Royce Hemlock was a human doctor who oversaw the Galactic Empire's secret cloning facility at Mount Tantiss on Wayland. He originally worked for the Galactic Republic's science corps, but was expelled for his unethical experiments. He was, however, later recruited by the Empire to oversee the secret cloning initiative based on Mount Tantiss.
He attempted to coax Kaminoan scientist Nala Se into cooperating with the Empire. When she refused, he learned from Lama Su that Se's weakness was her former lab assistant, the unaltered clone Omega. Hemlock then ordered Omega tracked down to be used to coerce Se into serving the Empire.
When Omega escaped with the help of Crosshair, Hemlock employed another of his experiments, the secretive Clone Assassins, to track them down. His operatives frequently yielded results, but he was under heavy political pressure due to the amount of funding he requested, particularly from Governor Wilhuff Tarkin. Omega was eventually recaptured and returned to Mount Tantiss, now tested for her blood which perfectly produced a full M-count transfer.
Hemlock anticipated that the rest of her squad, Clone Force 99, would come to rescue her and laid a trap. His efforts were ultimately thwarted when his chief scientist, Emerie Karr, betrayed him to help the clones. Hemlock attempted to escape Tantiss with Omega in tow but was stopped by Hunter and Crosshair, who freed Omega and shot Hemlock, sending him falling down the mountain to his death.
Appearances[]
The Bad Batch[]
- "Metamorphosis" (First appearance)
- "The Outpost" (Indirect mention only)
- "Tipping Point"
- "The Summit"
- "Plan 99"
- "Confined"
- "Paths Unknown" (Mentioned only)
- "Shadows of Tantiss"
- "A Different Approach"
- "The Return" (Mentioned only)
- "Infiltration" (Mentioned only)
- "Extraction" (Mentioned only)
- "Bad Territory" (Mentioned only)
- "Identity Crisis"
- "Juggernaut"
- "Flash Strike"
- "The Cavalry Has Arrived"