As we Star Wars: The Bad Batch fans await the third and final season, I’ve decided to delve a bit into the story of Lula and Omega. It’s not one that’s been explored too deeply, but I have two (well three) little speculations and theories about the beloved red and black Tooka plush.
Now you might be wondering why I’ve decided to talk about Lula now. Well, I’ve been doing a re-watch of both seasons of The Bad Batch, and I to review a specific scene that was always a little strange to me.
It’s this one right here. You’ll notice Omega’s hands over Lula’s belly. In the scene, the camera focuses on Omega looking down intently at Lula with her hands arranged like so. I’ll talk a bit more about this later on, but it always struck me as a very weird image to open up the scene that follows.
However, let’s step back a bit to talk directly about Lula herself. Lula is introduced in the first episode of the Bad Batch in the first season. Much of her details are clearly painted, however many of the small details of The Bad Batch’s animation style appear painted.
But I think I can say with confidence that Lula’s face has been painted over by someone, and I suspect that someone is Wrecker. The brawniest member of the Bad Batch has had Lula for some time, and it’s likely he that painted the white frowning face on Lula.
It’s also possible that her other colors were added on, but again, this is harder to tell. But I think Lula may have originally only had eyes for a face, much like Hello Kitty. Wrecker is the most childlike of the Bad Batch, and he loves stuffed animals, something that has also been shown in comics.
And with that information out of the way, let’s talk about my first minor The Bad Batch theory.
The Bad Batch Lula and Omega Theory Number 1
This Bad Batch theory is fairly simple, and is mostly speculation derived. I believe that it’s possible that Omega was the original owner of Lula, not Wrecker.
I had come up with this small theory when the first season ran, but as it was a bit small, and I had much larger The Bad Batch theories to cover, I didn’t pursue writing about it.
But now that I’m covering Lula, it’s time to talk a bit about it. We all know now that Omega is the eldest sister of the Bad Batch, and has unaccelerated aging. When we see Omega in season 1, she is about 10 to 11 years old. She behaves as if Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Tech have not been gone for long.
And while many fans have troubled over the math of Omega being older, I have not. As you can read in this reddit post, myself, and Reddit user u/isacsm have both deduced that The Bad Batch are 3 years old from both comments in The Clone Wars, and the number of missions the Bad Batch have gone on.
I believe that Omega initially owned Lula, perhaps as a gift from another clone, perhaps as a source of environmental enrichment from Nala Se, the Kaminoan who would have raised her.
I think it’s very possible that Omega gave Wrecker the toy, given his demeanor, and as something an older sister would do for a younger brother. She may have been about 7 years old then.
This is why when Wrecker is distraught and looking for his missing Lula, Omega already seems to know what he’s looking for.
Of course, some fans think this was because Omega is Force sensitive. And while that is always a possibility we can’t yet rule out, Lula belonging to Omega first would provide a non-Force sensitive explanation for why the girl knew what Wrecker was searching for.
Again, this theory is tiny. And supposedly, showrunners for The Bad Batch have said that Lula has a backstory. If so, I’m hoping we’ll get to see it.
The Bad Batch Lula and Omega Theory Number 2
Now this theory is a bit more involved. It also has more subtext, and is based directly on one interesting scene in a season 2 episode. This episode is Metamorphosis.
Now this is one of the most important episodes of The Bad Batch season 2. It’s the episode that introduces the villain Dr. Royce Hemlock and his assistant (and Omega’s sister) Dr. Emerie Karr. But for the purposes of this Lula and Omega theory, it’s also the re-introduction in the story Omega’s mother figure Nala Se
Note: You can read more about Dr. Hemlock and Emerie here.
This episode highlights the relationship between Nala Se and Omega, even though both characters have been a part at both their wishes since season 1. As I’ve written before, part of Omega’s Heroine’s Journey was separating from her very complicated mother figure.
A step of the Heroine’s Journey is reuniting with the Mother, and the season of Bad Batch 2 ends with Omega seeing Nala Se again, with The Bad Batch season 3 continuing that story.
The episode Metamorphosis re-introduces Nala Se, not just in the narrative, but in Omega’s story as well. While the main story centers on the unfortunate Zillo beast, Omega’s history on Kamino comes into play.
She recognizes Kaminoan tech, and tells her brothers so. She mentions Nala Se for the first time since season 1, letting Hunter and the others know that the Kaminoan woman allowed her to see some research, but denied Omega access to others.
