The Bad Batch season 2 ended with more questions than answers. We know who Dr. Hemlock is, but who is Emerie Karr? She’s Omega’s sister, but why is she working on Mount Tantiss?
The ending for the middle season of the Bad Batch had a definite Empire Strikes Back Feel. The protagonists’ story ends on a low note, with Omega separated again from her brothers mirror Han Solo’s separation from Leia and Luke.
And as Darth Vader revealed himself as Luke’s father, Emerie Karr revealed herself as another clone to Omega.
This wasn’t too surprise–she was voice by New Zealand actor Keisha Castle-Hughes, and looked similar to Tech. She also was extra attentive to any mention of clones whenever Dr. Hemlock spoke. She treated Crosshair as a person.
But the bigger question is why Emerie Karr is with Dr. Hemlock at all?
Recently, Star Wars Publishing announced a new reference book, Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion Visual Guide. A sneak peak of a few pages was shown on the website. And something caught my eye.
Now, this could be a misprint. It’s not the first time Star Wars reference books have errors, and won’t be the last. But let’s accept it as true…
Dr. Hemlock is more interested in the Bad Batch than he lets on
For most of The Bad Batch season 2, Dr. Hemlock didn’t not seem particularly interested in the Bad Batch. He claimed that he would have Tarkin handle Hunter and Wrecker. He only cares about Omega as a way to force Nala Se to work for him.
This is interesting, because if the photo above is correct, than The Bad Batch season 3 will show that Dr. Hemlock does have some particular interest in The Bad Batch.
Considering that he has Crosshair in his possession, it may be that his disinterest is that he doesn’t need anymore members of the Bad Batch than who he already has.
And Crosshair may not be the only member of the Bad Batch.
Emerie Karr may be the actual fifth member of the Bad Batch
Let’s go back to season one of the Bad Batch. Nala Se told Tarkin that only five members remained of the Bad Batch. Now I wrote quite a bit about Nala Se’s experiment here: (which likely involved faster age acceleration than before).
Later on within the story, Tech points out correctly that Nala Se could not have been referring to Echo, a reg, as the fifth member of the Bad Batch. He says that Omega is the fifth member.
But it’s also important to remember that Nala Se tells Lama Su that Omega escaped along with the Bad Batch. This is a noteworthy phrase because this indicates Nala Se doesn’t treat Omega as being one of the Bad Batch proper.
I have posited before that Omega could be the “mother” of the Bad Batch. This theory is that Omega is their genetic source, and while she feels herself to be one of them as a family, more so than with the other clones (she is already their older sister), she is not strictly one of them.
Of course, it’s also just as possible that Omega is not their mother. Nala Se could have made the Bad Batch we see from the main Jango Fett line. But if Omega is the source, it could explain her unique attachment to them.
But if Omega is not the fifth member of the Bad Batch, who is? It may be Emerie Karr.
But why is Emerie Karr with Dr. Hemlock on Mt. Tantiss?
Dr. Hemlock is awfully familiar with Emerie Karr
When we first meet Emerie Karr, she is simply another employee of the Imperial Cloning Division. She works in a medical capacity, and is often seen next to Dr. Hemlock.
And there is one thing that’s hard to ignore: Dr. Hemlock always refers to Emerie by her first name.
He never refers to Dr. Scalder by her first name, nor any other Imperial staff. Only Emerie. He does this in front of the other staff, as well.
Is it a form of insult? I don’t think so in this case. Notably, Emerie also has a last name. If she were just another clone to him, she would be unlikely to have acquired a last name, as most of the clones don’t.
I think he and Emerie have known each other for a while, enough for Dr. Hemlock to treat her as more than another worker. Now that’s not to say that Dr. Hemlock has any sort of charitable feelings towards Emerie Karr. In fact, it comes off as mildly creepy. I don’t think he would ever regard her as more than property.
I suspect in The Bad Batch season 3, we will find out how Dr. Hemlock acquired Emerie Karr.
Several observations about Royce Hemlock, Emerie Karr and The Bad Batch
- Emerie can’t be much older than the other Bad Batch, and is likely less than 10 years old.
- Emerie does not seem to trust Kaminoans. Learned experience? Or something Dr. Hemlock told her?
- Dr. Hemlock knows Nala Se very well and it’s strongly implied he had worked with her in the past.
- Nala Se was VERY protective of Omega in the first season, insisting she stay close until it was time for her to flee with the Bad Batch.
There are several scenarios I can envision here. It’s possible Dr. Hemlock stole Emerie Karr out from under the Kaminoans. This would explain why Nala Se insists on keeping Omega close to her. If the snippet from the new visual guide is not an error, than Dr. Hemlock may have always been interested in Nala Se’s work in creating specialized, differentiated clones.
It’s also possible that Lama Su, in an effort to market novel clones to outside Republic interests, gave or sold Emerie to Dr. Hemlock himself. I don’t really put it past him to do that. We must remember that Nala Se did not have the ultimate authority on the fate of clones. Lama Su did. The clones were property he was in control of.
And let’s take a look at clone designations.
The clone troopers all have the designation CT with four numbers. CT stands for Clone Trooper. The Bad Batch members have these designations as well.
Boba Fett was designated Greek [Tionese in Star Wars parlance] letter A for alpha. Omega is just that: Ω.
I wonder if Emerie Karr was created specifically to be a Medical Researcher clone. If so, this means she could have a code designation such as MR-0001. If that’s the case, Emerie is just formed from MR [Em-Er]. Maybe she’s MR-0003, and the previous MR lines of clones did not survive.
Dr. Hemlock and the rest of the Bad Batch in Season 3
I think Dr. Hemlock is making use of Crosshair and Emerie to determine how Nala Se created specialized clones from a single source. It’s possible that he is making Dark Troopers.
Right now, there is no indication that Dr. Hemlock perceives anything special about Omega. He may just see her as a random girl clone that Nala Se favors. After all, he has never sought out Omega until he learned about Nala Se’s attachment to her.
At the moment, Emerie’s family reveal is an intentional mirror to Darth Vader’s reveal of his paternal relationship to Luke. My speculation is that Dr. Hemlock has been in possession of Emerie since she was a child. He has been her primary human relationship for a long time.
I think he has manipulated Emerie to his cause. I don’t think Emerie necessarily loves what Dr. Hemlock does, and she treats Crosshair better than Dr. Hemlock does. But she doesn’t fight against it, either. I think she views escaping at futile.
I think Emerie Karr will have to make a decision between Dr. Hemlock and her sister Omega.
As I wrote in my last blog about Omega’s Heroine’s Journey in Bad Batch season 3, Omega is likely going through the Heroine’s Journey, not just the Hero’s Journey. Emerie is the Dark Shadow of herself. An older version of what Omega could be.
A few Bad Batch season 3 leaks showed images in which Omega has her hair very similar to Emerie, highlighting their sameness. Two clones created by their Mother/Creatrix Nala Se to be the Kaminoan woman’s legacy.
Dr. Hemlock will be the Palpatine figure to Emerie’s Vader in this situation: pure evil in control of a manipulated follower. Pure poison. Emerie will have to learn she can rebel against him, and her Light side, Omega will show her the way.
Crosshair will be the wounded Masculine of the Heroine’s Journey. In the Bad Batch season 3 leaks, he is full of despair and relegating himself to his fate as Dr. Hemlock’s experiment. I hope to see him break free as well.