Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Bad Batch season 3, episode 10, “Identity Crisis”
Star Wars confirms that a popular Clone Wars villain played a crucial role in Palpatine’s resurrection plans. As seen in The Bad Batch season 3, the dawn of Project Necromancer is being revealed. This includes the collection of various subjects with high midi-chlorian counts who are being studied in the hopes of finding a viable blood sample for clone host bodies. To that end, the infamous bounty hunter Cad Bane has been revealed as a key figure in the Empire’s secret efforts to prolong Palpatine’s life.
In The Bad Batch season 3, Doctor Hemlock receives Palpatine’s full support for Project Necromancer. The goal is to create ready and waiting clone bodies that are Force-sensitive for the Emperor to transfer his essence into in the event of his death (as seen in Rise of Skywalker). However, this is easier said than done given that clone bodies rarely maintain m-count transfusions without deteriorating and/or the m-count being diminished. To that end, the Empire needs constant m-count samples from Force-sensitive beings. This is where Cad Bane comes in as a crucial piece to Palpatine’s resurrection goals.
Cad Bane and Palpatine have quite the history in the established Star Wars canon. Following the death of Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones, Cad Bane emerged as the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter during the events of the Clone Wars. To that end, Bane was specifically chosen by Darth Sidious/Palpatine for an incredibly dangerous series of jobs. However, they did see the bounty hunter being paid handsomely as it catered to his specialty of taking on Jedi Knights.
Hired to break into the Jedi Temple itself, Cad Bane successfully steals a sensitive holocron from the Jedi Archives containing the names of Force-sensitive children. Sidious then hires Bane to collect a handful of these children and deliver them to his secret facility on the fiery world of Mustafar. Known at the time as Project Harvester, Palpatine foresaw a collection of dark-side agents and operatives at his command. Although these particular children were saved by Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano shortly after Bane delivered them, the kidnappings still established Bane and Palpatine’s working relationship.
Years later during the Dark Times of the Empire, The Bad Batch season 3 confirms that Cad Bane is still kidnapping Force-sensitive kids for Palpatine. As a class-one bounty hunter, it’s confirmed that Bane has delivered countless children with high m-counts to the Empire’s Advanced Science Division for the sake of Project Necromancer. Likewise, Bane himself confirms that he’s kidnapped even more children to the Empire than the ones seen on-screen in both The Bad Batch and in the previous Clone Wars series.
The fact that Cad Bane has carried out this dark deed so many times in the Star Wars timeline confirms just how much of a villain he truly is. There’s a complete lack of morality with the infamous bounty hunter carrying out whatever work the Empire provides so long as their credits continue to spend. Furthermore, the work undoubtedly cemented Cad Bane as a trusted professional in the eyes of the Empire, and perhaps even Palpatine himself.
Overall, Cad Bane had a good standing and history with the Empire. Combined with his status as a class-one bounty hunter, it is somewhat odd that Bane wasn’t part of the line-up seen aboard the Imperial Executor when Darth Vader hired bounty hunters to track down Han Solo and The Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back. Perhaps he was otherwise engaged with other work.
That said, it’s not hard to imagine Cad Bane being hired by Palaptine to collect young Rey in between the original and sequel trilogies rather than the assassin known as Ochi of Bestoon. However, Bane was ultimately killed by Boba Fett during the conflict with the Pyke Syndicate in the early years of the New Republic Era. That said, it follows that Cad Bane certainly would have been trusted to get the job done had he been alive, having multiple proven successes in the Star Wars timeline.