#every episode of tcw ever | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lightwise · 18 days

Text

They Call Themselves The Bad Batch

Parallels between TCW S7 E1 and TBB S3 E11

Watching the latest TBB episode, I realized there are some striking parallels between the very first time we meet our boys in season 7 of the Clone Wars, and watching them be hunted down on Pabu after everything they’ve been through. I know this isn’t the last episode, but this is the countdown to wrapping up this part of their story. Let’s take a look at the first time we see them on screen vs. now:

TCW: The Bad Batch is brought in to help find an algorithm on Anaxes that has been causing the GAR to lose tons of battles by “learning our tendencies and using that data against us”. Rex was one of the army’s best tacticians and he was being defeated by his own strategies being copied.

TBB: CX-2 uses every tactic that the Batch possesses against them (tracking, data decryption, sniping, hand to hand, demolition). The Batch was the best the army had and they are defeated by CX-2 in this episode.

TCW: Cody asks his superiors (Mace and Anakin) to let him take a team and go behind enemy lines in order to try and find/defeat this algorithm.

TBB: Omega convinces Crosshair to help her give herself up to go back to Tantiss so they can finally rescue the clones still imprisoned there.

TCW: Rex looks at a picture of his “family” - Cody, Fives and Echo. Also, this is where we get Cody’s famous line “sometimes in war it’s hard to be the one that survives”—which is exactly what the entirety of TBB has been about.

TBB: Omega puts memorabilia of her family—Tech’s goggles and Lula—into the Archium for safekeeping and remembrance.

TCW: Cody and Rex have a conversation about Rex’s theory that Echo might actually be alive. Cody’s response begs him to not have “misplaced hope. I need you to be focused on this.”

TBB: Omega and Crosshair discuss their limited options as the Empire closes in on them on Pabu. “Think about the greater mission. I’m just a small part of it”.

TCW: Tech brings the Havoc Marauder brought in onto the platform with the infamous Tech turn.

TBB: CX-2 has his ship brought in by remote with a menacing turn mid-air so the ramp faces them after capturing Omega.

TCW: Wrecker’s (and any Batch members’) first line - “The Cavalry Has Arrived”

TBB: - The last episode of the series will be titled this.

TCW: Crosshair is introduced as being able to hit precise targets from 10 klicks away.

TBB: Crosshair misses the most important shot he could ever make.

TCW: One of Wrecker’s first “feats” that we see him perform is rescuing Cody from a downed gunship before it explodes. Cody is then severely injured, flat on his back, and out of commission for the mission.

TBB: Wrecker risks his life and rescues Gonky before the Marauder explodes. He is unconscious and flat on his back for the rest of the episode.

TCW: Tech tells Jesse and Kix that “maps can be wrong. Hunter never is”.

TBB: Crosshair immediately notices when Hunter’s senses go off and asks “what is it Hunter?” “Not sure, but I don’t like it.”

TCW: Rex states “We should move out before reinforcements arrive. Our position has been compromised”.

TBB: Omega tells Lyana that it’s safer if they leave, and Crosshair notes to Hunter that ships don’t blow up by themselves and therefore they’ve been compromised.

TCW: Tech is easily able to hack into the computer and give Rex a reading of the algorithm and pinpoint its location, in the process finding out that it is actually Echo on Skako Minor.

TBB: The episode opens with CX-2 hacking into Phee’s ship and decrypting her data logs and flight patterns to Pabu.

TCW and TBB: The episodes end with ships flying off into the sunset with eerie red lighting, and the Bad Batch theme music playing is a somewhat melancholy version of their theme rather than the standard one.

✨ Tag List ✨

@drafthorsemath @freesia-writes @ladyzirkonia @jedizhi @the-little-moment @sunshinesdaydream @the-bad-batch-baroness @heyclickadee @burningfieldof-clover @dreamless-daydreamer

#the bad batch #tbb #star wars #the clone wars #tcw #clone force 99 #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #they call themselves the bad batch

135 notes · View notes

duchess-of-mandalore · 1 year

Text

I cannot tell you how over-the-two-moons-of-Mandalore I am about the Bo-Katan we got in “The Mines of Mandalore.” While I was hoping they’d treat her character with nuance and not make her a villain, I did expect that they’d immediately set her up as an antagonist to Din’s story. I also expected that we’d pick up in Season 3 with a Bo who was angry, frustrated, despondent, rude, and impulsive and I was ready to defend every one of those emotions.

I never expected the Bo we got in this episode.

She’s fierce and tough, depressed and hurting, but then we also get these sad smiles and longing looks and these beautiful moments where her gentler side comes through.

She’s wields the Darksaber with skill and precision and the expertise that comes with both practice and willingness to connect with the saber the way Kanan taught Sabine to do. That’s her sword.

But she’s honorable. She could have killed Din (or at least let him die) several times over. She could have taken the Darksaber. She could be bitter about the fact that he has it.

Instead, we see her wield the Darksaber as an expert, and then place it back on the ground with the rest of Din’s weapons.

I was scared we’d get a Bo that disregarded her character development in Rebels, but she’s proven that she’s still committed to fighting honorably for her people, just as she told Sabine to do.

And she’s just so ... beautifully soft.

We saw Bo be soft so rarely in TCW and Rebels, but Katee is leaning into giving Bo that gentle side.

Her immediate concern when Grogu shows up alone and willingness to go find his dad even though at first she’d been like “It’s Din Djarin. Let’s get rid of him once and for all.”

Each and every time she talks to Grogu, she’s so tender and calm. She encourages him when he’s scared and pushes his pram out of the way when she senses danger. She talks to him and knows he understands and tells him at least generally about the connection she’s had to Jedi in her life.

(In short, Bo loves babies!)

The way Grogu looks at her tells me he already likes and trusts her.

Plus she’s saved his dad several times now.

To be clear, I’m sure there’s going to be tension going forward, and I don’t expect Bo to always act as calmly and nobly as she did in this episode. She can be catty and rude and violent and I love that those are all parts of her character, too.

But I also think it’s already clear that in terms of her desires for her people, this former terrorist is done fighting over petty differences. She doesn’t dismiss Din even though he’s a part of a group she considers a cult (and she would know) because he’s still her people. And she’s still has no higher desire than the reunification of her scattered people and for them to be able to live in peace in spite of their long history of (and her own participation in) civil wars.

“I am not my sister.”

No, but Bo-Katan is currently more like her than she ever has been.

#Star Wars #The Mandalorian #The Clone Wars #Star Wars Rebels #Bo-Katan Kryze #Din Djarin #Grogu #Satine Kryze #Duchess Satine #The Mandalorian Season 3 #The Mandalorian Season 3 Spoilers #Mando Spoilers #The Mines of Mandalore #In Defense of Bo-Katan #In Defense of Satine #The Kryze Sisters #Katee Sackhoff

782 notes · View notes

antianakin · 15 days

Note

Pong Krell. It’s universally agreed that he deserved worse than what he got and I get that. I just wished we got to see what he was like before he Fell. Did he always hate clones, was it gradual? Did he suspect something off and went over paranoid?

I’ll say this one and I’ll say this probably a thousand more times but I wished the creators focused on more details with characters. It’s absolutely fascinating that they created a Jedi that Fell but did nothing with it besides outright evil.

How other Jedi reacted to learning that a fellow Jedi betrayed everyone? How did the Republic?

I just wished they did more with him than just, yeah that dude was a dick and killed clones.

Yeah, it's one of the things I don't like as much about TCW, the extremely episodic nature of it means that there really is never any build-up to anything or lasting impact from anything. Unless it's happening within one of the 2-4 episode arcs, we RARELY get to see any kind of build-up or fallout. It's one of the major issues with Barriss, too, we see her ONCE in season 2 and she's calm, kind, methodical, and selfless. And then three seasons later in season 5 she's suddenly ruthless, selfish, doubting everything and everyone, merciless, etc. There is NO BUILD UP to that radical 180 to her character and there's no real exploration of how Ahsoka really feels about that particular betrayal afterwards, the focus in later episodes after the Wrong Jedi focuses only on Ahsoka feeling betrayed by the COUNCIL and her feelings about that. Nothing since TCW has ever touched it either (Rebels, Mandalorian, the Ahsoka show). Satine's death never really comes up again after it happens aside from Bo-Katan being an asshole. Obi-Wan goes from being totally fucked up about Maul coming back to being chill enough to take on Maul and Savage alone and winning without us getting to see him actually deal with those emotions.

