#martez sisters being best sisters

[missriyochuchi]

I don’t think we appreciate just how much Rex protects Omega. Every time he pops up, I think he’ll finally ask the Batch for the help he desperately needs in his fight for his brothers, but every time he doesn’t, it’s because he understands that however dangerous the Batch’s missions can be, they’re child’s play compared to what he’s doing with the Empire.

And it’s not just when he told Howzer, “I don’t want to involve them in this.” I always think back to Battle Scars when Omega tells Hunter that she’s afraid of losing them and being alone. The animators made a point to pan to Rex after Hunter reassures her, “You’re stuck with us for the long run.” It’s a tender moment, but it’s also the first time Rex hears Omega’s fears, which sort of echo his own about not wanting to bury more of their brothers. He won’t put the Batch in a situation that could potentially leave Omega alone.

But all first season, between Saw Gerrera and the Martez sisters and the Syndullas, there was a growing sense that another war is inevitable and everyone has to choose a side. The Batch tried to remain neutral, and Rex did his best to respect their wishes, but he knows the time to choose is rapidly approaching. It’s why he looked so proud when Omega told him they had to go back to Tantiss and mirrored his own determination back at him.

It’s also why he looked so defeated when he told Hunter to find out why the Empire wants Omega so bad; it wasn’t just the loss of his men at the monastery, it was the realization that for all his efforts, Omega is smack in the middle of his fight.

[writingforfun0714]

So I wanted to wait and let the new Bad Batch trailer sink in before posting about it.

Warnings: Spoilers, some thoughts/opinions will be critical

Alright so I don’t think it’s any secret that I don’t care for the Bad Batch. Even ignoring the horrible, incredibly RACIST clone model, the writing is mid/passable at best and not even watchable for me. Most of S1 and 2 combined is the typical ‘mission of the week’ type of story where only a few Empire-focused episodes stand out. There are also instances of ableism concerning Echo in particular (CF99 are also super dismissive of him in general—going along with that whole fucking ‘superiority over regs’ thing—seriously wtf).

Most episodes were very bland and predictable. S1 had no stakes despite its finale. By Mando/ST it’s clear that something has happened to Kamino. Didn’t really need to see a 2pt ep of the city getting wiped. Plus AZI should’ve been sacrificed. Even Ahsoka learns the lesson that you can’t save everyone in S1 when she disobeys Anakin and Admiral Yularen. TBB S2 had no character development from anyone besides a little bit for Omega (and Tech—but that was always speculated by fans since S1 and he’s dead now so it doesn’t really matter). A lot of the dialogue felt…basic. I think the only thing that TBB does well is the music. It’s really amazing and beautiful along with the smooth, crisp animation/scenery. Shame they ruined it with racist clone models, racist tones with the ‘reg’ dispute in both seasons, and being ableist and dismissive towards Echo.

Which brings me to the trailer. Oh boy. First, right off the bat I noticed how similar the trailer opening is compared to the S2 trailer. I do like that Phee is back. She did take time to grow on me but I do like her character and am curious to see where they will go with her.

It’s interesting we are seeing Crosshair back with the group so soon. Personally I do believe that is Crosshair and not just someone else wearing his armor like some think. I like the idea of Omega and Crosshair escaping early on but Omega gets recaptured/separated and taken back to Tantiss.

I’m interested in Hemlock and his backstory (is his gloved hand robotic?). I wish they’d create more interesting and unique characters like Phee and Fennec Shand instead of relying on cameos of established characters/fan-favorites like Ventress. I loved Dark Disciple and I thought it was a great ending for her.

I know it’s officially said that Ventress’ story will follow Dark Disciple but I don’t see how unless they retcon her death or pull a ‘somehow she survived’. Either way that sucks. Reminder!! DAVE FELONY DIDN’T EVEN FOLLOW REBELS FOR AHSOKA. SABINE IS NOT FORCE SENSITIVE IN REBELS. DAVE RETCONS THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYTHING. I have no faith that they will remain loyal to DD. Anything that will be ‘canon’ will be mid at best because even Crosshair’s arc has been messy (which is due to the weird S1 ‘reset’ the characters go through. Like they totally should’ve appreciated ‘regs’ by the end of TBB arc in TCW S7–there was no need for that awkward food fight scene in S1).

