We all know that there were a lot of different clones that were created during the time of the Clone Wars era of Star Wars, as they were the main fighting force of the Galactic Republic. Of course, the Republic transitioned to the Empire during the end of the Clone Wars, and the clones were steadily phased out, as that was one of the things that we saw in The Bad Batch. Still, we met a few clones other than Clone Force 99 in The Bad Batch, and one of them is Captain Wilco. So, who is Captain Wilco in The Bad Batch?
Captain Wilco was a clone captain that was created in Kamino, just like all of the other clones. He was one of the clones that went on to become stormtroopers during the age of the Galactic Republic and were assigned to Serenno, which was a former Separatist planet under Count Dooku’s control.
Just like all of the other clones that we’ve seen in the world of Star Wars, Captain Wilco was fiercely loyal to both the Republic and the Empire but ended up getting on the wrong end of the loyalty stick during the Imperial occupation of Serenno. So, with that said, let’s look at who Captain Wilco is and what happened to him in The Bad Batch.
Who Is Captain Wilco In The Bad Batch?
We all know that the storyline of The Bad Batch refers to the literal “bad batch” of the clones that the Kaminoans created. That’s because the storyline focuses on the story of Clone Force 99, which consists of clones that aren’t exactly similar to the other clones in terms of their appearance and traits. These clones are on the run from the Empire due to the fact that they chose to save Omega, who was one of their own, from the clutches of the Imperial forces that wanted to use her DNA for their own gain.
The first season of The Bad Batch ended with the destruction of the Kaminoan cloning facility and the apparent death of Clone Force 99. Of course, Clone Force 99 was only dead as far as the Empire was concerned, as they continued with mercenary duties during the events of season 2. But it was during the first two episodes of season 2 that we got to meet another new character in one of the mercenary missions that the members of Clone Force 99 participated in.
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In episode 1 of season 2, Clone Force 99 was sent to Serenno, which was the planet that the Separatist leader Count Dooku ruled over after he defected from the Jedi Order. The goal of Clone Force 99 was to steal the war chest left behind by Count Dooku in his palace. Of course, the Imperial forces were already in Serenno to recover the same war chest that the protagonists were targeting.
The leader of the stormtroopers protecting the Serenno palace was named Wilco. Unlike most of the other stormtroopers that were there in the vicinity, Wilco was one of the few clones as he was a leftover remnant of the Republic when the clone troopers were transitioned to stormtroopers. Considering that he was a veteran of the Clone Wars, Wilco was put in charge of the company of stormtroopers as their captain.
Like all of the other clones, Wilco was one of the clones that were created in Kamino during the Clone Wars, and that means that he shares the same genetic material as the members of Clone Force 99. The difference, however, was that he was a standard clone in the sense that he looked like all of the other clones, unlike the more unique members of Clone Force 99. And his experience and leadership abilities were shown in the first two episodes of The Bad Batch season 2 when he was able to outsmart Clone Force 99 multiple times.
What Happened To Captain Wilco In The Bad Batch?
During the mission to steal the war chest left behind by Count Dooku in Serenno, Clone Force 99 encountered a somewhat large force of stormtroopers that were ready to transport the war chest from Serenno. While we didn’t see his face, Wilco was the one commanding the stormtroopers to ready the chests for transport. But what Wilco didn’t expect was the arrival of Clone Force 99, which was presumed to be dead.
The bad batch infiltrated the final transport that was supposed to bring the chests back to an Imperial base. However, when Wrecker stunned one of the stormtroopers in the area, Wilco’s suspicions were aroused as he immediately ordered his men to go looking for the missing stormtrooper. However, he was distracted by the explosion that Hunter had set off.
While Wilco may have been distracted by the explosion, he was quick to react to the situation because he ordered his men to secure the transport of the cargo and prep it for launch, as he realized that the ones that set the explosion off could be after the war chest. Hunter and Wrecker attacked the stormtroopers guarding the cargo so that they could board the transport. Wilco, however, noticed the fight between the two groups and ordered for the transport to launch immediately, with Hunter and Wrecker unable to join Echo, Tech, and Omega, who were inside it.
In that regard, Wilco was able to outsmart Clone Force 99 and put the members of the bad batch in a difficult position that separated them from one another and injured Tech. This also allowed Echo and Omega to have a moment of understanding, especially because Omega was so obsessed with taking the war chest back to their employer.
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While Wilco was successful at preventing Clone Force 99 from taking off with the war chest, he didn’t stop there because he ordered his men to go search for the jettisoned containers that could still be housing the members of the bad batch. His men told him that no one could have survived the crash, but the captain wanted to make sure that the ones that infiltrated the transport were actually dead. Wilco also ordered for a perimeter to be set up all over the city to make sure that no one would be able to escape.
Eventually, Wilco called in for air support to try to help them against Clone Force 99. He also ended up stalking Hunter and Wrecker by using his skills and experience during the Clone Wars. However, his men were defeated by the duo, as Wilco saw that some of his men weren’t even able to survive Wrecker’s attack. Still, air support was coming in to attack the group of Echo, Tech, and Omega.
Despite the reinforcements, the bad batch escaped from Serenno with their lives, albeit without the war chest. The mission was a failure, but Omega was left with a valuable lesson about the things that were important to her.
Meanwhile, Wilco submitted a report that says that Clone Force 99 survived the events of Kamino as he was able to identify the members themselves. Imperial Vice Admiral Rampart arrived at the Serenno palace to listen to Wilco’s report. While Rampart was satisfied with the victory that Wilco and his men had because they were able to defend the war chest from Clone Force 99, he was unhappy about the report that the bad batch survived because he had already told Governor Tarkin that he was successful at killing them in Kamino.
Wilco, however, insisted that he had visual confirmation of the members of Clone Force 99, and that was when Rampart told him to lie about the fact that he saw them. Due to his fierce loyalty to his duties, Captain Wilco said that he was not willing to falsify an official report for Rampart’s case. And that was when Rampart said that he was the one who would falsify the report before shooting Wilco from behind and allowing him to fall off the cliff.