Pong Krell and the Umbara arc IN GENERAL falls into this category easily (so do the Zyggeria and the Deception arc tbh). Krell is such a basic evil character, there's so little nuance to him and we never get to see the Jedi react to the revelation that one of their own turned at all. Dooku turned after he had already left the Order as far as any of them really know, but Krell was still IN the Order when he decided to betray them and it would've been really interesting to see the impact of that on them. It would've been ESPECIALLY interesting to explore that more during the Wrong Jedi arc in particular in how the Jedi feel like they can't trust their own people not to betray them anymore after Dooku and Krell.

Krell is presented with like. Zero nuance. He is just unequivocally evil and despite Anakin greeting him in a friendly way at the beginning, the visuals tell you this dude's no good right from his first appearance. There isn't really any chance that he's going to be a good guy at all. So all we are left with are headcanons.

And I remember discussing my Krell headcanons somewhere, but I think it might've been on a Discord server I've since left, so I unfortunately cannot find them again. So I'll try to remember them and immortalize them here, I guess.

Here's the thing about Krell. NO ONE suspects him. So he cannot be overtly acting like a bigoted asshole from the jump at any point, he HAS to be acting in such a way that it's not trickling out to the other clones and to the Jedi themselves that Krell is an absolute monster. Even Fives takes a moment to decide that Krell is suspicious and only brings up Krell's casualty numbers after he sees Krell's behavior for a minute and combines that knowledge with what he's now personally experiencing and is starting to come to conclusions based on that. He doesn't go into the relationship thinking Krell is worse than any other Jedi already.

And based on what we know of EVERY OTHER FALLEN JEDI (Dooku, Anakin, Barriss), they didn't start out as monsters. Dooku was a highly respected Jedi Master who seems to have had a really positive relationship with Yoda and Qui-Gon and simply became disillusioned with the Senate and his care for the people of the galaxy got twisted into something darker over time. Barriss was kind, selfless, compassionate, brave, and resourceful, and it was the war that caused her to start letting her fears and pain consume her into turning on the Jedi. Anakin was kind and spent years having his fears and doubts twisted into selfishness and greed and darkness that allowed him to justify murder and genocide for power. So it wouldn't make sense to me that Pong Krell wouldn't fall into the same pattern where he was once kind and good and selfless and brave, but that the circumstances surrounding the war caused him to lose faith and fall.

My headcanon is that he lost an entire battalion early in the war, much like we see happen to Plo Koon during the Malevolence arc and that that loss and failure just BROKE him. Krell DID care about the clones, he cared about his men, and he FAILED them all. And I think that he saw all of these clones dying by the dozens in all of the other battalions and instead of choosing to let go of his pain and fear and lean into his compassion, he chose to distance himself from them entirely to make it hurt less. If he didn't care about the clones, if he just saw them as the cannon fodder that the Senate treated them all as, then it would hurt less when they died. Maybe the Senate itself even dragged him over the coals for that initial loss. Or perhaps it was the opposite, maybe most of his battalion was killed, but it ultimately ended in a victory anyway because they were forced to just keep going despite the consequences. And so Krell decides to enter this mindset where he is disillusioned with the Senate and just CANNOT allow himself to care about the clones, because it won't change what the Senate is going to do to them anyway, so he may as well just treat them the same way.

And this wouldn't have happened overnight. It wouldn't have been a sudden 180 where he decided he was just going to treat them like shit. But he maybe decided to put some more professional distance between himself and his new battalion, not get close to them, not use their names (although he still knows them, still remembers them all). Maybe one day they're in a tricky situation and all of his options are bad, he HAS to sacrifice some of his men in order to salvage the situation at all, and it's a choice between a full retreat that he KNOWS the Senate won't take well, or sacrificing the men to achieve the victory. So he sacrifices the men. It's not an entire battalion, it's not even a whole company, but it's more than it would've been if he'd retreated. Maybe next time, there's a choice between going back to save some of the men even if it poses a risk to his own life or the mission or something, and he chooses not to go back for them because the mission is more important, or he rationalizes that his life is more important as the Jedi General. And it's just more and more little decisions like that that add up over time to being able to see the clones as nothing more than tools.

The disillusionment with the Senate leads to him sort-of agreeing with things Dooku and the Separatists have said and he can look at the war and realize that it's entirely possible that the Republic is going to LOSE, and he CANNOT be the one who loses again, so maybe he starts bouncing around the concept of maybe switching sides. And of course initially he rejects the idea. He's a Jedi, he won't just abandon the Republic, he can't be a traitor, who in the Separatist side would ever trust him anyway. But once that seed is planted, it doesn't go away and it keeps coming back up and he keeps finding ways to rationalize why it might be a good idea and then deciding not to do it over and over again. Until one day, he can't convince himself that it's a bad idea or that it wouldn't work. He tells himself it's the ONLY option, if he doesn't change sides then he's dead. But Dooku WON'T trust him unless he can prove that he's not on the Republic's side, so he has to come up with a plan to gain their trust. And what better way to earn that trust than to ensure a Separatist victory in an important campaign by double-crossing the Republic.

And once he's chosen to go down that path, it's even EASIER to stop caring about the clones because, well, they're all dead anyway. The Republic is going to lose, the clones are all dead men walking no matter what, so why bother caring about them or trying to keep them alive? He can't lose so often that the Jedi or the Senate become suspicious of him, of course, but it's REALLY easy then to get to Umbara and treat the clones like crap and turn them against each other and intentionally try to get them all killed. They're dead anyway, he's not the one killing them really, is he, the Senate is, the Jedi are, the war is. They were dead from the moment they were created in that test tube because they were created for this specific purpose. It's not his fault.

And much like Barriss turns against the Jedi in part because she did LOVE the Jedi and was devastated by what she saw happening to them and the pain of seeing her people forced to become something they were never supposed to be, as much as her actions were intended as some kind of message to try to sort-of save the Jedi from a course of action she saw as their downfall, I think that Krell turns on the clones because at some point he DID care about them. A lot. And that care became his downfall, the pain at what was being done to them just absolutely gutted him and it threw him down a path that ultimately led him to turn against the very people whose deaths had hurt him so badly just a few short years ago.

Krell might not have been the most effusive or emotional person prior to the war or anything, he might've been a more reserved person similar to Mace or Dooku or Luminara, but I think he probably was a perfectly good Jedi who was kind and selfless and compassionate once upon a time.

And none of the headcanons above have even touched what his relationships with other JEDI must have been like. It's just as possible that he did have friends and people he considered family among the Jedi. Maybe he had a padawan once at some point. And maybe all of those people had died by the time we get to Umbara. Maybe he had to watch a lot of the people he was closest to just fall like flies, and so it starts feeling like nothing matters. Maybe one of the Jedi who died on Geonosis was a former padawan of his, but Krell himself obviously wasn't there and the pain of THAT loss and the guilt he feels at not having been there (even though this padawan had been knighted for a while and there was a good reason Krell wasn't there that day) just sticks with him, too, and he never quite manages to let that go, either.

I think a lot of people choose to just headcanon Krell as having just always been kind-of an asshole even when he was a Jedi, but that doesn't work for me. If Krell was always an asshole, I feel like the Jedi would've stepped in at some point before the war even HAPPENED and tried to manage that situation. And it doesn't match up with the way pretty much every other fallen Jedi has ever been written, where they were GOOD PEOPLE once upon a time who saw awful things happen that they couldn't stop or had an awful thing happen TO them that they couldn't stop and the pain of that experience consumes them to the point that they spiral into darkness as a result. Krell should be the same way, which means he likely was a perfectly good normal Jedi before the war. He would've been kind, he might've been good with younglings (he's tall, maybe he was the one the younglings went to all the time for piggy back rides, maybe he often taught dual wielding to padawans who asked because of how clearly proficient he is at it), he might've taught a student of his own successfully, he would've been wise and selfless and compassionate, he would've loved the Jedi and the people of the galaxy.