I hate that this show has to rely on cameos to get the viewing numbers. Here is a list of every character cameo we’ve seen so far:

—Rex*

—Tarkin*

—Palpatine*

—The Lawquane Family

—The Syndullas/Chopper

—Nala Se/Lama Su*

—Cad Bane

—Bail Organa

—Riyo Chuchi

—Gungi

—Gregor

—Wolffe

—Cody

—Scorch

—Saw Gerrera

—Martez Sisters

—Kanan/Depa*

—Muchi/Rancor from RotJ

—Taun We/Halle Burtoni

—Ventress

*I consider these important/relevant cameos and am not bothered by them like the others*

What a list right? I might even be missing one. These were just off the top of my head. Some are big players, others smaller and almost not-relevant to the plot. Not counting the one’s I asterisked, it’s 15 characters. There are original characters but a lot of them, especially in S1 felt like one off, not important characters. And I hate Cid so much—glad to see she was absent in the S3 trailer. I’m really starting to love Phee and I’ve always loved Fennec Shand, and Hemlock is definitely an intriguing villain and Emerie feels like a total mystery (though the reveal was not shocking due to the similar design and accent to Omega). Like why can’t they create more characters like these? The rest just feel forgettable. And it’s clear that characters like Saw, Gungi, Scorch, Cad Bane and even the Syndulla and Lawquane families just felt like fan service. The rest kind of make sense that they’d show up but it also feels a bit like fan service.

Moving on..

I know a lot of people think that new weird dark trooper at the 1:40 mark is Tech. While I’m inclined to agree as I think the ‘Winter Soldier’ story is an obvious choice to pick, I also think that Tech is dead. I’ve changed my mind and kind of hope that Tech isn’t brought back.

I hope this is someone new. I also wouldn’t mind if it was a bounty hunter we’ve seen before. Due to the frame and stature, I could almost think of Boba due to him being older than Omega but it’s definitely more likely to be Tech than either of these choices.

It’s interesting a lot of cameo characters from S2 do not make an appearance in the trailer. Bail, Riyo, Gungi, Gregor and Cody are all absent from the trailer. Trailers usually show action shots to avoid story spoilers, but with Gungi, Gregor, and Cody all being capable fighters, I’m surprised they didn’t appear (usually stuff with politics is a story spoiler).

Overall I’m skeptical of the trailer. I don’t like Ventress being alive/in TBB being a Dark Disciple lover. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the story of S3 so I don’t feel like I can give an accurate take on that. I hate how Omega’s longer hair looks. Curly haired Omega is adorable!! The animation (everything but the clone model) is definitely getting better. However, based on how S2 was marketed as a ‘darker story compared to S1’ and was like 80% fetch quest I’m definitely skeptical.

Those of you that made it through this post, thank you for your time and I hope I gave you something to think about. If you wanna learn more about the racism and ableism portrayed in this show, check out @unwhitewashthebadbatch for more info.

[traveller-of-word-and-screen]

Decommissioned

Okay next episode we are so back

Decommissioned you know what’s funny going on I don’t remember this episode whatsoever

I could not tell you what happens so let’s start

Omega learning how to shoot is so cute

That’s luck Omega not skill

Ah cid my favorite character

Oh this is the Martez sister episode

Cid is always the worst

I like how omega acts as the audience insert for people that don’t know Star Wars that well like her asking about the tactical droid and what it did.

I forgot how often they mentioned Wreckers fear of heights.

This episode has some underrated pieces of music. Lol Rafa literally fighting a child

Whoever is playing these background workers on the factory put their all into it. “Blaster fire on the floor! Lock it down!” They put their all into that one line lol.

This music is a bop

Yes Hunter you should have let the droid shoot her.

I love Omega in these last two episodes

More wrecker being afraid of heights.

Honestly the acting this episode all around has been top notch probably my favorite since the premier in that regard

Oh boy Wreckers headaches

Good soldiers…. Wrecker gets shot for a 3rd time (I think in total he gets shot 4 times throughout the series)

Bum bum bum this track is a bop I need to look it up later

This is fucking intense

Also Omega should be being burned alive on that metal that shit is hot.

Omega is so cute all the time. I love her.

Lol Rafa just falling into the scene.

Fine but I still don’t like it. We don’t either.

Wrecker is trying to fight it. He keeps saying no. I love wrecker.

Is there an echo in here may be peak Star Wars

Seperatist theme kicks in and just makes it all the better.

Tech working his magic

Oh…oh…what gets wrecker out of his order 66 stuper is Omega telling him she needs his help. I think I am going to cry now.

