Sorry but what exactly is up with the bad batch arc? I've heard people talk about the issues with echo's white skin but I haven't heard that many bad things about the arc itself? (ik you said you don't want to be negative on your blog so I would absolutely understand if you didn't answer this ask)
Oooooooooooh boy. Well I just had a long, long, LONG rant about it with someone, but I guess Iâve got an excuse to put all of my points onto a post and talk about it publicly now that I got an ask x) Iâll keep it under the cut so I donât throw my salt in peopleâs face. I really donât want to upset people who love that arc - it has redeeming qualities, but overall it pisses me off so much for so many reasons. So here:
The first issue is obviously two members of the Bad Batch (minus Echo) being being just about the furthest thing from maori no matter how much you're willing to stretch it.Â
Like... yeah, nah. I wouldnât even accept Crosshair and Tech (grey haired guy and goggles guy) as Jangoâs natural biological sons, nevermind as his clones.Â
The problem is that their different appearances are justified by them being described simply as clones with desirable mutations (i.e superpowers). But why the hell did the creators have to change their appearances for that to be a thing? How does that correlate? Sure, the concept of clones with different faces is interesting, except... no, no itâs not, and Iâm gonna rant about it in a few secs. But basically it's like they thought giving them different faces would be a good substitute for having different personalities (another thing Iâll come back to). If they really wanted to have buff clones with super eyesight or whatnot they could have just done that, without making them lose what little melanin the lighting of the show had allowed the other Clones to keep.Â
But the gigantic problem is... showing that the "regular" clones have VERY distinct identities despite their identical faces has been one of the themes of the show from episode 1. Literally, the first episode of TCW has Yoda taking time out of a mission with galactic stakes to tell the three clones heâs with (who tell him theyâre all the same because they have the same faces) that theyâre wrong, and that theyâre very different in the Force, that their appearance doesnât matter, that theyâre all equally unique and important, and he lists all of their individual skills, strengths and weaknesses.Â
And itâs not just me being bothered by that, hereâs a post by @cacodaemoniaâ saying the same thing.Â
Introducing the Bad Batch as "unique" clones who are "different" and "not like their brothers" because they have different faces and skills completely breaks that theme of the show!! Because the entire point of the Clones in TCW is that their faces don't matter, they ARE unique!Â
(Plus the Bad Batchâs character designs are so cliche and uninspired itâs just laughable to try and justify bleaching their freaking skin for the sake of visual diversity.Â
This took like 10 seconds. I found the first guy by literally googling âsoldier movies,â and the other two are Team Fortress characters that look a LOT like Wrecker and Crosshair. One is âHeavyâ and one is âSniperâ lmao.
And behold:
The above picture is a Team Fortress reference that I found just by looking up âbad batch clone wars,â so Iâm not the only person who sees it.)Â
And the batchers don't even have personalities to justify calling them unique! They have no character traits beyond the most clichĂ© american soldier tropes ever. We have a token loner sniper, a token "smart tech guy" who knows everything from xenoanthropology to biology to Separatist computers to sound waves to encryption, a token Badass Brooding Leader and a token âdumb muscle guy.â
I dare anyone to find more about their personalities than this:
- Crosshair is the perpetually grumpy sniper who looks down on "regs,â
- Wrecker likes to blow up stuff and doesn't like heights,
- Hunter is the leader and is friends with Cody,
- Tech is smart doesn't trust Echo.Â
Thatâs it, thatâs literally it. Four episodes about them and that's all we get. These character tropes are literally the least inventive ever. FFS, Hunter even has a freaking KNIFE! Not a vibroblade, mind you, like in kriffing Star Wars. A knife. Against metal droids. Why. They couldnât make this more of an american-war-movies clichĂ© fest if they tried. (And sure, he can feel electromagnetic waves so maybe it does make sense for him not to carry a vibroblade and maybe this is nitpicking, but he looks like a ripoff of a Predator character and it pisses me off).
Another thing is that when you introduce characters you have to make them likable - and them despising the normal Clones is a terrible way to do that! And they don't even grow from that because at the end of the 4 episodes arc they just see Rex as not bad "for a reg" and they see Echo as no longer a reg, and both of these things are infuriating!Â
The worst thing imo is that Echo then becomes part of them (and irreparably loses his melanin in the process, uuuuuuuuugh) when there is nothing to justify this.Â
The dialogue goes like this:Â
ECHO: You coming?
TECH: Not really our thing.
CROSSHAIR: Accolades.
WRECKER: Yeah, we're just in it for the thrill. Yo!
HUNTER: You sure it's your thing?
ECHO: What do you mean?