Like, to be frank, if Tales of the Jedi HAD to explore a fallen Jedi story, they should've explored Krell instead of Dooku. Dooku has been explored before, we know quite a lot about him and his motivations and his backstory, but Krell, as you noted, is left a mystery and is stuck in the realm of being just purely evil for the sake of the story they were telling in this one arc. Krell needed more nuance in a way Dooku just did not.

#star wars #pong krell #tcw #the clone wars #umbara #umbara arc #krell

110 notes · View notes

kanansdume · 8 months

Text

I think my problem with Ahsoka's characterization in the show is that it's not ENOUGH. She's not ENOUGH of an asshole. Like yeah, sure, she's a little distant, a little prickly, a tiny bit of a mess. I want this woman to completely and utterly fall apart, I want her SHATTERED, I want her to just mcfucking lose it somehow. I want her to completely shut everyone out, I want her snapping at everybody who tries to get close to her, I want her insisting she knows best when it's so so clear that she doesn't, I want everyone around her trying to reach out and help her and have her refuse every single offer because she doesn't think she NEEDS it despite how obviously she does.

That's the biggest problem I've seen with Ahsoka for a LONG time now, since at least Rebels, but potentially since Seasons 4-5 of TCW, too.

It's not ENOUGH. She faces things too calmly, she's not reacting as much as she should. Her Master comes back to life after 15 years of thinking he was dead and it turns out he was the one who betrayed her all along, he's the monster that haunts her nightmares, and then he immediately tries to kill her again, and she hasn't really ever broken from that. That should BREAK her. We got an entire six episode season where we saw Obi-Wan completely broken and depressed, he was refusing to help people we know he wanted to help, he wouldn't stand up for himself against Owen, he lived in a cave by himself, he couldn't reach Qui-Gon no matter how hard he tried, he could barely use the Force, and he got trounced by Anakin when we all know Anakin was never his equal. And all of that was established within the first three episodes of the show, the same amount of episodes we've now had for Ahsoka, so it's not like I'm not giving the story enough time here.

THAT'S what I wanted for Ahsoka, that's what I want to see in her, I want her beaten down and at her lowest so that we can actually see her go through a story where she has to pull herself together again. But she just seems... fine. She's a tad distant, the barest hint of prickly, she folds her arms and doesn't smile much I guess. That's it. That's the extent of what we get to see of her having to live with the truth about Anakin and what that means for her.

And it just isn't interesting. It's not enough. This isn't a deep dive into Ahsoka's character, we're still just skimming the surface.

#star wars #ahsoka tano #ahsoka show #ahsoka series #star wars ahsoka #ahsoka 2023 #sw ahsoka #ahsoka spoilers #star wars ahsoka spoilers #ahsoka 2023 spoilers #ahsoka show spoilers #ahsoka series spoilers

215 notes · View notes

jedi-enthusiast · 11 months

Note

I saw you had thoughts on the Codywan v Anidala lightsaber exchange and I need to hear these juicy details, please and thank you ☺️

Ask and you shall receive!

Everything I'm gonna outline in detail below can basically be summarized as this-

"Anakin and Padme--for all their talk about how much they love and trust each other--don't actually trust each other. Meanwhile Cody and Obi-Wan never really talk about trusting each other, but it's obvious that there is a natural trust between them. The lightsaber exchange represents this."

-----

In RotS and in the later seasons of TCW, it's pointed out or shown multiple times that Anakin and Padme do not trust each other, even on the most basic level.

In the RotS novelization, Padme is talking with some senators about possibly opposing the Chancellor--but one of them insists that they'll need to backing of the Jedi to do that. Padme then says that there is one Jedi who she trusts above all else...and then is promptly horrified when she actually thinks about it and finds that Anakin doesn't make the cut--and then has a mini-crisis about it and puts the blame on others for their shitty relationship ('Oh Ani, what are they doing to us?').

In the whole Rush Clovis arc of TCW, we see how mistrustful Anakin is of Padme--going so far as to put himself in the middle of them every chance he gets.

Now some might argue that it's Clovis that he was mistrustful of but, call me crazy, if I trusted my partner and I was in Anakin's shoes (aka having to let Padme get close to Clovis for the greater good of the galaxy, because it could help them win the war) then I wouldn't be putting myself in the middle of them all the time. I would trust my partner to remain faithful to me or, considering the situation that they were in, only be unfaithful as a last resort. I also wouldn't get mad at my partner when someone else tried to kiss her, even after she said no. Which Anakin does.

All of this adds together to show that, despite what he says, Anakin doesn't actually trust her.

Early in TCW we actually see the seeds of this as well, even though it's not framed that way.

In "Hostage Crisis" we open up the episode by watching as Anakin tries to convince Padme to take a vacation with him, despite her still having work in the Senate. He then proceeds to give her his lightsaber and repeatedly state how much he trusts her, basically going-

"See? My lightsaber is supposed to be a Jedi's life, how can I not trust you if I'm letting you hold it? See how much I trust you?"

then blah blah blah the rest of the episode happens.

It's not framed this way, but to me that actually shows a level of mistrust and insecurity in the relationship. I don't know about you, but the only time I tell someone I trust them, unprompted, is when I don't actually trust them but I'm trying to convince them that I do. Otherwise I don't need to say it, because I show it. That's what I see in Anidala.

Now, in contrast, let's look at Cody and Obi-Wan.

Multiple times in TCW and then in RotS, Cody keeps Obi-Wan's lightsaber safe when he loses it and then returns it to Obi-Wan later--and we can assume that it happens more than is shown because Cody even has a lightsaber clip on his armor which, as far as I'm aware, is never shown on any other clone in any of the shows or movies. It's specific to them.

It's never mentioned between them, though. Ever. The most they do is flirt tease a little (as shown in the RotS novelization), but Obi-Wan never tells Cody "oh wow, I let you take care of my lightsaber, look at how much I trust you" or even has that moment of thinking it to himself. It's never brought up, because it doesn't have to be.

The two just naturally trust each other, Obi-Wan naturally trusts Cody with his life--both his physical one and the life represented by his lightsaber. There's no need for convincing or to make it some big spectacle, it just is.

As @dreamerkath commented under one of my posts, "CodyWan is the balance that Anidala couldn't achieve."

Cody and Obi-Wan are everything that Anakin and Padme try to convince themselves they are...and neither of them burned down the fucking galaxy to show it.

#sorry for the long post #I just have a lot of thoughts on this #star wars #codywan #anidala #anti anidala #anidala critical #anti anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker critical #the clone wars #revenge of the sith #pro jedi #sw prequels #obi wan kenobi #commander cody #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #jedi enthusiast's fandom debates

386 notes · View notes

timetodiverge · 4 months

Text

TL:DR: a brief treatise on learning to love Ahsoka for the gifts it gave us, rather than its shortcomings

Reasons why I struggled to like Ahsoka on first watch:

-my Rebels-fan brain constantly chanting WHERE IS EZRA WHERE IS EZRA WHERE IS EZRA; every episode that ended without him had me screaming

-the portrayal of Ezra as some noble war hero/wise Jedi instead of the little shit devious street urchin thief who, after four seasons of growth, pain, and temptation to turn darkside, turned into an IGnoble war hero with the potential to become a wise Jedi

-the show's habit of far-too-casually dropping facts that emotionally wrecked Rebels fans (ALL the Wrens died on Mandalore?? Could we maybe explore that a bit?? Dave do you remember when you had Sabine collapse into what she thought were her mother's ashes, and the depth of her relief when she realised her family was still alive and she still had a chance to make things right with them?? DO YOU???)

