In Episode 7, “Battle Scars” of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Omega confirms with Rex and the rest of the clones that she doesn’t have the inhibitor chip the others do. I explain why this is below.
Omega isn’t for sale, so she doesn’t need an inhibitor chip.
This is the simplest reason. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the inhibitor chips are requested covertly by Darth Tyrannus aka Count Dooku. The Kaminoans, Nala Se and Lama Su, have no reason to believe he is anyone other than another Jedi. Nala Su finds the Jedi puzzling in their request to have a sort of self-destruct mechanism installed in all their soldiers, but she complies with her customers’ request.
Nala Se herself has no reason to implant any such chip in Omega as this young clone isn’t for sale to anyone. Omega is Nala Se’s project, the template for the mysterious Phase 3. While we may not know what Phase 3 entails exactly, it’s clear Omega is the original template and Kaminoan property. The Kaminoans would have no interest in potentially seeing the destruction of a clone project they have created for their own purposes.
On the other hand, the Bad Batch, are Republic, now Imperial, property. They have Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair all have inhibitor chips as they are considered products for the Kaminoan’s customers.
Is Omega force sensitive? That would awkward if she has an inhibitor chip
This is the most dominant Bad Batch theory in regards to Omega. Episode 7 didn’t provide any deeper clarification on the answer to this question, but the voice actress that plays Omega, Michelle Ang, has recently indicated that Omega’s origins are a major plot point for the entire series. This indicates that whatever she is, it will drive the story.
I do think it is truly possible Omega is not force sensitive. However, a force sensitive Omega is a common theory, and it provides a clearer story trajectory for this series, which likely will have a season 2. Why would the Kaminoans make a force sensitive clone? I think they saw the abilities of the Jedi during the Clone Wars, and reasoning that even though the Jedi are strange, their abilities make them effective warriors and clones. The Kaminoans are fond of eugenics, and if they see force sensitives as a superior form of person, or warrior, it seems logical they would want to replicate that for profit.
As we see, in the first episode of The Bad Batch, it’s clear Lama Su and the Empire are at a crossroads. Lama Su tries very hard to sell the Bad Batch to Moff Tarkin, who is unimpressed by any clone that would not guarantee obedience, in addition to the already high price of the clones themselves. Lama Su and Nala Se don’t actually have any assurance that the Empire would want force sensitive clones, and it seems Tarkin values obedience and low costs more than whatever talents the Bad Batch has to offer.
And with that in mind, it’s clear the Empire has not commissioned Omega, at the very least Tarkin knows nothing of it. And the Kaminoans haven’t made Omega in mind for an existing client’s request, unless that client made the request outside of Republic/Imperial demands.
So no inhibitor chip for Omega, but what’s this about her being the Bad Batch mother?
It’s worth noting that there is a theory suggested by Twitter user Albert Padilla that is quite intriguing, and doesn’t exactly require Omega to be force sensitive but could work alongside the force sensitive theory if true.
Omega aligns herself early with the Bad Batch and says they are like her. Nala Se tells Tarkin that there are five of the Bad Batch present, and as Tech later notes, Echo is not one of the Bad Batch, but a “reg”, an older model clone. This means Omega, whatever she is, force sensitive or otherwise, is one of the Bad Batch despite not having an inhibitor chip.
But what does this mean? Omega is visibly younger than Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair. But we already know that aging doesn’t work the same for all the clones. Jango Fett requested specifically that Boba Fett be unaltered, and age normally to be his son.
This template-mother theory is that Omega represents a new clone line, likely derived from the original Jango Fett lines, but perhaps with new genetic input to function as a “new” template. This powerful clone has unlimited potential, and can be used to create new lines, tweaked and modified for different talents.
Hunter and the others were created from not Jango Fett directly, but rather Omega, and alterations made to their embryos to be male, strong like Wrecker, adept at tracking like Hunter, etc. They are not force sensitive, as it would have potentially interfered with Order 66 (though this theory has issues, as Anakin Skywalker walks among the clones with no issues).
I don’t know if this theory will be right, but it’s intriguing enough to mention, especially as it’s made plain the Kaminoans have no serious interest in bringing back any of the other Bad Batch, only Omega. But if Omega is the mother and template creation, the Bad Batch is expendable to them, and considering they gave them inhibitor chips, it’s clear they were a sort of trial product.
So now we know why Omega doesn’t have an inhibitor chip, let’s talk about the future of Kamino…
Omega could also act as an ace up the Kaminoan’s sleeve, not just for pure economic interests, but to stay alive at all. Let’s just say the Kaminoans have every right to be fearful of the Empire. If we fast forward to the Mandalorian, we see that Dr. Pershing is entirely human, working for whatever is left of the Empire, and moreover, has a badge on his shoulder representing the Kaminoan Cloning Facilities.
So why does a human have a Kaminoan insignia? The only human we’ve seen so far working for the Kaminoans is Omega, and she seems to be “working” for Nala Se in an unofficial capacity as her medical assistant. But previous Star Wars games have had a Kaminoan uprising, and I think we are going to see that made canon in the Disney era of Lucasfilm. And furthermore, I think the Kaminoans are going to lose, and lose big. The fact that Dr. Pershing is a human and not a Kaminoan strongly implies that humans took over whatever is left of the facilities and technologies.
And this isn’t surprising, as we’ve seen repeatedly that the Empire, and later First Order, took over existing mining colonies, entire planets, and shipbuilding companies for themselves, rather than create contracts in which they could lose money.
And with Palpatine’s known interest in cloning for his own personal sake, but little interest in investing money for cloned warriors deemed unnecessary, this is a path I believe he will take, and why we don’t see Kaminoans going after Grogu in the Mandalorian.
I think the Emperor will take action to control Kamino, and the Kaminoans themselves will lose, not only their contract, but their lives as well. We may very well see this story work up to the Kaminoan uprising down the road.
I don’t know if Lama Su is aware of Palpatine’s interesting in personal cloning, to make a clone for him. But the Kaminoans have the sense to at least keep new clone ideas to themselves, and Omega is their intellectual and physical property, not the Empire’s.
And there you have it–the reason Omega doesn’t have an inhibitor chip is that she’s not made for the Empire, the Republic, or any other client, and the inhibitor chips were only created for those that requested them. Omega is the original template, and as far as the Kaminoans are concerned, not for sale.
