When the Obi-Wan Kenobi series premiered last year, the second episode included a cameo that excited many Star Wars fans. As Obi-Wan arrives on Daiyu in search of Leia Organa, he sees an old clone trooper – played by Temuera Morrison – homeless and begging for money.
San Diego Comic Con recently revealed more information about him, as promotion for the upcoming reference book, Dawn of the Rebellion: A Visual Guide, written by Pablo Hidalgo and Emily Shkoukani. One of the pages included a small section on the clone, revealing that his name is Nax. There’s also a description of him:
Downtrodden in the streets of Daiyu is the clone trooper Nax. A veteran of many battlefields, including Teth, Christophsis, and Umbara, he was removed from the frontlines after extreme injuries. Rapidly declining from age acceleration and neglect, Nax asks passers-by for credits.
In addition to the description, the visual guide also confirms what was previously suspected by the armor: that Nax was part of the 501st Legion.
The 501st was under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and Nax would have served under Skywalker in the Battles of Teth and Christophsis early in the war, as well as the Battle of Umbara later on. Skywalker and the 501st fought often with alongside Jedi High General Obi-Wan Kenobi and his 212th Attack Battalion, meaning that it seems almost certain that Nax would have fought alongside Kenobi’s forces at some point during the Clone Wars. And given Kenobi’s prominent place in both the Jedi Order and the Grand Army of the Republic, it does seem quite likely that Nax would at least recognize him – unless his injuries have left too significant of an impact.
On a deeper level, Nax’s appearance on Daiyu also serves to highlight the horrors of war and how soldiers struggle to integrate into society afterward – and that’s especially true for an army bred for the sole purpose of combat. What do clones do after the war is over? That’s precisely what The Bad Batch has been exploring, and in the second season it showed the Imperial Senate debating the prospect of clone rights and how to care for the soldiers that served them during the war. Nax’s appearance here – homeless and needy – is a reminder that the Empire cared little for the clones, phasing them out in favor of the stormtroopers and largely discarding the clones altogether.
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