-the show's refusal to recap/reference insanely important events from Rebels and The Clone Wars (Mortis Gods, Trials of the Darksaber, Vader v Ahsoka and Ezra rescuing her via the World Between Worlds, Ahsoka's entire existence, etc) that would have made Ahsoka, Sabine, & Hera's importance in the larger Star Wars universe much more comprehendible for non-Rebels & TCW fans

-watching Sabine, who only ever wanted to be a valued, equal member of a family & team, and who was already incredibly skilled (art/warfare/mechanics), belittling and limiting herself trying to play the part of Jedi Padawan

-the wasted potential of show that could have truly explored how non-Jedi&Sith engage with the whole spectrum of the Force (e.g. other force users such as Nightsisters, loth wolves, purrgil, and non-force-sensative people such as Sabine), instead ultimately championing the light-dark binary and the traditions of the Jedi order (which many of us have little respect for) such as the Master-Apprentice relationship

Reasons why I now adore Ahsoka and would defend it to the death:

-the breath-taking care, love, and attention the production team put into every tiny detail (the sets, the costumes, props, the MUSIC, the background art, the ships and weapons, my god the detail!!)

-the shameless centring of diverse, layered female characters and the exquisite, subtle performances of Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Genevieve O'Reilly

-a mature exploration of how traumatic events e.g. wars may technically "end", but don't end for everyone: Ahsoka and Sabine are still traumatised ex-child soldiers mourning people they desperately loved but had complex & unresolved issues with; Hera still has zero boundaries between being a soldier and her personal life. And this PTSD has very real consequences to the narrative

-the show ultimately resisting the urge to choose a plot-twist Ezra reveal (e.g. turns out Thrawn and Ezra are now buddies/Ezra is the new big bad/Ezra was Marrok), which may have been more interesting but would have deprived us of the wholesome Ezra reveal we actually wanted

-Eman Esfandi giving us the most successful animation-to-live-action transition since Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan, and being so perfect in his mannerisms and behaviour that it was almost worth the wait (and looking so much like Ezra's father in Rebels!!)

(...unless you include Chopper, whose transition was actually 120% perfect)

-ultimately refreshing and levelling-up the potential for mature and diverse Star Wars narratives, like Andor did, but instead of leaning away from SW tropes and traditions like Andor, digging deeper into SW tropes and history, and linking non-mainstream-SW-elements such as the Nightsisters of Dathomir, the Mortis Gods, the World Between Worlds, and the existence of other galaxies

#we interrupt our normal schedule of shitposting to bring you this brief moment of seriousness #ahsoka #star wars rebels #sabine wren #ezra bridger #the clone wars #star wars #ahsoka tano #star wars discussion

49 notes · View notes

skygirlstars · 7 months

Text

I have a lot of gripes with the Ahsoka series but probably the biggest is that the only relationship of Ahsoka’s that the show-runners seem to give a shit about is her relationship with Anakin. yes, of course, their relationship is incredibly important and it’s very special to me, but it’s not the only one Ahsoka has. don’t get me wrong, I love Hayden Christensen, I love Anakin, the Clone Wars flashbacks were my favorite part of the series.

but what about all of Ahsoka’s other relationships? what about Rex and Barriss and Plo Koon and Padmé and Obi-Wan? we got a very very brief Rex appearance, but not so much as a mention of any of the others. do they just not matter? it was an 8 episode series, so of course I didn’t expect them to address every single person Ahsoka has ever known, but no one aside from Anakin? really?

Rex is literally her only close friend still alive at this point and he only appeared in flashbacks. where is he? (is he safe? is he alright?) there’s a part of me that’s thankful they didn’t mention Barriss because I don’t trust any of these mfs not to do her dirty. but she still played an important role in Ahsoka’s life and we don’t even know what happened to her. Barriss’ role in TCW is literally why Ahsoka says she’s not a Jedi in Rebels, but apparently now she’s a Jedi again? huh???

it’s not just the lack of other relationships, it’s also how they dealt with Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship. I know some people were expecting an apology, which I wasn’t because I interpreted Anakin’s appearance as a manifestation of Ahsoka’s subconscious, but the fact that she wasn’t even mad at him in the slightest rubbed me the wrong way. “oh but Jedi aren’t supposed to get mad!!!” 1. that’s an egregious oversimplification and just not true, 2. Ahsoka isn’t a Jedi anymore anyway, and 3. in Rebels, Ahsoka felt more guilt than anger, but that was before Anakin literally tried to kill her!!!! Ahsoka in TCW (and in Rebels, too, though she’s mellowed out a bit as she’s matured) just has so much fire, so where was that in the series? even if she does still feel guilt for Anakin’s fall, she should still be at least a little pissed at him!! I loved seeing them together again. I loved it so much. Hayden and Ariana were phenomenal. but grown-up Ahsoka should not be acting like everything’s all good between them because it’s not. there was so much good angsty potential that completely went to waste.

I could say that about the whole series. it had so much potential. but the lack of mention of any of Ahsoka’s other relationships, plus her interactions with Anakin… it’s all a whole lot of missed opportunities that shouldn’t have been missed.

108 notes · View notes

gffa · 7 months

Note

As someone who grew up on the clone wars, but didn’t watch rebels—I can’t really comment on cohesiveness of continuity of the story—but in general do you think Felony (that cracks me up) could have fleshed stuff out better in terms of characterization if season was given 12 episodes instead of 8?

I think it could have helped, but ultimately, no, I don't think the runtime was the problem--because it's not just 8 episodes, it's 8 full length episodes, which would be the equivalent of 16 animated/half-length episodes. I think there would have been plenty of room in these episodes to put more content in, because some of those fight scenes were hella long and not always that interesting, and I get that he wanted to write the story of how they found Ezra, but honestly he could have included some flashbacks if he'd wanted to flesh things out more, they wouldn't have had to be more than a few minutes long, and I think he could have spared the time for that. I'm trying to have sympathy for this, because I know you can't show every little thing--think about the jump between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, that before we ever had The Clone Wars, that was a massive chunk of the story that just didn't get covered beyond showing the start of it and showing the Battle Over Coruscant! But Felony isn't in the same place as George Lucas was--this is the Disney era of Star Wars, there have been multiple animated series, multiple live action series, and the Ahsoka series seems designed to have always been at least two seasons, so he had the room for it, if the equivalent of 16 episodes wasn't enough time. Ultimately, though, I just don't get the sense that he was interested in the set-up, that it had been cooking in his brain for too long and he wanted to get to the meat of it without the ramp up for those of us outside his head. I mean, maybe I might be wrong, but I found his writing for TCW s7 to be pretty thin as well, so I think he's just kind of Like That for me these days. There's plenty that's really good in the Ahsoka series! There's a lot I loved about Ahsoka herself, especially when she's prickly and almost kind of mean to Sabine, I love that she teases Huyang and clearly loves him so much, I love when she sighs and tries not to roll her eyes because everyone just has to make her day harder, the lightsaber fights were a lot of fun, her interactions with Baylan where he was hitting all her sensitive spots were delicious, I'm glad we got the show and I have great affection for Ahsoka's character in it! But I also stand by my criticisms of how a lot of it was just very, very aggressively less than it could be and I don't think more space would net us anything but more of the same. (But I do enjoy when my dash is excited about the show because it reminds me that my experience is not universal and some people got an absolute charge out of it and I really want to read about exactly what they loved about it. And I hope that I can give that back to, say, someone who found the Obi-Wan Kenobi series kinda disappointing, but I was over the moon for it, it's okay that you don't agree, but let me tell you about my joy for it anyway, just indulge me for a minute--!)

#star wars #ahsoka series #dave filoni #meta

62 notes · View notes

amorfista · 7 months

Text

I have some news to share ^^

A few days ago I had a revelation while at work.

For over 8 years I've been a big fan of the Dark Souls franchise. The first Dark Souls felt to me like a journey; a full-on immersion into an incredibly complex world, marked by disparity: old royalty, splendor, trust, hope, magic, nostalgia, wonder, gold, light... but also decay, dread, betrayal, horrors, darkness, death, monsters, disease, anguish. This game left a deep print on me that hasn't faded. Ever since I played it, fantasy changed in my eyes. Dark Souls I, II and III became a standard, a reference point. Even when I didn't draw as much as I do now, I aspired to one day pay good tribute to the games that meant so much to me! And, of course, I created fan art, but I always felt like I could have given more.

Now. As you probably know I'm also a big Star Wars fan, specifically TCW fan. And a few months ago I watched The Bad Batch for the first time. This show left a print in a very similar way as Dark Souls had before. It fueled my inspiration significantly, motivated me and, most importantly, helped me form friendships that I'm incredibly grateful for ♥. So... the other day, while I listened to some Dark Souls music at work, I thought...