I don’t know did we win. I felt that. I felt that

Lol at Rafa saying isn’t that what you clones do? Bruh you work for Rex.

Isn’t that part of Ord Mantell Seedy? Yes and it’s great. I love her. She is the best.

Lol remember when people were wondering who this was? People thought it was Bail, Ahsoka Rex, Glup shitto

[notgonnaedit]

Healer's Heart

Battle Scars

Master list

The Marauder jerked as Tech did his best to loose the Rhokai fighters on their tail. Hunter shot at them from the gunner's mount. "How much longer until we're in hyperspace, Tech?" He asked, his voice gruff with urgency.

"That depends on when Echo plans on getting the drive back online." Tech replied smoothly.

"I'm working on it!" The ARC growled.

Althea strapped in next to Omega, the creature they stole in a cage between them.

"I don't think Ruby likes this very much." The blonde remarked as the creature squawked angrily.

"You named that thing?" Althea asked.

The ship jolted, earning a grunt from Wrecker from where he sat across from the girls. "What's with these guys?"

"Well, we did steal from them." Omega said.

Ruby hissed as Tech offered an explanation from the cockpit. "Technically, the Rhokai stole the lizard first. We are merely intercepting it."

"They don't see it that way." Said Hunter as he blasted another ship away.

The Marauder shuddered, causing Ruby's cage to fall on to the floor. The door opened, most likely from not being latched properly, and the lizard escaped.

"It's loose!" Wrecker screamed. "It's loose!" 

Ruby climbed on top of him, latching her claws into his face. Wrecker stood and screamed as the lizard clung to him. "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"

"Calm down!" Said Omega. "You're scaring her."

Wrecker ignored her, opting to run into the cockpit instead. "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" He ran face first into a chair, knocking Ruby off. Althea lept from her seat and took the cage, slamming it on top of the lizard and trapping it.

"Got her." She declared.

"Hyperdrive's online." Said Echo.

Without another word, Tech launched the ship into hyperspace, taking them back to Ord Mantell.

                         •°•°•°•°•°•°•

"That is one strange looking lizard." Cid remarked as she looked in the cage. Althea bit back a snort. Did Cid not own a mirror?

"What's your client want it for?" Asked Echo.

"Maybe it's a pet." Cid guessed. "Maybe he wants to turn it into a stew. Don't know, don't care."

"As long as you get paid." Hunter said. Ever since the Martez sisters, the Sergeant had been questioning Cid's methods.

"Now you're catching on." The Trandoshan replied. "And guess what? That means you get paid too. Bring the lizard in the back." She walked away into her office. Echo grabbed the cage and Tech followed, but Hunter hung back. A cloaked figure near a back booth caught his attention, but it was soon dragged away by three presences behind him.

"Hunter?" Asked Omega as he turned. The Sergeant was faced with Wrecker, Althea, and Omega, all three of them wearing expectant smiles.

"What are you three up too?" Hunter asked.

"The missions over." The yellow eyed girl told him. "Can we go?"

"Again?"

"It's tradition." Wrecker argued. He brought his hand to his mouth and lowered his voice to a whisper. "It makes the kids happy."

Omega looked up at him questioningly and Althea rolled her eyes. Hunter raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Uh-huh." He said unconvinced. "The kids." He sighed. "Don't take long."

The three grinned, all bouncing with excitement as they ran off. Hunter shook his head, a smile on his face. Ever since Wrecker came back to them with Mantell Mix on Coruscant, he and Althea had started a tradition to get the treat after every mission. It didn't matter if it was fresh or a two week old piece one of them had found in their pockets. They would eat it, and now Omega was included.

The Sergeant made his way back into Cid's office, casting one last look at the cloaked stranger before walking in. Something was familiar about them.

Cid opened a case of credits and tossed Hunter a small handful. "All right, fellas, here's your cut."

Hunter checked the amount in his hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You said the job paid three times this."

"For me, not for you." Cid closed the case as if ending the matter.

"And just how is this a mutually beneficial arrangement?" Echo asked as Hunter pocketed the money.

"You're breathing, aren't you?" She glanced at her datapad. "Rather generous considering the debt you owe me."

"What debt?" Hunter asked. Cid rolled her eyes and handed the datapad to him. The Sergeant read it, his confusion and anger growing with each word. "Docking fees, port charges, gear, fuel, rations, and –20 cartons of Mantell Mix?"

