondered what happened to Cody, and now it seems we’re beginning to find out. He continued working for the Empire, but he didn’t blindly accept their rule like some other clones did (including Crosshair). So, by the end of this episode of The Bad Batch, Cody has ditched the Empire. I’m excited to see where his story goes from here, and I’m hoping we get more about him soon.