I’ve seen a lot of fans say that Sergeant Slick was the only clone who ever betrayed the Republic during the Clone Wars—but after digging into some lesser-known stories and canon sources, that’s not actually the case.
We all remember Sgt. Slick’s betrayal during the Battle of Christophsis. It was a huge deal. He was the first clone in The Clone Wars series to turn on the Jedi and sell them out to the Separatists. But what if I told you there were other clones—or at least soldiers the Jedi thought were clones—who ended up doing the exact same thing?
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Sergeant Slick
We all remember this guy—Sgt. Slick from The Clone Wars episode “The Hidden Enemy.” He’s known as the first clone to betray the Republic during the war, and honestly, his reason still hits hard when you think about it.
Slick wasn’t under any mind control or secret programming. He turned on his own because he believed the Jedi were using clones like tools—just throwing them into battle with no real choice. After fighting in the First Battle of Geonosis, he started seeing the whole war differently. In his mind, betraying the Jedi was the only way to give his brothers a shot at real freedom.
During the Battle of Christophsis, he gave intel to Asajj Ventress, which ruined the Jedi’s ambush and turned the tide against the Republic. The craziest part? He hid a comlink right in the war room to spy on the briefing. That’s how deep his betrayal went.
But his plan didn’t last. Cody and Rex figured out there was a traitor in their ranks, and eventually, Slick slipped up—saying something only someone who was at the Jedi briefing could’ve known. That’s when it all came crashing down.
He was caught and taken into custody, but not before causing serious damage. His actions proved something that changed everything: a clone could make his own choice—and sometimes that choice meant turning against the Republic.
Clone Trooper “Ghost”
If you’ve read the short comic story The Enemy Within, you probably remember Clone Trooper Ghost—and not for anything heroic. Ghost wasn’t like most clones we followed during the war. He didn’t just question the war—he flat-out turned on the Republic. And the way his story plays out is one of the darkest examples of betrayal in the entire Clone Wars.
Ghost served under Commander Griebs Kishpaugh, and together, they were stationed on the war-torn planet Oznek. From the outside, it looked like just another Republic assignment. But behind the scenes, Ghost and his commander were planning something else entirely. They were secretly working with the Separatists, preparing to defect and sell out the Republic for their own survival or maybe their own twisted version of peace.
What makes this story hit harder is that Ghost wasn’t some corrupted, mind-controlled clone. Like Sgt. Slick, his betrayal came from a place of belief. He’d seen enough of the war to start thinking the Republic was just using clones as expendable assets. And instead of following orders, he chose what he believed was a way out. But his plan didn’t work.
Sergeant Banks, another clone on the mission, uncovered the truth. When the betrayal was exposed, Ghost didn’t run. He stood by his actions. And that’s when Banks made the call and executed Ghost for treason.
Tark Squad
Now here’s a twist in the story that not a lot of fans know about — a betrayal that goes even deeper than treason. Tark Squad wasn’t made up of your average clone troopers. In fact, they weren’t clones at all.
The story comes from SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story, a short Legends novella that serves as a prequel to one of the earliest Star Wars comics. In it, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker (still a Padawan), and Halagad Ventor are sent to the planet Skye to apprehend a biological terrorist named Zeta Magnus. Alongside them is Tark Squad — a tight unit of four supposedly elite clone commandos named Nilo, Xoni, Quo, and Kupe.
Everything seemed routine… until the betrayal came.
While the Jedi searched the citadel for Magnus, Tark Squad turned on them. They ambushed the Jedi from behind and knocked out all three. But here’s the shocking part: Tark Squad were never real clones. They were Thyrsian mercenaries, possibly clones of the Sun Guard Sarsius Torne, trained on Kamino to look, act, and speak like Republic troops. Even their names were clues: “Nilo” meant Zero, “Xoni” was One, and so on quiet nod to their origin.
This wasn’t just a personal betrayal — it was infiltration on a genetic level. These impostors embedded themselves into the Republic’s military ranks, trained alongside real clones, and waited for the right moment to strike. Their true mission? Capture Anakin Skywalker and deliver him to Darth Sidious.
If Sergeant Slick proved clones could choose to betray the Republic, then Tark Squad proved something even scarier: that the Republic’s blind trust in its clone army could be used against it.