                               •°•°•

Wrecker smiled as he handed Althea and Omega their cartons before taking his own. "Best part of the mission."

"Mm-hmm." Omega nodded, her mouth already full of the salty-sweet treat. Althea tossed a piece in the air to try to catch it in her mouth, but it merely bounced off of her nose and on to the ground.

"That'll be 14 credits for the Mantell Mix." The vendor said, a frown already on his face. He knew what Wrecker was going to say.

"Uh, yeah....uh, put it on Cid's tab." The demo man said, just as he did every time they got their favorite snack.

                                •°•°• 

"Now, I like you boys," Said Cid as she played with the tip of her staff. "But I'm not running a charity here. You need a big score for us to be square."

"Like what?" Echo asked.

"Like retrieving that tactical droid, but you bungled that op. I suggest you figure something out before you see my ugly side."

"That's not her ugly side?" Tech asked in a lowered voice. With him, it was hard to tell if he was making a snide comment or if he was actually genuinely confused as to the matter of Cid's "ugly side."

The Trandoshan sent a glare his way. "What was that, Goggles?"

Before Tech could answer the sound of blaster fire rang from the main parlor. Hunter ran out with his blaster ready, Echo and Tech not far behind.

Bolo and Ketch were running towards the door in fear. The hooded stranger was standing up, a smoking blaster in their hand.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Cid asked as she pushed past Hunter. "Who are you?"

The stranger set down their blaster on the table before turning to them. They pulled down the hood, revealing the face of the Captain of the 501st.

"Rex?" Said Echo, confusion and surprise apparent in his tone.

"Oh, great. Another clone." Cid griped. "Just what I needed. Well, don't get comfy. I'm done taking in strays. This ain't a clone clubhouse, ya know." She hit Hunter's shoulder with her staff as she walked away. "Unbelievable. Thinkn' they own the place."

Hunter holstered his blaster and stood up straight as took a step forward. "Captain." 

"It's been awhile, boys." Rex said, almost uncomfortably.

"Where have you been, Rex?" Echo asked his old friend. 

"Hmm." A ghost of a smirk crossed Rex's face, as if he was laughing at something ironic that they had yet to understand. "That's a long story."

                            •°•°•°•°•

Echo and Hunter sat on either side of Rex at the bar as he told his story. Tech took a seat next to Hunter after getting a drink for himself and Wrecker when him and the girls came back.

"And when the war ended, I guess you could say I've been keeping a low profile." Rex said, finishing his story.

"Very low." Tech added. "Imperial files have you listed as killed in action."

Rex looked at him, displaying the fresh red mark just behind his temple. "Being dead in the Empire's eyes has it's advantages."

"Well, how'd you track us down?" Echo asked.

"Trace and Rafa Martez. They said a squad of rogue clones helped them on Corellia." Rex turned in his seat, no longer leaning against the bar. "They told me I could find you here. And that you were traveling with another kid." He looked at Hunter for an explanation. "Who is she?"

The Sergeant took a sip of his drink before answering. "Omega. She's a clone like us."

Rex's eyes widened. A female clone was unheard of, but that would explain why she was considered defective.

"Well, look who it is." Wrecker laughed as he crossed the room to Rex. Althea smiled as she followed him, but Omega stayed back.

"Come here, Rex." The demo man picked up Rex in a spine crushing hug.

The Captain strained a grunt. "Yeah. Good to see you too, Wrecker."

Once he was set down, Althea moved to grab Rex's hand in an informal handshake. Rex returned it. "Good to see you, kid. You still taking care of these guys?"

Althea flashed a crooked smile as she pulled away. "Yes, sir. Especially Wrecker."

"I thought you didn't like regs." Said Omega, confusion clear in her tone.

"This one we like." Wrecker told her, giving Rex a slap on the back.

"Omega, this is Rex." Said Hunter.

Rex walked over to the girl, kneeling to her level. "I've met many clones in my time, but never one like you."

Omega leaned closer, squinting at his features. Rex tensed and glanced side to side, unsure of what to do.

"You're a generation one." Omega said finally.

Rex smiled. "Now how'd you know that?"

"From the lines on your face."

Rex couldn't help but chuckle at her bluntness. "Yeah, I guess I've been around."

"You got that right." Wrecker laughed. He groaned suddenly, clutching his head. "Thea, I need one of those med patches."

The medic frowned. "You used the last one. I might have something back at the ship, but it won't be as strong."

