The Bad Batch The Bad Batch 1.03 - Replacements - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Another great episode - and goodness, one of the members of Crosshair's team looked like Iden Versio. I can't seem to find when she was born, but Wookipeedia mentions that she is a Senior Lieutenant by the time of the Battle of Scarrif. The woman looked young enough in this episode, but I don't know if the timeline stacks up enough. But appearance-wise, I immediately said Iden Versio.

And one thing that really stood out for me story-building wise involves Saw Gerrera. Although he wasn't in this episode as such, given what happens to his people, one can see over time (with this sort of thing repeatedly happening) how he gets to the point where he is by the time of Rogue One. If he keeps experiencing the death of his people like this, you can understand his mental state and attitude in becoming more and more extreme over time. After a while, there is no diplomacy or anything else that involves a non-military solution. He becomes so battle-hardened through the death of his people that any solution simply involves war and fighting.

I love how they are using the members of the Bad Batch to paint this future picture of Rebellion vs Empire. Crosshair now stands for everything that the Empire will become; brutal, repressive and without care or mercy. You follow orders regardless if its right or wrong. The rest of the Bad Batch team, in contrast, are starting to show more and more of what the Rebellion is all about.

I'm liking the show alot and I loved the Kaminoans mentioning Jango Fett's name again and how the DNA that he provided them has almost been consumed.

A may appear to be a cartoon on the service, but it also does the greater story justice with its own link-ins and connective tissue.

 

Two of his favorites, back-to-back! Last week it was the espionage-and-firefight-escape-from-a-trap scenario.

 

What will next week bring

 

A cartoon version of himself as a pilot of some kind.

 

Wolves probably

 

After last week's Sanctuary take, they seem to have skipped The Gunslinger and gone for a darker Prisoner vibe.

So next week, will BB receive a transmission from Lama Su proposing a bargain: Bring in Omega as a donor and in exchange, all Imperial bounties on them are dropped.

 

The empire doesn’t know that the bad batch escaped with Omega yet

 

The back and forth from goofy kid adventure to the Empire slaughtering a ton of civilians was hilarious to me. I guess everyone who thought this show would be toned down from Clone Wars was both right and wrong. A little more goofy kid stuff but also some brutally dark sequences.

Enjoyed the episode. Bring on the next one.

 

Watch the early seasons there is way more goofy kid stuff. Don’t let nostalgia blind you or just as much anyway

 

I mean the infamous droid arc from season 5 of TCW is a testament to that where on the surface you have some kid-friendly looney tunes but actually, the amphibian guy was losing his mind thinking he was going to just die of dehydration. A situation none of the biologically immortal droids on his squad could understand. Imagine the despair of being stranded with WAC-47 in a desert wasteland with no food or water. Less kid-friendly than meets the eye.

 

I know what they're trying to do with Crosshair's story but damn, that scene made me feel really uncomfortable. Just as I initially thought, Omega is taking Crosshair's place in the team, at least until they find a way to free him his inhibitor chips. Loved the relationship between Wrecker and Omega so far. I also wonder if Kaminoans will have the same fate as the Geonosians, seems likely if the Empire discover they helped the Bad Batch, they could be seen as a liability in the long run.

 

No wonder Saw is wound so tight by Rogue One.

Im really liking this show. I can’t believe it went there with a return mission to Odoron. Crosshair is weirdly becoming my favorite for the journey he is on.

Will be amazing if his chip gets removed / deactivated and Crosshair is like - “you know, chip or no chip, I like working for the Empire.”

The clones and the cloners fear of being replaced is fascinating. This show brings up questions and problems I never considered for Star Wars.

This series has the strongest start of an animated Star Wars. For me up and running running with the full momentum of the Clone Wars last season behind it.

 

Another good episode. Really enjoyed the empire side of the story with crosshair. I’m not one who enjoys things being ‘dark’ for the sake of it, but that was so well done and showed a clear tonal shift as we continue to move from republic to empire

As others have mentioned it really shows how Saw ended up becoming so brutal in his fight against the empire

So many different angles to consider, when we see that the Kaminoans really are just concerned about their contracts and business.

The BB stuff was meh, although I don’t know why but I really enjoy Tech and Echo as a pairing

 

A wolf pilot version of himself, obviously

 

Tech and Echo do have an interesting relationship. The original 4 Bad Batch members are all so confident in their unique skills and being special. They have an oblivious arrogance that let’s them behave as if they are invulnerability.