HUNTER: Your path is different. Like ours. If you ever feel like you don't fit in with them, well, find us.
(they leave)
REX: Those are some of the finest troopers I've ever fought alongside. Echo. You and I go way back. If that's where you feel your place is, then that's where you belong.
Echo doesn't feel like he belongs anymore, okay, but why would he feel like he belongs with the assholes who up to the last five minutes of the mission thought he was probably a traitor, and also verbally expressed that he was not worth saving?? In all of the arc, Echo himself never voices that he feels heâs not âlike the other Clonesâ anymore and that he feels itâs a problem. His relationship with Rex immediately picks up where they left things off - the first thing he does upon being lucid again for the first in over a year is cracking a joke for Rexâs benefit.Â
Why would Echo feel like he doesnât belong in the 501st anymore, when we don't even see him interacting with anyone from his past life except for Rex and Anakin (who are both extremely very supportive of him)?? If there had been one scene of a âregularâ Clone (ugh) looking at him with horror and disgust or something, or just Kix and Jesse cracking jokes with Echo awkwardly standing by the side not getting it, I could forgive the show trying to make it feel like he has an identity crisis, but this was so shallow!
The only thing that makes Echo and the Bad Batchâs experiences similar is that they *look* different. Itâs so against the themes of the Clones Iâm seething just from thinking about it. And what the hell? Echo ALREADY didnât fit in. That was the WHOLE POINT of Domino Squad. They didnât fit in because they thought they were better than anyone else because they had trouble getting along with their brothers, so obviously it had to be their brothersâ fault (ahem, Bad Batch?). And you know what happened? Domino Squad OVERCAME that. And Echo and Fives still didnât âfit inâ because their personalities were unique and creative, and they became ARC Troopers because Cody, Rex and the Jedi VALUED THEM FOR PRECISELY THAT. Echo having new and unique skills and a modified appearance is the most bs justification for him feeling like he doesnât belong!!Â
And that brings me to my biggest issue: Rex telling Echo the bad batch are some of the best troopers he's ever met. I'm sorry, based on WHAT? What Rex values above everything is loyalty and brotherhood, and the Bad Batch DOESN'T DISPLAY ANY OF THAT. We never see them even expressing concern for each other! Wrecker treats saving Codyâs life like a trivial issue, because itâs just âsO eAsYâ for him, and beyond that we never see them supporting each other or genuinely expressing affection for each other beyond boasting about each otherâs skills...Â
Sure they can destroy a lot of droids, but they're dismissive of Rex's brothers, and the entire Umbara arc and this arc showed what he thought of that. They keep saying things like "not bad for a reg,â don't show any trust in Rex's skills or experience (even though they can't have been fighting in the war for more than a year and a half when heâs been there from the beginning, and he outranks all of them), they are essentially guerilla fighters which has only minimal value in a galactic war, and they never grow beyond their views of what regs are, and can and canât do.Â
None of that should make them good troopers in Rex's book. Going back to Echo not fitting in, remember who taught the Domino Squad the importance of seeing all of your brothers as important and equally valuable? Shaak Ti, true, but more importantly? 99! The guy the Bad Batch are named after. He did have value and was important and was no less of a trooper than his brothers, even though his mutations made him LESS powerful, not more. (And btw, just from a writing standpoint, the batchers donât have any weaknesses, which is shit.) Cody and Rex mourned 99 as a true soldier even though it wasnât his sacrifice that brought them victory (which would have implied that he had value as a soldier and a brother because he saved them, as opposed to him having that value intrinsically), because thatâs what a fine trooper is to them. A BROTHER first a foremost, someone altruistic, brave and loyal. The Bad Batch distort the meaning of 99's character with their behavior. Theyâre not altruistic, their bravery is mitigated by the fact that theyâre freaking invincible, so of course they take risks (again, see Wrecker saving Cody without a care because itâs easy to him, as opposed to Rex being ready to run into a burning ship about to explode because his brother is in there, and having to be physically dragged away). The Bad Batch denigrate their brothers for being less skilled, thinking their own abilities make them unique somehow, when 99 could barely fight and was still the one who taught Hevy about being a good soldier.Â
And again the batchers don't grow from that. Which is all the more frustrating because the original ending didnât have Echo joining them, from what I remember of the unfinished episodes, and the arc actually ended with them receiving their medals in front of regular troopers who cheer for them, as opposed to them smugly ostracizing themselves and dismissing the ceremony as trivial and meaningless. (original ending vs s7 ending:Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab1eCfzKamw)Â
Itâs so annoying. Do you know what characters never had an entire arc dedicated to them and still have far more personality and more interesting designs and more symbolic weight??Â
Jesse, for starters. Kix. Dogma. Cut. Slick. Keeli. Ponds. Rys, Jek and Thire. Commander Doom. Commander Fox. Wolffe. Hevy. Hardcase.Â
Cody was a more interesting character just in his RotS appearances.Â
Waxer and Boil had one episode about them and then only two cameos plus Waxerâs death, and theyâre still some of the most memorable, beloved Clones of the whole show. And Boil was grouchy and prejudiced like Crosshair, but he has so much growth that we could make a whole thread about it.Â
I'd say the last problem with the Bad Batch is that it has cash grabbing money hungry vibes. Different faces are more marketable, clichĂ© personalities are more toy-friendly, and it's basically a big ad for the Bad Batch series. And they throw Echo in the Batch at the end for bs reasons (again, it wasnât in the original ep from what I remember) and they tease Cody in the show to make sure fans will still watch even if they notice the lack of soul. And less melanin sells more at Disney apparently.Â
So thatâs my whole pissed rant.Â
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Whispers gently for that ship thing pretend I'm on Widow. Oli/Widow.