Rex stood and faced him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Said the demo man. "It's just a headache."

"Which are becoming more frequent." Echo addressed.

Rex's stance became defensive as he moved ever so slightly in front of the girls. "Is that so?"

"If you're concerned about the so-called inhibitor chips, don't be." Tech said with a quick adjustment of his goggles. "Our deviant nature appears to have impeded their functionality. Except in Crosshair."

Rex narrowed his eyes. "You're telling me you haven't removed your chips?" His voice was dangerously low.

"No, not yet." Tech answered.

The Captain moved his cloak and reached for his blaster, his hand hovering above it as he stayed in front of Althea and Omega.

Hunter hopped down from his seat. "Rex?"

"Those chips make you a threat to everyone around you. Even them." He gestured to the girls behind him, both wide eyed. "You're all ticking time bombs."

Hunter risked a step forward, holding his hands up as if he was calming a wild animal. "Take it easy, Captain."

"What's in your head is more dangerous than you can imagine." Rex continued. Something flashed in his eyes. It was the look of someone who had seen the true horrors of war. "I've seen what happens when the chip activates, and I don't want to bury any more of our brothers. Trust me. It is not something you can control. I couldn't." 

He glanced away, only for a moment, then he was trained back on the rogue clones. "It's a risk you do not want to take."

Hunter looked at Rex. There was something feral in that man's eyes, something that said he wouldn't hesitate to shoot every one of them if their chips went off.

His gaze shifted to the girls. Omega looked to him with worry, asking him with her soft brown irises if Rex was right and if he could fix it. But Althea's expression was not something Hunter expected. He had assumed the young medic would be in a defensive position, ready to stop Rex if he grabbed his blaster.

But instead, Althea's golden eyes shone with fear. She looked at Hunter and Rex, conflicted on what to do. She wasn't scared Rex would attack her family, but of something deeper. Hunter could see how she looked at him with uncertainty, as if she didn't know if she could trust him. 

The Sergeant decided he couldn't risk it. Rex was right, they were all just waiting to snap. Hunter would never hurt the girls, but if he was being controlled....

"How do you suggest we get them out?" He asked.

Rex relaxed instantly. "Good question. I'll be in touch."

                        •°•°•°•°•°•°•

Wrecker bounced his knee nervously as he clutched his head. Tech and Omega were working on a device. Well, Tech was, but Omega was ready to help. Althea was packing her medical supplies, grabbing everything she could fit in her bag. She had never preformed surgery before and, while she knew she had help, it was making her nervous.

"I-I don't like this plan." Wrecker said standing up to pace.

"We agreed to meet Rex on Bracca." Hunter said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "That's what we're doing."

"He wants to cut open my head." The demo man argued, pressing a finger to his skull.

"All our heads actually." Tech reminded him.

"Not ours." Omega gestured to herself and Althea. "We don't have inhibitor chips."

Wrecker stared at the blonde. It was obvious that Althea didn't have one, but Omega was a clone too. "Why not? Now, that's not fair."

Hunter looked over at Tech's device. "How's the chip scanner coming?"

Tech stood, taking his invention. "Since Rex's chip was removed, I am able to establish a baseline by comparing his brain scan to ours. Allowing for the detection of any cellular anomaly."

Althea took her bag and stood, forcing her nerves away. "He means it's almost finished."

"Do we really have to do this?" Wrecker asked once again.

"If Rex is sure, we should trust him." Hunter said. He would not put any of his squad at risk, especially the girls.

The surface of Bracca was covered in the corpses of Star Cruisers. Rust was the only color around, save for the greyish blue of the sky.

"What is this place?" Omega asked as the Marauder flew over the surface.

"A starship graveyard." Hunter answered. The girl jumped to try and get a better view, causing the Sergeant to move his hand to her shoulder.

"I'm picking up Rex's beacon." Said Echo. He landed the ship on a metal surface. As they exited, Rex walked up to meet them, no longer wearing his cloak.

"Right on time." He said as him and Hunter shook hands.

"How's a junk planet gonna help us?" Wrecker asked annoyed.

Rex donned his helmet. "Follow me."

They followed suit, everyone putting their helmets on, Althea her mask, and following the Captain. 

"Bracca may not be much to look at," Explained Rex. "But it has exactly what we need." He pointed to a ship in the distance. "I had my chip removed on a Jedi cruiser just like that. That's where we're heading."

