Full Series The Bad Batch 2.03 - The Solitary Clone - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Cody was never that guy, he was very similar to Kenobi.

 

What a great episode, Crosshair in this season will be interesting to see...

 

This episode and episode 12 might be only Crosshair focused episodes.

 

Now that was a really excellent episode. After the traditional action of episodes 1 and 2 we get what must be the first episode of any SW show in years to focus on the 'bad guys'. This harkened back to the anthology nature of TCW, leaving the main Batch out of the action entirely. The show had dabbled with this slightly in the Ryloth arc, but here it stayed pure, keeping the attention solely on Crosshair and Cody.

I loved the choice to make this a return to the 'classic Clones vs Droids' adventure style of the old Republic era, but to have that be a source of unrelenting dread throughout the episode. We as an audience know that this isn't a mission of liberation, so every action by our 'heroic clones' is tinged with a subversive reminder of how morally suspect it is. The best of Clone Wars' latter seasons touched on similar morally ambiguous ground, so I was glad to see its return in this murky interim era.

There was also a noticeable step up in the visual fidelity. The mountaintop citadel on Dessex, with a plateau of farmland and dense urban streets was a wonderfully realised location. I particularly like the constant blood-red sunset aesthetic. The action scenes too felt more ambitious, from Crosshair's audacious shot down the barrel of tank, the return of Droidekas rolling through a tight staircase reminding us of how powerful they could be, tensely taking one step at a time up a spiral tower, firing one mirror shot round a corner. I think the most impressively choreographed moment was sticking a bomb on a battledroid, then shooting it, so that as it died it slumped through the neighbouring Droideka's shield to take it out in a fiery blast. Just wow.

I also really appreciated what they did with Cody. It would've been easy to have him instantly see what they were doing was wrong, or for the governor to appeal to him on a moral ground that the Empire was evil. But no, he sincerely accepts that the Empire is trying to bring peace, he's still convinced by the rhetoric. His arguments instead stem from trying to reduce the bloodshed. Only the callousness of his superiors starts to turn him, but only slightly. The expertly animated facial reactions perfectly captured Cody's sense of hollow confusion, as if he's so baffled by events that he needs hours to process. The ranks of massed TK troopers marching out at the end also signal a dying of the light for the Clone Troopers as a whole, further adding to his doubts. I am slightly sad he went AWOL by the end, but even still everything leading up to that point was perfectly crafted.

It's episodes like these that make me sad that Star Wars hasn't embraced TCW's ability to tell stories from a multitude of points of view, while still furthering the central themes and narrative. Most projects since stick to your standard (mostly) heroic protagonists. The Solitary Clone dared to try something a little more complex, and to my mind succeeded.

Edit: The way the episode opened and then closed with Crosshair in identical scenes of being woken up by an alarm was great too. Even after the whole mission they went through, he's back to a mundane routine. Missions are a constant, leaving him unaffected and trapped in stasis. He's loose cog stuck in the mechanism of Empire, an empty shell of a man.

The bit with Cody stabbing the droid was a stark reminder of Hunter and the squad he gave up. Even that ersatz relationship was silenced in the crib by Cody's defection, leaving Crosshair truly solitary.

 

Whenever the show leans into the actual greater lore and emotional reality of the clones situation post-RotS the show truly shines. This was a great episode, it’s just a shame that they don’t aim for stuff like this more often.

 

Rampart was truly despicable in this episode. He even made Crosshair grind his teeth. I had a feeling as if he wanted to kill him right then and there when he made him spell out Cody's number. Rampart was genuinely puzzled and confused about clones using names, he clearly thought of it as some kind of joke. He is a man that triumphs in the system that weaponized dehumanization and enabled the worst human behavior. All the while he seems so normal and calm. There is nothing mustache twirling about him, no quirks, nothing outright evil. He is absolutely unremarkable, yet so despicable. He is really a great example of banality of evil. And Crosshair was definitely thinking back to what Hunter told him on Kamino: "All you'll ever be to them is a number."
Magnificent episode.

Also, those droids doing a high five after shooting down the shuttle, lol.

 

Cody went AWOL! In my best Denziel Washington Voice... " My Man!"

 

Enjoyable, easily watchable story that added a little bit more to the Lore.

 

Cody "what makes us different to Battledroids is that we make our own decisions and our own choices, and then we must live with them". Well Cody can also add Stormtroopers to those lines too and this is a sub story that I feel is running through the story as the Empire's tyranny takes hold - the main storyline.

Brilliant episode and great characterisation for Cody and Crosshairs. There are also brilliant contrasts at foot that are helping to layer the story and add even more complexity.