Send a ship and I'll tell you who:
Gives nose/forehead kisses.
Olivanderâs fond of Forehead kisses in all honesty, more so in ctching the other by surprise when sheâs sitting in a chair reading. He can be a bit of a lovey dovey sap if you let him
Gets jealous the most.
I feel this one is more Widow, Olivander is too go d damned o ld for that kinda shit, and tbh trusts his partners whole heartedly if heâs willing to date their asses
Picks the other up from the bar when theyâre too drunk to drive.
Well again, Olivander is incapable of getting drunk, but will drop by to keep a drunken sniper from wrecking shit need be
Takes care of on sick days.
Again, this is a d efinite both, heâs not about to lose someone he just welcomed into his life, and she doesnât need to worry about illness taking him, but the tender gesture is still always welcome
Drags the other person out into the water on beach day.
I want to say this may be Widow, just to get under his skin. That is to say if she isnât just wanting to sit beside him in the shade enjoying the ambiance with a nice book.
Gives unprompted massages.
Depends on their moods, Olivander will hella start these if he sees sheâs overworking her rifle shoulder or overtly tense. And Widow just really seems to enjoy riling his ass up, or just returning the favor... not much of one for owing people... even tho it was a l EGIT KINDNESS HEâ S TRYING TO BE NIC E ACC E PT HIS L OVE
Drives/rides shotgun.
I mean, p sure they both can drive, and really depends on who gets the keys first, but i can see Widow nabbing the keys much to Oliâs pouting disapproval
Brings the other lunch at work.
LM A O, Olivanderâs probably not gonna be bringing her lunch when sheâs tracking a targ et, but I mean, the thought is nice
Has the better parental relationship.
Iâd think Widow...??? I mean, Olivander was the child of a moon goddess abandoned on the doorstep of a Mesopotamian slave and stolen away to learn magic under the teachings of a priest s o... he doesnât... have??? par ents???
Tries to start role-playing in bed.
More than likely widow, just to see how far she can push Olivander before he starts cracking like the old man he is, I mean he doesnât mind it, but heâs easily dominated by her... and for that matter most of his partner s
Embarrassingly drunk dancer.
This one... neither... Widow wouldnât be caught d ead drunk dancing... and if she was... there were no surviving witness es
Still cries watching Titanic.
lo l neither, Olivander just tells the truth behind what happened on that ship and what it all was actually like... albeit widow sniffling and acting like sheâs just got a runny nose is ungodly kinds of cute
Firmly believes in couples costumes.
Widow... just to get under his skin, l ol
Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas.
Oh hella Olivander... girlâs gotta have nice things o kay, that and heâs not exactly limited on what he has to spend... not like itâs gonna break the bank to get someone some nice jewelry or a first edition book
Makes the other eat breakfast.
Olivander... hella... heâs not about to let hunger be what kicks her ass in place of the Hypoxia... hell naw, eat ur fuckin omlette wid ow
Remembers anniversaries.
tbh I am staggeringly weak for the idea of Widow being the one to secretly remember things with a dearer state of mind, albeit Olivander of course holds onto information with an iron grip... the idea of Widow being the one to recall it with a devilish fondness has a special place in my fuckin shriveled heart
Brings up having kids.
While he cannot have children unless with a biological male... and she more than likely was sterilized by whatever the fuck Talon did to her... the idea of them idly chatting about it while curled up together on the couch is rather darling... considering adoption... dreaming of a world that could have been... but ah... one can only dream
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