The Bad Batch are back and traversing the galaxy far, far away. Just as everyone expected, the premiere episodes of the animated series’ second season took the titular team of lovable rogue clones to places far and wide. What might have been a surprise, however, was where Dee Bradley Baker‘s Hunter and his comrades ended up. Spoils of War and its follow-up, Ruins of War, saw Clone Force 99 arrive on Serenno, a lesser-known planet that played a huge role in the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and several of it’s spin-off materials. Longtime fans of the franchise likely lit up at the mention of the planet’s name, but its status as a less-frequent setting in the Star Wars universe may have caused some confusion among casual viewers.
Serenno is a planet located in the Outer Rim Territories, placing it far away from the activities occurring in the central Core Worlds and the galaxy’s governance. As a result, Serenno essentially functioned with its own government for most of its history, making it a fairly independent location. According to legend, it was once ruled by the Sith Empire, until the eight Great Houses of the planet joined together to force the dastardly conquerors off world. The revolt was led by House Serenno, named for its patriarch, who was consequently named ruler of the planet. The people of Serenno also took to naming their homeworld after their greatest House, because apparently, a few honorary street signs wouldn’t have been enough.
House Serenno continued to rule the planet until, as The Bad Batch revealed, its societal demise following The Clone Wars. Its final leader was a man of complicated legacy and someone whose name should automatically ring a few bells for those who’ve seen the Star Wars films. Count Dooku, introduced in Episode II – Attack of the Clones and featured heavily throughout The Clone Wars series, was a member of the House Serenno family, ruler of Serenno, a former Jedi Master, and finally, the second-to-last Sith Apprentice to the legendary Darth Sidious.
Dooku was portrayed by the late Sir Christopher Lee in live-action and has been voiced by Corey Burton in animated form for over a decade. He was a major player in the events of the Clone Wars, founding the Confederacy of Independent Systems with other Separatist leaders and funding its infamous droid army with his family’s immense wealth. Tangentially, that makes Serenno one of the most important locations of the Clone Wars era, despite its minor usage in Clone Wars storytelling. It’s mentioned consistently, but has never been shown in live-action and was only the setting for a handful of Clone Wars episodes – seven, to be exact. It was also part of the plot for Star Wars: Dark Disciple, a novel based on an unproduced Clone Wars story arc, which would have given the planet more screen time had those episodes made it to air.
Count Dooku’s grand castle is the most recognizable aspect of Serenno among fans, as most scenes from The Clone Wars set on the planet played out in the villainous royal’s throne room. That room makes another appearance in The Bad Batch, which takes its time to flesh out the history of Serenno and give viewers their most comprehensive look at the Outer Rim marble yet. A native of the planet explains that Dooku was secretly using his people’s money to supplement the Separatist movement, which lead to an economic crisis they’ve not been able to recover from.
A huge benefit of projects like The Bad Batch is their placement in the universe’s timeline. The show’s existence between other major Star Wars properties gives it a chance to fill in the blanks where most audiences might not have even realized there was a space. Serenno and its past are important parts of Star Wars lore, and thanks to The Bad Batch, they have both now been threaded through multiple eras of storytelling.