Omega becomes rather pensive in the scenes following this adventure. As I said earlier, this story brings Nala Se and Omega into the forefront, as Dr. Hemlock discovers Nala Se can be manipulated with Omega.
When the main adventure of the Zillo beast is concluded, the next scene shows The Bad Batch on the Marauder, holding a conversation, that Omega will remain quiet and thoughtful throughout.
But how that scene begins is weird. Because the POV intentionally focuses on Omega first, and lingers on Omega looking down fixedly at Lula. It’s an odd thing for someone to do. Most of us sit and cuddle our plush toys, we don’t sit there and stare down at them with our hands on their bellies.
The camera view zooms in on Omega staring down at Lula, before panning away to the assembled men and their conversation.
But what is this about?
I believe Omega is thinking about Nala Se. Given the overall narrative structure of the story, and that Omega would be thinking of Nala Se at this time, she is thinking of her as she looks at Lula.
Now one question that has been in my mind since season one of the Bad Batch:
What happened to Omega’s head jewelry, that Nala Se gave her? When Omega arrives at Saleucami, she tearfully removes the circlet, a physical symbol of her relationship to Nala Se, but we do not see what she does with it.
I don’t think Omega would destroy or sell the one treasure from her only mother figure, a symbol that showed she was treasured and value, even if Nala Se saw Omega as an extension of herself. I suspect Omega hid the jewelry, and I suspect she hid it inside of Lula.
Lula’s belly in Metamorphosis seems a bit plump, and Omega’s hand over it, as well as the focus on it makes me wonder if Omega has hidden the jewel in Lula for safekeeping.
But wait, I’m not done.
What if Omega’s head jewelry and Lula are Chekov’s items? And they are meant to come into play in the story? Now I have a theory based off this last Lula and Omega theory.
An Old The Bad Batch Theory Made New, Now with Lula
There have been theories in season one of the Bad Batch, that Nala Se put a tracker in the head jewelry of Omega.
Since this never came to fruition in season 1, most of us never thought any more about it, including myself.
But now I’m wondering about it again. Of course, Nala Se would have had no reason to track Omega in season 1 or 2, she wanted her beloved clone safe with her brothers, not in danger with her. Why track her?
But that doesn’t mean that Nala Se never used trackers. In fact, when we first meet Nala Se and Omega together, the former tells us that Omega has a habit of wandering off, and for that time at least, she want’s Omega to stay close.
Also, Nala Se’s jewelry, and her daughter figure’s, isn’t quite the same as those worn by Taun We, or Halli Burtoni. Those women’s circlets are thin, with dangling pendants. It could be they represent higher status Kaminoan women, or that style is very fashionable and popular.
But Nala Se and Omega’s jewels are both ferronnière. These are circlets with a large pendent in the center that comes down across the forehead. In fact, both jewels of Nala and Omega’s ferronieres remind me of the binary beacons used in The Last Jedi. In that film, the binary beacons are bracelets.
Omega’s ferronniere
binary beacon
So what if the original theories were right all along? Omega’s jewel is a tracker, or rather a cloaked binary beacon, and Nala Se has the other one?
If that’s the case, this may be a story point for the Bad Batch season 3. Right now, Omega is on Wayland with Nala Se, and not far from Ord Mantell.
Nala Se still has her circlet. Omega doesn’t. But if Omega’s jewel is hidden in Lula, who is there on the Marauder, perhaps there is a way Hunter can locate Omega if there is a beacon in it. Or, alternatively, Omega and Nala use the latter’s binary beacon to activate Lula’s beacon.
It’s worth noting that the final episode of season 2 shows Hunter looking back at the gun turret as he wonders how he will find Omega. And guess what the camera focuses on?
Lula.
So what does this mean? Will any of my Lula and Omega theories come to fruition? I suspect some won’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least a few do. I think it’s also possible that Fennec Shand is the one to help find Omega at Mount Tantiss. Omega may eventually get a signal out with the help of Emerie Karr or Nala Se.
But that strange scene with Lula and Omega fascinates me. Why does the camera (metaphorically speaking) zoom in on Omega peering down so intently at Lula?
While it may be possible that the jewels of Omega and Nala Se served only a visual narrative purpose, to indicate their relationship, both Lula and the jewels, or just one of those things may serve a Chekovian purpose.
While it’s strange to say of a stuffed animal, I think Lula and Omega may have some purpose as a story conceit.