"Then why'd we land all the way over here?" Wrecker asked.

"Everyone down!" Hunter ordered suddenly. They obeyed, even Rex. They had all leaned to never question Hunter's senses, for they were always right.

"That's why." Said Rex as a tiny craft flew over them.

Tech pulled down his visor. "It's the Scrapper Guild "

"They control this planet." Rex confirmed. "We need to keep out of sight from their patrols. Let's move."

                       •°•°•°•°•°•°•

As they walked to the cruiser, Althea found herself wringing her bag strap in her hands. She could barely focus on the conversation ahead of her, barely catching Wrecker make a joke about Rex's age. 

She knew that there would be equipment to help with the surgery, but she was no surgeon. She knew that Tech would be there to help her every step of the way, but what if she screwned up? Althea was going to be digging into their brains. One wrong move or mistep and their lives were at risk.

The medic had reset bones, gave stitches to bleeding wounds, and even stopped bleeding with her bare hands and nothing else. But she wasn't sure if she could do this. She couldn't lose another family.

They came do a dark corridor. Wires and other random pieces of the ship jutted out of the walls. Rex led them until a steep drop off stop their trek, dark water below. "The medical bay's at the other end." Said the Captain. "Wrecker, grab that cable."

The demo man lifted the heavy cord. "This? W-Why? W-What are you gonna do with it?"

                           •°•°•°•

Rex kept his hand under Omega's back as she reached the last part of the climb. "Nicely done." He said as she hopped down.

The entirety of the team had climbed across the chasm using a cable, all but Wrecker. Althea looked across the gap and found him. "You're up, Wrecker!"

"Uh... Yeah, my head doesn't hurt anymore." The demo man lied. "I'm fine. You guys go one without me."

"You can do it." Omega shouted encouragingly. "Just keep your eyes on the cable."

Wrecker groaned before climbing on. The cable shifted from holding his weight. "Whoa!" He climbed some more and it shifted again, sliding him to the center. "Whoa! That was close." 

The cable broke. Wrecker screamed as he fell. The cable wrapped around his ankle, grabbing him before he fell in the water.

"Are you alright?" Rex shouted down.

"No! It smells awful down here!" Wrecker could be heard gagging, but at least he was safe.

Or not.

Something bubbled beneath the surface. "What's that?" Omega asked, fear evident in her voice.

"Wrecker, start climbing." Hunter ordered.

"Why?"

"Hurry!" Althea shouted.

Tentacles grabbed at Wrecker, their owner roaring under the water. The demo man tried his best to climb up, but the creature was too strong.

"Grab the cable." Hunter ordered. "Get him up." Everyone started to pull him up, Omega keeping an eye on him.

"Faster!" Wrecker screamed. "Pull faster!"

More tentacles grabbed him, pulling him under the water.

"Wrecker!" Rex shouted.

The surface bubbled and Wrecker resurfaced, grabbing the cable. Althea and Echo started to shoot the tentacles and the mouth that appeared as Wrecker made a mad scramble up the cable.

Once he was up, everyone slumped against each other panting. "What was that?" Wrecker asked between breaths.

"Makes you miss battling clankers, doesn't it?" Asked Rex.

Wrecker let out a groan. "Yeah."

                          •°•°•°•

Rex and Tech lifted the rusty door to the medical center. Rats squeaked as the darted into the walls. "This will do nicely." The Captain said as he took off his helmet.

Tech ran his fingers along the wall, scraping up a decent amount of rust. "I would no longer call this medical bay a sterile environment." He looked to Althea, hoping she would agree with him.

The young medic just shrugged. "I've seen worse."

"Do you prefer to use the facility on Kamino?" Rex asked.

"This will do nicely." Tech agreed.

Echo took of off his helmet and walked over to a large machine. "I'll calibrate the surgical pod.

As the machine whirred to life, Wrecker sat on the bed. "Time to get scanned, Wrecker." Tech said as he prepped his device.

"Let's get this over with." The demo man groaned.

Hunter took everyone's gear and began to set it down. He took off his own helmet as Omega walked over. "Hunter," She said as she set her bow down. "Just because the surgery worked on Rex, doesn't mean it's safe."

"It's more dangerous to leave their inhibitor chips in." Rex said from behind her.

Hunter nodded. "We have to do this. It's worth the risk."

"And what if something goes wrong?" Omega asked. "Me and Thea won't have anyone."