So with Cody and Crosshairs, there is this shared similarity of a soldier always following orders and doing what is expected of them. But in the core of that similarity lies the contrast between Cody and Crosshairs where Cody's view of this aspect is to ensure peace is achieved and order is in place. Setting aside murdering Jedi with Order 66 and being under the influence of inhibitor chips, there is Cody with this somewhat noble (although naive) stance on wanting to ensure peace in the Galaxy; despite his real lack of choice. In contrast, Crosshairs has no chip and has every choice to be something different and hold a more morally good stance. But Crosshairs makes the choice to ensure order in the Galaxy is maintained through the Empire's ruthless approach. This is no more evident in the hostage situation where Cody lays down arms for peace and Crosshairs pulls the trigger for Imperial Order. He is a soldier "following orders", but he chooses the evil side and evil approach; despite knowing what the Empire really is. It is this moment that causes Cody to reflect on everything that has happened and finally questions aloud to Crosshairs if the Empire is really doing a good thing or not. But Crosshairs says nothing and remains true to character and that is why he, IMO, is the MVP for this week's characterisation. Crosshairs has so many moments in this latest episode to question what he is doing, what the Empire is doing, etc, but he chooses to continue on this path he is already on. Awesome work Dave for this, really loving the Crosshairs characterisation.

Further contrasts in the story can be seen when comparing the "Brotherhood" found within the Clones and how the Empire sees them. Cody sees brothers like Wyler and Nova and Crosshairs. They are individual people to him, despite all looking similar in their slight variations. With the Empire, you are a number, you don't have a name. And this is where this sub story is going as the Clones begin to be replaced by Stormtroopers. The Empire does not like individualisation, they want conformity - and I'm enjoying this transition very much.

A much more layered story this week Dave and I found your episode to be brilliant.

 

Also interesting how the Empire sends in the clones first with little to no intel and the stormtroopers only come afterwards when the hard job is done - to secure and police. The Empire really tries hard to waste the clones as fast as possible. You could clearly see it in Cody's eyes at the end of the episode when he watched droves of stormtroopers arriving, and they arrived separately from clones. There is definitely a theme of segregation happening between the two groups, which will be explored further in the show.

 

I really enjoyed your review here. It articulated so well many of the thoughts in my head, but were unable to come out in a cohesive manner. Could not agree more with your points.

 

I liked this episode story arc way better than the first 2 episodes but on the other hand, to me the animation seemed inferior compared to last week.
Curious to see where they go with Cody character.

 

That is a perfect example of why bag of grenades clone is fantastic.

 

This was one of my favourite moments too. In fact, I really enjoyed the entire infiltration process and can even give a pass to the cliche "one in a million" Crosshairs shot into the tank's barrel. I thought the Clones showed real ingenuinety when dealing with some of the droids; particularly the droidekas where, as a droideka begins to take off again after firing, a Clone lobs a grenade to explode it as the droideka's shields are down. A great bit of minor world-building here as the Clones have obviously learned through many fights and battles certain techniques to overcome their enemies defences.

 

I didn't expect Cody to go AWOL this fast. One scene of hesitation, a line about the difference between clones and droids and gone by the next scene. The Cody/Crosshair team up was my favorite part of the episode and I really assumed they were going to keep that dynamic throughout the season. This episode also gave me the impression Crosshair will be the one who will decide Rampart's fate.

 

That was a damn good episode. This season is off to a wonderful start.

 

First two episodes introduced us back to the Bad Batch while this episode introduced back into the post ROTS éra. Rise of Facism. 1 year post ROTS and we got more and more stormtroopers. Beginning of Clones being faced out. I hope its not the last we see of Cody this Season?

 

Another great thing about this episode was the score towards the end, the Blade Runner-esque ambient score performed on an analogue synth (or imitation of one).

 

I believe that excellent move was also preformed by bag of grenades clone.

 

Fabulous episode. Dark, brooding, meaningful. Superbly animated and a great pace with plenty of tension. Superb. Loved it!

 

Really enjoyed this episode. Great on lots of levels.

To add to all the positive comments, I thought the sound and music was great too.

And bag of grenades clone was awesome. So was flamethrower clone.

 

Dug this episode quite a bit. It's refreshing to get clone-adjacent episodes that aren't strictly focused on the core team. Lots of nice character nuance here that felt even more impactful than most of the action. I think I would have liked to see Cody's AWOL escape, even though he isn't the main focus.

8/10

 

This was one of the best episodes of the series so far for me. Before this season started, I wanted Commander Cody to remain loyal to the Empire, but this episode changed my mind. Seeing Cody want to remain a good Republic soldier in the age of the Empire was heartbreaking and seeing the proto-stormtroopers arrive at the end furthered the tragedy. Seeing Separatist holdouts post-Clone Wars is something I've wanted to see for years.

This episode also had some great action. It was cool seeing the droidekas as a real threat and I liked Crosshair's pucks in the stairwell.

The only problem is that it continues the trend of this show being at its best when it doesn't focus on the title characters.