Why not combine my favorite show with my favorite videogame franchise?

So that's it guys. May I present to you:

-The Bad Batch: Dark Souls AU-

That's it! That's my brilliant idea! XD This is going to be a project, a BIG one. So I would like to briefly (i promise i tried) explain how it will affect my content, under the cut: (I'll also drop some older DS artwork at the bottom!)

TLDR: From now on I will focus on TBB DS AU as my main and basically sole project . Even if you didn't play DS, that's okay! I will make it people-who-didn't-play friendly, to ensure everyone enjoys the journey. However, if this isn't for you, it's okay to unfollow <3 -I would say that, since I came to tumblr this early summer, my "signature" drawings are the TBB beach episode ones. I have WIPs for this project but I've been feeling stuck for far too long, so I am going to put it on hold. In fact, I am going to put on hold virtually everything that I was planning on doing, with a few exceptions. This means that I will rarely draw anything outside this AU.

-I am CLOSING commissions. I found that they put a kind of pressure on me that doesn't feel too good, and, honestly, I'm lucky to say that I do not need the money at the moment. I'm still open to requests, though, so don't hesitate to send anything and I'll draw it if I feel like it :) I'll even try to set up a store at some point!

-The project will consist on three journeys, featuring the 6 members of the Bad Batch, and corresponding with the three Dark Souls games. Each of those journeys will, more or less faithfully, follow the events of EACH season of TBB, adapted of course to the universe of Dark Souls, AKA Dark Medieval Fantasy. This means that, until the third season of TBB is released, I won't make any DSIII-related drawings.

-The journeys are adapted to the universe, and thus, will follow the real player journey as faithfully as I can, staying within DS canon and allowing people who have played the games to enjoy my drawings. However,

-THE DRAWINGS WILL BE 100% NON-DS-PLAYER FRIENDLY. I know that my followers are not DS fans but TBB/TCW fans. I am NOT here just to please DS fans. I want TBB fans to enjoy this journey, without having to google meanings or go easter-egg hunt to understand what is happening. I will tell a story and you will only have to enjoy it.

-This is a project for myself. Both DS and TBB mean A LOT to me, and this idea had me vibrating with excitement. I am making this project to PAY TRIBUTE to two things I love. However that does not mean that I will neglect the very people who have motivated me to keep creating. I promise to still deliver my very best with every drawing.

Do not hesitate to unfollow if this isn't for you.

I can understand that some people might follow me only for my wholesome beach episode drawings or for regular, HC TBB content. And that's okay. That's what this announcement is for! To let you know. This community has given me so much and I want to give back. And if you do stay, I can almost 100% assure you that you will enjoy what's to come!! <3 It will be a long but satisfactory journey. I'LL BE POSTING THE FIRST DRAWINGS IN THE UPCOMING DAYS!

OKAY, SORRY FOR THE WALL OF TEXT!!! 😖 Here are some older DS drawings ^^ (jesus I have way more than I thought and these aren't even all of them)

AIGHT. NOW YOU KNOW IT'S SOME SERIOUS SHIT WHEN I SAY I LIKE THESE GAMES.

Anyway. Including a taglist, because I think it would be unfair not to let you guys know about this project in case anyone wants out (or to not be tagged). Send me a DM if that's the case, it's NO PROBLEM!!! I wouldn't want to tag someone who doesn't want this content.

ALSO PLEASE, ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE, TOSS THEM TO ME! And thank you kindly for making it this far <3

@dukeoftheblackstar @justalittletomato @darthmaulshispanichousewife @botherbother-blog @aftergloom @badolmen @ihaventpickedausername @ohboi @stardustbee @nik-barinova @the-chains-are-the-easy-part @gen-has-green-vibes @ejfivercommander @herbalinz-of-yesteryear @eyecandyeoz @noesqape @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @staycalmandhugaclone @callmesunny04 @freesia-writes @ginnymilling @sunshinesdaydream @sev-on-kamino @cloneloverrrrr @moon-wrecked @idontgetanysleep @tech-aficionado @followthepurrgil @renton6echo @queen-jiru @shoe-bag @eyayah123 @eloquentmoon @and-loth-cat @ladyzirkonia @stardusthuntress @bambambunny @morphofan @gt13tbbart @amalthiaph @cameronirat @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @anxiouspineapple99

#the bad batch #dark souls #TBB DS AU

51 notes · View notes

eriexplosion · 3 months

Text

Time for our breather episode, Common Ground

The scenery in this show is so damned good, the way I am instantly in love with Raxus and the gold tones.

Honestly this episode fits much better given what we see in Spoils of War/Ruins of War, emphasizing the humanity of the people in every system. TCW triedddd to do this with the 'heroes on both sides' but they really just kind of said it and then showed us like one lady that didn't suck in the entire show. She died immediately. So I appreciate these episodes.

Also I just love the Senator's droid she's hilarious to me.

Avi Singh is voiced by Alexander Siddig and it made me trust him immediately like all those people in the crowd cheering that is me hearing Julian Bashir's voice come out of this little animated man.

HOW can the scene of them just walking contain so many of my favorite character moments? Omega feeding Wrecker a piece of Mantell Mix, Tech steadying Omega when Hunter helps her off Wrecker's shoulder to make sure she doesn't fall over, her smiling up at him, this expression of UTTER DUBIOUSNESS and SUSPICIOUS SNIFFING from Echo

I headcanon that Echo has hella digestive problems after a large portion of them was replaced by technology so every food must pass this sniff test and 90% of them do NOT but especially not whatever sugary concoction goes on this space popcorn.

I do NOT get why people thought for so long that we don't see Tech caring for Omega because every time she stumbles Tech is right there to steady her, he takes such good care of Omega oh my god. Sometimes love is making sure your baby sister never ever falls over!

Which he also does when she gets on a chair and he is right there like JUST IN CASE.

Adolescents often exhibit lack of balance as they grow best to be within two inches of her at all times in case she wobbles.

GRANDMA CRIMES WILL BABYSIT DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. DON'T TRUST HER BUT SHE'LL TOTALLY DO IT.

I do think it's very funny that the one time Hunter successfully keeps her out of a mission by leaving her on another planet, she immediately becomes central to a gambling ring.

I want a count of how many times Echo complained about this job while Tech is just YOU KNOW WHAT'S GREAT, EARNING MONEY TO EAT WITHOUT PUTTING IT ON CID'S TAB. And Wrecker is just excited to mark off a new system on his Visited Locations list.

"Now are you convinced?" "No >:[" Echo has very valid reasons to not be thrilled about this job but unfortunately separatist doesn't mean much anymore and also they're so cute when they're Grumby.

When you clean SO sadly that Cid comes over like STOP BEING A MOPE. Omega's really leaning into her early teens attitude with SOR-RY.

ANGY.

Bolo and Ketch's DISAPPOINTED HEAD SHAKING is so fucking funny. You UPSET the CHILD Cid. Go fix it. Like they weren't taking bets on her fucking up her bow training earlier.

I know Hunter's mentioning Omega is supposed to be Feelsy a little but I do admit it misses a little bit because it's not like she's missing or anything. I do wish they had done something like this with Crosshair early on, like in Rampage when he orders Echo to be eyes in the sky, switch it to him saying Crosshair's name instead and then correcting.

THIS ANTIQUE VASE IS PRICELESS, BE CAREFUL :C I love herrrrrr

You know the senator is in real trouble because they took his hat.

AND BEHOLD! I HAVE SAVED YOUR MOST PRIZED VASE :D

Quite a bit of time is spent on Grand Theft Walker in this episode. Also I'm glad they're using stun bolts but oh boy is it concerning to stun a bunch of clone troopers in the same area where walkers are fighting, this is such a way to get squished.

As always I'm a big fan of Tech getting Punchy I love that he's not at all a docile nerd.

Echo stepping forward to encourage Avi to leave because he can't help his people in custody is sweet but would have been slightly better if we got a little more one on one interaction between the two of them. Even just one solid scene would be good.

I'll give the batch one thing, their success/failure rate is slightly better than I remembered, they are up to 3 successes and only 1 major failure

Frankly they should stop doing merc work though and just let Omega gamble her way through the galaxy.