Echo doesn’t have that at all. Echo is much more quite and less confident. In a way he is a resurrected man - so has no delusions about being invulnerable. Echo’s personality is much more like a regular clone - and that can be refreshing on the show. He’s not a wiz kid with special powers. It’s more like Echo was inflicted with his abilities. I think he suffers more than we know with PTSD.

Tech and Echo have the most over lap in their skill set. It could create a rivalry, but hasn’t so far. They also haven’t become a collaborative team. That seems more on Tech - like he doesn’t want to slow down to work with anyone.

Something else I noticed about Echo. The few times he or the team have been cornered and threatened - like in the jail cell with Omega - Echo in plain speech, but in no uncertain terms, states he will immediately use deadly force to defend himself and the team.

It’s different than the bluster we regularly hear from the rest of the team. I think when pushed we may discover Echo is the most ruthless and deadly of the team. Even more so than Crosshair. We’ll see.

 

I've noticed this too. He shot like 3 clone troopers in the first episode alone, if not more. Definitely interested in seeing if this is just his anger over Order 66, or something more, since his inpatient attitude was a thing in the Clone Wars bad batch arc too.

 

Agreed. What’s building inside him could go a lot of ways. Maybe he’s always seething just below the surface and has a way to keep himself in check. Or maybe it’s building to something like a volcano when it all explodes. I can’t tell how in control Echo is. He doesn’t let off steam like the rest of the team.

That uncontrolled eruption could make him briefly into an in unbeatable one man berserker army. It could also be focus inward as personal nuclear meltdown. Not even sure what that looks like.

This show is so different in a lot of ways from what I expected. Way more depth. I don’t like to read too much into shows and build up my own false expectations that are deeper than what the series is providing. But that return mission to Oderon makes me think this series is going to explore these things and we’re just picking up on what the story is setting up.

 

Project War Mantle in this episode was one of the projects mentioned all the way back in Rogue One, when Jyn was listing off projects on Scarif.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Project_War_Mantle

 

I find it fascinating that in particular Hunter in this episode implied to Omega she couldn't learn his tracking skills because he is special, the later immediately proves him wrong in the worst way while he was down. Hunter is learning to feel vulnerable now. If something happens to him then what happens to Omega? This time she is lucky. What happens to the rest of his team? Meanwhile, on Kamino, Tarkin and Rampart are talking about how recruits can be trained. The Bad Batch's abilities aren't being viewed as unique enough. The Kaminoans are going to start coming after Omega like a rare ingredient. Why? Also, I think an easy-to-miss subplot that's going to start rearing its self if the Bad Batch has limited supplies including food. The Havoc Marauder is a tiny ship compared to The Ghost and the Millennium Falcon. It may only ever have so much room for supplies. Settling down in a base of sorts is going to be dangerous.

Tech hasn't gotten much development other than being funny as hell. I don't think Tech is really outright arrogant about his abilities. He just doesn't want to slow down or be distracted from whatever his attention is on. Tech was played almost entirely for laughs in this episode. Hunter's line "I'd say getting thrown out of hyperspace is pretty critical." and then Tech's, "Life support is still online, we're fine." had me laughing.

But Echo's personality has been coming out in small quantities. He is still by the book and rigid which I think fuels frustration because mostly he has outgrown that. Echo thinks the kid shouldn't be with them. He actually seems like the best at stealth stuff from his ARC Trooper days. The Echo we knew before The Citadel is long gone. After fate worse than death he has left that whole life behind. He is now just this frustrated, angry dude who will very quickly go up to eleven to defend himself and the group. Hell, he didn't seem impressed Rex is alive. Echo just sort of demanded where he was without a hint of, "Wow, thank god...". I don't know if he is really more ruthless than what we've seen from Rex and Fives. I think another issue for Echo is he still seems to be new and finding his self on the team.

Omega arguably has fit into the team better having bonded with both Hunter and Wrecker. She hasn't gotten much interaction with Tech but she doesn't need to win him over. Tech is automatically her friend even if he is to busy doing tech stuff to make sure she is alive. I think a dynamic like that will make Echo and Omega's relationship the most interesting when they get around to it. Echo threatened to use deadly force if she was harmed. But I wonder if it came to it if Echo would be more willing to turn her over to Bounty Hunters to protect himself and the team.

Crosshair on the other hand is easily the most arrogant. He really doesn't seem to like the Regs. In the Bad Batch arc, he started trouble with Jesse and later manage to hit a berserk button on Rex. He may dislike the Regs enough to go along with the Empire replacing them and that will be what keeps him from rejoining the Bad Batch. I think its a given a rescue attempt will be made at some point.