Full Series The Bad Batch 1.01 - Aftermath - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Best premier for an animated show

 

I'll be true to my word for making tear up with Caleb. 10/10. TCW took 3 and a half seasons to make me tear up.

 

I think I might have cried sometime during the order 66 arc in TCW

 

In TCW it was Waxer's death. The moment when his helmet is removed and a tear is shed. That hit me hard.

I usually have a tendency to get more upset when I know things are coming than I do when I don't know. For example an example outside of Star Wars, with Attack on Titan I am a manga reader and have read some parts multiple times but when the anime got to the sea for the first time I balled my eyes out more because of what comes next. It was when Hunter corner Caleb on the cliff that really did it for me. Obviously, he was going to live, but after that, he is on his own and there is a hard road ahead. It wasn't Deba's death or Hunter's utter disbelief at what he was seeing earlier in the episode which is where you think the emotional lynch pin would be. In "Shattered" it was Matt Lanter voice-over for "What have I done" when I know it's over, Anakin is gone, and what comes next. Not the Order 66 moment or the end of the episode which is the most gut-wrenching part.

 

Gave it 8/10. I still hate the droid army, so slapstick and 3 stoogies kiddie. I Like the bad batch team dynamic. Good seeing kanan again. Animation was very good. Im tired of seeing saw though, he is everything from the movies, tv shows, books, and video games, I just find him lame.

Overall a pretty good start.

 

I doubt the droid army is gonna show up anymore

 

Yeah i hope so, they severly downgraded the first 10 mins of the show for me. Supposed to be a serious and tense scene but it is full of really bad humor. I also realize it is a staple but could do without the corny narration at the start.

 

It’s a 9 for me. Great episode that set up a lot of interest threads to explore. Animation and music were great and most importantly it was just fun to watch. The Bad Batch are a fun bunch of characters to follow. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

 

Yep, basically what I've expected for years. The comics and books don't move the needle sales wise compared to the shows and movies. People writing and directing shows/films dont want to be beholden to a comic/book only a few thousand people read several years ago.

 

You can sort of point of view it. Kanan suffered PTSD. Perhaps he remembered things wrong

 

A good opening! I felt it was less surefooted than I expected, the two set-pieces (the training fight and the prison break) went on far too long, I didn’t like the music, and it wasn’t at the quality level of the final three episodes of TCW, but overall it was really enjoyable.

The adult-child Freddie Prinze thing made me fear for the quality of the show, but the rest of it more than made up for that head-scratching misstep.

It’s no Mandalorian, but I’m excited about the next one.

ETA: Though I don’t think the Empire swiftly moving away from clones makes much sense. How are they a threat? They are programmed to follow Palpatine’s orders, and all the Empire needs to do is force the Kaminoans at gunpoint to teach their scientists the programming tech so they can control the clones without the dangerous middle man situation. The Kaminoans don’t seem to have any means of defending themselves against the Empire. So what’s stopping Palps from simply commandeering the clones and clone tech, and getting rid of the Kaminoans?

 

"The Clone War may be over, but a civil war is about to begin." Crappy line; the 'Clone War' was a civil war.

Anyway, it was alright, nothing too wizard. Though admittedly I am curious what they're planning to do with the Omega character.

 

I believe the idea is that Tarkin is just prejudice against clones. He's sees them as inherently inferior and thinks replacing them with naturally loyal soldiers an upgrade. This implies Tarkin is the architect of the Empire's downfall by being a proponent of stormtroopers. He also thinks clones are too expensive, but this is likely just a justification to hide his prejudice. Of course, it would probably be cheaper to use local worlds' populations as your troops. An empire can do that.

We see Tarkin's prejudice at play when he decides to test the clones' abilities and even chooses to use live fire against them.

 

Catching bits of it now. First impressions are easily the animation--things have come far since the early days of TCW, and man is it gorgeous. I really love the lightsaber effects when they're surrounded by smoke and snow and the like, and the backgrounds are very well executed.