SHOW A LITTLE GRATITUDE TO MY FRIEND. Cid is officially Affectionate towards this small child.

Another good character moment is Wrecker giving Hunter an EXTREMELY SERIOUS *TALK TO THE CHILD* LOOK

Really the main plot of this episode is a good breather but it really shines in tiny moments that make me Squeal a little. Just those little character interactions that I ADORE.

#the bad batch rewatch

23 notes · View notes

deewithani · 2 months

Text

So I had an idea after yesterday's episodes, regarding what it means to be "unaltered" and why Omega is so important.

Nala Se knew, without testing, what would be found with Omega's blood.

Rewind to Season 2, when she was talking with Lama Su. Notice they're talking about Jango's original genetic material and creating a "superior" clone. Also note that Nala Se says she needs a "direct source".

youtube

They're not talking about Gen 1 clones, they likely still have several Gen 1 clones that they could access. They're specifically talking about Jango and the unaltered clones, Boba and Omega.

They're special specifically because they're unaltered.

But unaltered is special because I believe they discovered Jango himself was special.

It wasn't ever necessary for her to test Omega's blood. She knew exactly what they would find because they tested Jango.

And if Jango wasn't special himself then there was no need to mention that his original genetic material was degrading.

I suspect that the Kaminoans already knew that it was possible to clone people with high midiclorian counts, you just did it like any other cloning. The test for them was removing high midiclorian counts from the resulting clones.

The next problem is "degraded genetic material". They couldn't use Jango's anymore. The problem is degradation. You know who else is probably actively degrading since being crispy fried by Mace Windu?

This could also be because he's getting old as balls too, but it still stands.

We don't see who is in the clone tanks on Tantiss, but I've seen a couple of different theories. Whether it's dead Jedi or Palpatine clones, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that whatever or whoever it is, is degrading, and they're trying to find a suitable genetic host to allow those degraded midichlorians to grow and replicate.

(Personally I think it's Palpatine clones, since dead Jedi are shown in both 'Rebels' and 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'.)

And what about Boba? How does he end up working for the Empire so long but no one tried to come after him for his DNA? This is a fairly easy loophole, tbh. The only ones who really knew that he was a clone were the Kaminoans, the Jedi, and the othet clones, and how many of them knew he was unaltered, and if none of them said anything then how would the Empire ever know he was anything other than a natural born son of Jango?

And would Vader even know that Palpatine was looking for an unaltered clone of Jango? Could just be a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was up to.

My big question now is what made them so special. It's not like Palpatine didn't have access to living people with the Force. I think that there is 2 different issues at play. The first is degradation, but the second is the dark side itself. Midichlorians from a degraded sample won't replicate in a dark side host. The Force is living, after all. I think there is some sentience here that the Empire is trying to fool.

If they could have used Inquisitors to do this, then they would have.

This is also why there were attempts to abduct force sensitive children in TCW and in Rebels. This is also why they're desperate to get Grogu in The Mandalorian.

Notice that they're all children. Too young to be tainted by the dark side and evil.

And there you have it. Omega is force sensitive, but so is Boba, and so was Jango.

It also means that probably every clone could have been force sensitive, and that it is genetic (I argued that on a previous post), but removing force sensitivity was part of their modification and was knowingly held back by Kamino until they thought that a "superior" clone was needed.

Also, Glitch is correct.

#this was really long #and i wrote it between calls at work so forgive me if i got something wrong #star wars speculation #tbb spoilers #bad batch spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #Youtube

18 notes · View notes

ooops-i-arted · 8 months

Note

I am so tired of Ahsoka!

She wasn't needed and now she is literally everywhere. I go on on any social media and serach for Prequel Trilogy stuff and I can't go 1 minute without seeing something about her, when she wasn't even in the films. I honestly am so mad that I wasn't part of the fandom before Ahsoka was created because she kinda becomes "the most important person for Anakin (fuck you Obi-Wan and Padme)".

It's a bit sad since she could have been a cool character. Just make her master someone else and don't make her the most special and powerful Jedi. And if they wanted to make her a padawan of a "special" master than maybe introduce a new Jedi who idk maybe left the Jedi Order long ago and now they return because of the Clone Wars. This would mean that: a) Ahsoka still has a "special" master b) because she is trained by a master who only recently returned to the order she has training different than any other padawan c)due to her master she has controversial opinions on some Jedi customs. This could be a good point of conflict for her character (do I listen to my master or the Order) and also doesn't make unnecessary changes in the story of film characters (Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan and others).

Honestly, I think that when you do a serial for a beloved film you should ensure that the characters you fit with what the films tell us. The Jedi Council didn't want to make Anakin a master, so why would they give him a padawan. As ignorant as they could sometimes be, I think that connecting "Anakin is not mature enough to be master" with "Anakin is not mature enough to have a padawan". It's really something I think they would notice.

I 👏 HAVE 👏 BEEN 👏 SAYING 👏 THIS 👏 FOR 👏 YEARS 👏

She is COMPLETELY unnecessary to Anakin's story and always was. Every story beat she supposedly fulfills is already fulfilled by another character. I kinda wonder if it was an attempt at whitewashing Anakin's character (Lucas was involved in TCW and apparently wanting Anakin to be more appealing from what I heard, and this was back when the prequels and Hayden were NOT as loved as they were now because my generation wasn't as huge a fandom voice as the old OT-loving guard) and making him more appealing but no. Anakin is a human garbage can and that's what makes him such a compelling and interesting character!!!

I honestly would probably be a huge Ahsoka stan if TCW was envisioned as its own thing and focused on her as a character on her own instead of making her Anakin's Most Specialest Beloved Padawan Who Is Best At Everything (She Can Even Fight Grievous omg!!!). Back then we were so starved for female characters, we had Leia and some Padme mainstream but that was it (you only knew about Mara Jade in Legends and she wasn't in the mainstream merch or anything from what I recall), and much as I love a good dies-of-sadness joke, Padme is often simplified to that and shoved aside even though she's a really cool and complicated character in her own right. I will give Ahsoka credit for blazing the way for female characters to be more included in Star Wars, but it falls flat when she's just propped up as Coolest Wisest Bestest Jedi-but-not-a-Jedi-actually-she's-better-than-the-Order Girlboss. Now we're back to Only One Female Character Above All Others. (Rey and Rose were ruined with bad writing, Hera and Sabine are wonderful but definitely not mainstream (and probably being butchered in the show), Gina Carano ruined our chances of any more Cara content, Peli was just a cameo last season, and Bo-Karen also got the Always Right Beloved TCW Girlboss Treatment.)

Imo the Council was pretty much always on the money with Anakin (at least with what they knew of him - they didn't know of the Tusken murder spree for example) and there's no way Anakin was ever ready for a Padawan or that anyone in their right mind would give him one. In MY episode III fanfiction when Favored Main Character Got A Padawan, Obi-Wan got the Padawan because he had more experience teaching, even at 12 I knew Anakin had no business teaching anyone. Also, it was NEVER previously canon that Padawans were assigned. Masters chose them as in the Jedi Apprentice series. I will NEVER let that go. Ahsoka being assigned to Anakin was so contrived.

#anti ahsoka tano #anti ahsoka show #i will never shut up about how filoni writes as well as i did at 12 #my Lia Skye was basically Ahsoka except she wore Jedi robes bc 12yr old me hated female sexualization #anon #asks #if you don't have anything nice to say about ahsoka come sit next to me lmao

36 notes · View notes

questforgalas · 1 year

Text

My thoughts on TBB Season 2 finale

It's a long one so strap in if you enter

First, before I get started, I wanted to say that this has been such a fun season to watch, and the interactions I've had with everyone in this fandom has made my Wednesday and weeks since January so delightful. I know hiatuses see a lull in activity, and some people are going to need to step away for a bit, but I just wanted to say thanks for being such a warm and open environment (at least the little corner I've found myself in). Here's to fingers crossed that the panel at Star Wars celebration in just a couple weeks brings us confirming great news!

Love ya all. Mama Tay is here with blankets and ice cream for the Tech babes if you need it. My man is unconscious on a torture table and my babygirl is a captive so we can all cry into the containers together

I'm able to watch the episodes at 8am EST every week, it's my little weekly routine I look forward to, so I've had a couple hours to process my one watch through of the finale episodes, and, just, wow.

Warning, "The Breaking of the Fellowship" just started playing on my playlist so who knows where this is about to go lol. Let's go to feelings town

The Bad Batch Season 2

I have not been quiet about how much I love season 2. Out of 16 episodes, there are maybe 2 that could be written off, but put them anywhere in season 1 or any TCW season, and they'd be some of the best episodes, which only adds to how well written and well done this season was.

I'm a Crosshair girl, not just in a "heart eyes spindly toothpick" sort of way, in fact that really didn't develop until halfway through season 1 - which my therapist definitely doesn't need to analyze - but his personality and his subtle devotion to his squad sucked me in from the beginning. So even with how little we had of him this season (granted, what we did get was some of the best television I've ever watched), this season is up there for me.

The character development for all batchers but especially Omega, Tech, Echo, and Crosshair was intriguing and dynamic, and that's not to say Hunter and Wrecker didn't have their moments either. They did, they were just much more subtle. We saw a lot more of Hunter's enhanced senses at play and Wrecker's knowledge, not just fascination, of explosives, but that pales in comparison to the other four.

The universe expansion was everything to me. We don't have anything depicting the rise of the Empire. We've never seen it's take over and the effects that rippled across the galaxy. We've only ever seen the afterwards, so to get this eery and terrifying depiction is exactly how I'd expect the galaxy to feel during that time, and I really applaud the creators on being so detailed with it.

The Finale Episodes

Wow. Just, wow. Admittedly, I had two reactions to these episodes.

The first was as the Crosshair fan who's put a lot of my emotional stability on this group of animated misfits, and that reaction hated these episodes. Not because I didn't think they were done well (getting into that in a second) but because I latched onto the Bad Batch's dynamics as a family since TCW and I so deeply in my soul to the point it's almost a wound in my heart want them back together again. I fell in love with the TCW Bad Batch, and I want that dynamic back so I've been rooting for it since "Aftermath", and every time we were given crumbs of a possibility that could happen this season, I devoured them and clutched onto them like they were my lifeline. So yes, from that perspective I hated these episodes.

Now, from the Star Wars fan taking a step back from my fanon - holy freaking shit. I laughed. I cried. I sobbed. I oooo'd. I cheered. When they stopped "The Summit" in the middle of the action, similar to how they broke up "Spoils of War" and "Ruins of War", it hit me that we weren't getting the reunion I desperately hoped for, and I took a minute to grieve that, went into acceptance, and then dove into "Plan 99".

Again, were there points throughout both, especially "Plan 99", that I was going "oh I hope this happens" or "ok annnnnd now!"? Yeah, absolutely (cut to Omega waking up at Cid's and me going "nice this is when they reveal it was all a bad dream and Tech's gonna walk in in 3..2..1..."). Did I have 4 other endings in my head halfway through the episode? 1000%. But it's not my creation, and based off of what we were given all of season 2, it all made sense to me. Even the things that made me have to pause for 4 minutes while I sobbed into my hands.

We are set up for an extremely action packed, spy/political thriller filled, intriguing season 3, and that wouldn't have happened if the season didn't end the way it did. If it was all tied up neatly in a bow, then there would be a lot more doubt, in my mind, about 1. if we'd even get a season 3 and 2. what the heck it was going to be about.

I'm not going to get into individual character analyses, but I thought everyone was in character. There was not a moment in either episode I thought "huh that doesn't really fit does it?" All of them were on brand in my opinion, and I again encourage people to take a step back and separate fanon from canon.

So why the emotional impact?

One of the things I've really had to process and think through is why this finale was staying with me like it is. I mean, I've been a Star Wars fan since 1999. I lived through watching Revenge of the Sith in theaters. I, like many of us, watched "Victory and Death" at the beginning of a very dark time in the world. I gripped the edge of my theatre seat watching Rogue One, praying they made it out like I hadn't known the end of their story for 25 years. But none of those endings stayed with me the way TBB finale is.

Sometimes something stays with me for an hour, maybe more, but I've never had any show have a finale where throughout the day as I thought about it, I burst into tears in varying degrees, and I can feel that being the case for awhile. Honestly, I haven't put my finger fully on it yet, but I think one of the reasons why is because all of those other endings I mentioned above - ROTS, Rogue One, TCW - and really any Star Wars media so far, has not had such a sorrow filled ending in such a dark period of time without us knowing the story after already.

ROTS we knew the outcome of that 20 years before. Rogue One even longer. TCW was filling in the gaps of a story long concluded. The Mandalorian is set in a time when it's supposed to be peaceful and the galaxy is mostly living in the light, so even when Mando and Grogu are separated, it's sad to witness the pair be apart, but there's no umbrella threat that makes the separation dangerous.

We are in the darkest period of time that we as Star Wars fans know in TBB. That is the point of the series - it's not just about these clones and how they cope post war. It's we the fans seeing how terrifying the Empire is beyond just the two sith lords running it. The inner workings and how easily they squash hope within their own government. We as the fans are meant to watch the Batch and love the family but be terrified of what can be waiting for them around every corner.

And that's not to mention we have no idea what the fate of the clones is. First off, the events of A New Hope are 20 years away. Rebels and the Obi-Wan Kenobi show are the only medias we have depicting the time between ROTS and ANH, and they barely scratch the surface. Rex is canonically confirmed to survive to Return of the Jedi, and we have Gregor and Wolffe in Rebels, but where the heck are the rest of them. We don't know. We literally don't know, and we're now left to speculate what that could possibly entail for the clones (especially the Batch) on any given day, let alone when we're left with two of them as captives of the Empire and one "dead". It is, in my opinion, one of the most devastating endings to a Star Wars media because of the terror it can hold.

Tech's Fall

Why yes, this would be the part I had to pause the show for and sob over for 4 minutes.

Tech has been my second favorite member of the Batch since they were introduced in TCW. This unapologetic, enthusiastic nerd who knows what he likes and hyperfixates on it spoke to me on levels, as I know he did for many of you - especially after "The Crossing" (I personally cannot relate to the ND connection, but was really happy to see the community joyous over the moment).

I, like many of you have already said in your thought posts, had the growing pit in my stomach each time they developed his character. The constant-optimist in me latched onto the possibility that just once they wouldn't pull that shit on us, but obviously that wasn't the case.

Tech and Crosshair's sacrifices punch me in the gut. Both of them are to save their family and give their family a chance. To have Wrecker and Tech bicker back and forth even up to the last minute like brothers do, and then the fucking awful shot of Wrecker watching his brother fall knowing he did it so they could have a chance. As a sibling, I couldn't handle it (I've actually started crying again now writing this). If I was Tech and that was my family, I'd do the same thing. If I was Wrecker watching that in front of me, I'd be on my knees screaming.

The scene was shot chaotically to make us, the viewer, feel panic and feel the gravity of the situation the Batch was in while seeing tiny moments when maybe they could pull it off, maybe Tech is moving faster than we think, maybe the car will come online and speed away, all to keep us hanging on while feeling the pressure of the environment they were in to then watch the fall and feel anything but relief, just like the Batch.

Now, onto what's keeping me hanging on

Is Tech Dead?

No, and I'm blaming Echo for this, but I do not think he's dead. And I do not think that takes away from his sacrifice either.

First of all, this is Star Wars. Unless you see the body, they ain't dead. @jealous-sloth77 even made the point of Darth Maul in their thought post. My dude was cut in half and fell down a supposed never ending shaft, but came back with the v-neck of all v-necks and a 200 step revenge plan, then literally became the cockroach of Star Wars.

Let alone the direct parallels to Echo Tech's fate could have.

So stay with me on this for a second, and I may be giving Filoni and Corbett and Rau a little more credit than they deserve, but follow me here.