Otherwise...they've retconned the Kanan comics as I'm sure most have figured, which I'm ambivalent about it. I lean more towards the comic's depiction of how Kanan went through Order 66, with it being a rather emotional transition from a peaceful rest with the clones to fighting for his life, but it's not an absolute dealbreaker to me.

The Bad Batch feel somewhat more rounded so far...with the exception of Wrecker who, sigh, still feels like a stereotypical big dumb oaf. Now, one thing I didn't expect was

Spoiler

Crosshair going antagonist

, and I like it.

 

Spoiler

The green clone captain is credited as "Captain Grey," so the Kanan comic isn't all retconned. I'm very intrigued by Omega, she seems like a fun new addition to the cast. Imperial Crosshair also looks freakin' awesome. It also seems like they're setting up a possible Kamino Uprising. Hyped regardless!

 

Crosshair is my favorite. I love his "wolverine" attitude. I hope he's not the villain and rejoins the team soon if they can get the chip out.

 

9/10 here.

It's so good to have another animated show at last. The Mandalorian is awesome and all, and I'm looking forward to other live action incarnations, but I do love the animated works as well, quite a bit. I was especially thrilled to see young Kanan. I'd be amused to know if Freddie Prinze Jr was making his voice sound younger, or if they modified it in post. I confess it sounded just a touch too old for the body it was coming out of, but admirable effort.

I hadn't really expected Crosshair to be setup as the antagonist, but I think it makes a sort of sense. With all the genetic mutations in their bodies, the idea that all of them flat out rejected the inhibitor chip would be something of a reach. It's good that for one of them, the chip worked, it was just imperfect. I think it's going to make for interesting storytelling having to fight against one of their own for survival as they find their way in the universe.

I dunno...I'm a child of the 80s but I really have to wonder if they're going to be the Star Wars Equivalent of The A-Team. That'd be great, actually, if done well, and I think they're off to a great start.

So...Omega. Interesting concept. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of argument, in which I will participate not at all, about where she came from, how should could be a clone of Jango or some other unknown donor, and a war over DNA, genetics, and X vs Y chromosomes as they apply to cloning. For my own part, I like her. My husband pointed out something interesting too at the end. I was finding it curious that she became such a good shot having never fired a blaster, but then he reminded me of something we both had observed earlier, that she was perfectly imitating Hunter. I wonder if her particular mutation is being a perfect mimic to the point of being able to learn any skill she visually witnesses in a rapid fashion.

Admittedly, I went into this unsure if I was going to care for it or not, but it got me interested and I'm looking forward to Friday.

 

Spoiler

As far as I can tell the only thing really retconned from the comics is the time and context of when order 66 was issued.
In the comics it was executed after the battle was finished, as they were beginning to settle into camp for the night.
Here its while the battle is still going on, and its even implied Billaba was losing before the Bad Batch arrived.

There is also whether Grey is a Commander or Captain. Seriously why couldn't they use Styles in his place? I get they don't like having two commanders in one battalion (Jedi and Clone), but It would have been easier to smooth over some rough edges if they had.

In any case YMMV, but I really prefer the comics depiction of events just because it was a unique perspective on the order, just about every Jedi was in the midst of battle when they were gunned down, but Billaba was having a quiet moment with her battalion and Padawan. It made it all the more creepy when they turned on them on a moments notice.
Don't mind the Batch being slightly off screen in the comic but completely revamping the order of events just gives me a headache.

Best I can do to reconcile: this is a cleanup operation. They already captured the capital, Kleeve fled and they're just finishing off what remains of the droid forces. But Billaba's forces were seriously drained in the battle hence why they needed reinforcements. (Even in the comics her battalion seemed surprisingly small in numbers for the role they had).

In this way we can minimize the damage, maybe one page of the comic is overridden and the rest is just fine.

Just my 2 cents though.

 

Ding ding ding

Winner winner chicken dinner

 

Wonder if Cut might have a biological kid by now.