Echo's blown up at the citadel in Season 3 of TCW. Not season 6 and then reappears a season later. 4 seasons of separation, and given the cancellations and renewal breaks, you're talking literally 10 years in between his death and his revival, which narratively makes no sense to me. And don't get me wrong, I know the Dominos were a fan favorite and Fives and Echo were a fun pairing, but all in all, Echo appeared in five episodes? Maybe six before he's killed off? And only 3 of those was he a "main" character. Compared to many other clones and characters, that's not exactly a recipe for "bring the fan favorite back 10 years later". So that makes me think that Echo coming back, especially the way he did, was setting the ground work for something. Now hang with me here.

In Mando S2E1, Mando kills the Krayt dragon by going inside of it, a monster who's stomach is literally full of acid, and blows it up from the inside out, dramatically coming out pointedly covered in the krayt acid showing that it has no affect on beskar. Then 2 minutes later we get the cameo of Boba Fett in the sunset, a character who last we saw was swallowed by a monster, supposedly digesting in stomach acid. Then in Book of Boba Fett, we see that because of his beskar armor, he survived the sarlacc, etc, etc. My point is, Star Wars has recently developed a habit of setting long-con explanations in various medias. Planting the seed you could say. So it's not far fetched to theorize that they brought Echo back from a ship explosion that we were made to think nothing but his helmet survived so they could set the ground work for other characters to be dramatically saved/scavenged and "brought back to life".

I mean, this is the world of Palpatine clones so, it's not out there.

That's not to mention the scene of Hemlock bringing Tech's goggles to Ord Mantell and making a point of mocking his death in front of them. Hemlock's entire purpose is to unlock the cloning techniques of the Kaminoans, and suddenly the literal genius is separated from them, assumed dead. If I'm an evil-scientist like Hemlock, I'm figuring out anyway to make sure Tech's alive.

So yes that's a long-stretch plan that gives Corbett, Filoni, and Rau a lot of credit for potentially thinking multiple seasons of plot lines through at the beginning, which, honestly, would be a good strategy considering the time period they're navigating around so I don't think it's that crazy to consider.

However, the main fact that I'm latching onto that Tech's not dead is the same fact that I've latched onto ever since "Aftermath" to tell myself Crosshair will be back with the Batch someday, and that's because it narratively makes no sense in context to how the Batch were introduced to us to keep them separated.

Think back to TCW S7, when the Batch are introduced. That was 4 episodes highlighting a tight knit, unique, family unit who all complimented each other to round out an unbeatable unit. Their sibling dynamic was the main focus of that group and is what made me fall in love with them, and it made no sense to me that they separated that dynamic within the first 10 minutes of the first episode and now to further separate it by taking Tech away.

I feel this so strongly in regards to Crosshair and Tech. I was sad when Echo left, and I was confident he was going to be with them again, but his departure didn't hit me the same way as Crosshair's and now Tech's. It just does not make sense to me to have the OG 4 separated permanently given how they were presented to us. It would be one thing if they went all in on the "Crosshair's evil" route and semi bait-and-switched us, but given his evident loyalty to the Batch and clear, long path of him being back with them someday, it really would not make sense to me for them to "swap one out for the other". That, in my opinion, would be lazy writing, and with how much love and care the creators have shown this series, I cannot fathom them throwing in the towel like that.

Unfortunately until the new season, I'll sadly have to accept the fact that he is gone and in our eyes right now, he's dead. And that hurts. It really does, but boy, am I grasping onto this last analysis like it's my tether over Mustafar

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #the bad batch spoilers #hunter #wrecker #crosshair #tech #echo #omega #the bad batch echo #the bad batch tech #the bad batch wrecker #the bad batch crosshair #the bad batch hunter #the bad batch omega #tbb spoilers #tbb positivity #the bad batch positivity

121 notes · View notes

antianakin · 2 months

Text

@theneutralmime

First off, don't watch the Ahsoka show and even if you do, it's immensely anti-Jedi so none of it should be considered worthwhile content in figuring out how relationships work between the Jedi normally, especially since Ahsoka herself doesn't consider herself OR Sabine Jedi (she doesn't even WANT Sabine to be a Jedi). The only other Master/Padawan relationship in the Ahsoka show is Baylan and Shin who also don't consider themselves to be Jedi.

Here's the thing with "found family" as a concept. A lot of people like putting people into certain labels and going for a basic nuclear family mom/dad/kids kind of set up. But it does not HAVE to be that way. A "found family" can be a bunch of people who consider each other friends, with no familial feelings at all. It can be literally anything.

Rebels does go for more of a sort-of mom/dad/kids deal, particularly with Kanan, Hera, Sabine, and Ezra. Zeb however lives in a somewhat more nebulous gray area where you COULD see him as a fellow "child" in the dynamic, but he doesn't really care for being considered a child during the episode where he and the other Lasat find Lira San and he's clearly older and more experienced than either Ezra or Sabine, so he could just as easily be considered an "uncle" of sorts if you wanted to, or an older cousin or something maybe.

The other thing to consider with Rebels is that, while the group does include two Jedi, none of these relationships would necessarily be typical representations of how Prequels Jedi relationships would have looked or how they would've thought of each other. Kanan and Ezra's relationships to the rest of Ghost crew is impacted by that difference, especially since Ezra specifically did not grow up in the Temple among other Jedi and spent most of his childhood and early teens in a very different situation. And Kanan, by Rebels, would've spent more time WITHOUT any relationships with other Jedi than he would've had WITH them.

So with all of that in mind, I think that the Jedi's relationships aren't NEARLY as clear cut as people seem to want them to be. They're a family, yes, but they're a family that is 10,000 strong at least. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time keeping like less than 50 members of my family straight, what their names are and who they're related to, much less ten thousand people. I think it's very likely that all Jedi would feel a kinship to fellow Jedi, but that they probably don't personally know every single Jedi. In TCW, Ahsoka seems to need to be introduced to Tera Sinube for the first time when she's 14 years old. So while she might see someone like Plo Koon as a closer parental figure, she's not going to feel the same way about Tera Sinube who she barely knows.

I think any Master/Padawan relationship is going to sort-of vary depending on the individuals involved. Some of them might be quite close, some might be more professional. Some might be pretty close in age and so their dynamic leans closer to friends and siblings than it would parent and child. Others might have a larger age gap and so the dynamic could lead closer to parent/child or even grandparent/grandchild. Some of them might shift over time, too, or have layers of more than one of these dynamics. For example, Anakin calls Obi-Wan "the closest thing he's ever had to a father" in AOTC, but Obi-Wan calls him a brother twice in ROTS. So their relationship may have had shades of both dynamics given the age difference, the relationship dynamic could have shifted over time from a more parent/child relationship to a more sibling relationship, or they each may have seen the relationship slightly differently with Anakin looking more for a parental dynamic while Obi-Wan is perhaps going more for a relationship of equals (at least by ROTS). It could be any of these three things combined, too.

There's a comic where Obi-Wan is asked whether Anakin is his son and Obi-Wan responds that no, Anakin is his Padawan, his student. While this isn't strictly canon, I think it fits quite nicely into my interpretation that the Master/Padawan relationship is its own specific kind of dynamic and while it can be SIMILAR to other kinds of relationships, it is very much its own thing. It's not a static relationship, it's not just the Jedi version of parents and children, it is a distinct relationship that changes and grows with the individuals. There is no 1:1 comparison for all Master/Padawan relationships.

As for Ezra and Jacen, you could apply a similar concept. Kanan, much like Obi-Wan with Anakin, fills a parental role for Ezra, but he's also growing and developing ALONGSIDE Ezra and could be considered a younger brother of sorts, too. Jacen is family to Ezra, but I don't think you HAVE to place a particular label on what that dynamic is, whether they'd consider each other like brothers or whether Ezra would be more of an uncle. And it doesn't even have to specifically be defined by their respective relationships to KANAN, either. Jacen and Ezra might come up with their own dynamic that has nothing to do with how they each feel about Kanan and is specific to their own relationship. I don't think you have to be super specific about saying that because Kanan was Ezra's Master, this automatically makes Ezra basically his son and so Ezra and Jacen should consider themselves like brothers and never have an uncle/nephew dynamic. I think Ezra and Jacen can be whatever you want them to be to each other.

#star wars #star wars rebels #rebels #ezra bridger #jacen syndulla #kanan jarrus #jedi #jedi culture

44 notes · View notes