Hunter's gaze softened at the curly haired girl. She was scared, and he needed to make it right. He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "We're not going anywhere, Omega. You're stuck with us for the long run. Got it?"

The girl nodded, a small smile on her face. Hunter reflected her smile, but that faded when a clattering noise grabbed his attention.

Althea was picking up the contents of her bag. She must have dropped it. But her movements are jerky and shakey. Hunter frowned. This wasn't like her.

He stood and walked over to her. "You alright, kiddo?" He asked.

She flinched at his voice, like she hadn't realized he had walked over. Althea picked up her bag, squeezing the strap nervously. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Hunter looked at her, silently demanding the truth. 

Althea bit her lip. "I'm about to do surgery. What if I screw it up?" She swallowed hard. "I can't lose another family." She added quietly.

Hunter felt his heart twist at her words. It was so similar to Omega, yet so completely different. Omega was scared of losing them, the only family she had ever had. But Althea was scared failing to save them and watching her family die all over again.

"Kiddo," Hunter said softly. "I know you can do this."

"And if I can't?" Althea's voice was barely audible.

Hunter took his hand and held her head, giving her neck a comforting squeeze. "Then you'll march down to hell and drag our sorry selves back. Or did I train you differently?" He smirked slightly.

The girl chuckled. "No, I would do that."

Hunter smiled, running his thumb across her cheek gently. "Atta girl."

Rex watched as Hunter interacted with the girls. The tracker had definitely changed since he last saw them, but not in a bad way. He was more patient and shared a bond with each of the girls. It was obvious in the way he spoke to them. It reminded Rex of Cut.

A sudden beeping turned everyone's attention to Tech. "I think I found something." He said. "90 degrees from his right orbital floor, below the parietal and temporal intersection–"

"Get that thing away from me." Wrecker took off the scanner on his head, shoving it into Tech's hands. He groaned, clutching his head.

Omega rested her hand atop his. "Something's not right." She said.

"We need to speed this up." Rex said.

Tech pressed a few buttons on the pod, prepping it. Althea stood by him, her bag on the floor as she helped Tech get ready.

"You boys got lucky." Rex said to Hunter. "Very few clones were immune to the effects of Order 66. It's rare."

Hunter nodded. "When the regs attacked the Jedi on Kaller, we didn't understand why. We couldn't save the General, but at least we helped the Padawan escape."

Wrecker groaned, clutching his head even tighter. Althea handed Tech the anesthesia shot, a frown on her face as she listened to Wrecker's pain.

"Relax," Tech said as he prepped the shot. "This won't hurt a bit."

Wrecker grabbed his wrist suddenly. He stood and grabbed Tech's throat. "Wrecker." He choked out.

Althea gasped and took a step back. Wrecker glared up at his brother. "You're in direct violation of Order 66." He threw Tech into the wall, sending him crumpling to the ground. He grabbed a blaster as Althea ran away.

Hunter grabbed Omega, holding her as everyone ducked behind scrap metal. Rex tried to stun Wrecker, but the crazed demo man knocked the blaster out his his hands.

"He'll destroy the equipment if we don't get him out of here." Said Echo.

"You're all traitors!" Wrecker bellowed.

"We'll draw him out." Said Hunter. "Omega, Thea, stay with Tech." He grabbed a cylinder filled with a smokey substance, throwing it a Wrecker. The demo man coughed as his vision was blinded.

Hunter, Echo, and Rex ran out into the hall, distracting Wrecker so the girls could check Tech. Althea ran over to her intelligent brother, Omega by her side. "Is he okay?" The blonde asked.

The ebony haired girl checked over Tech. He was still breathing and had no signs of injury other than the bruise forming on his cheek. "He'll be okay."

Sound of a struggle came in. Althea looked to the door. She knew what she needed to do. She stood, grabbing her blaster. "Stay here."

Omega's eyes widened. "Althea, don't!" She grabbed the medic's arm to stop her, but they walked out together.

They found Wrecker choking out Hunter in the hall. "Come on, Wrecker." He strained. "Snap out of it."

"All clones in violation of Order 66 shall be terminated." He said. Hunter had never looked so scared.

Althea steeled her nerves and shot over Wrecker's shoulder. He looked at her and Omega before slamming Hunter's head into the wall. The Sergeant crumpled to the ground, but Althea couldn't help him, not when Wrecker was after her and Omega.

Althea and Omega ducked into another med bay, hiding behind a piece of scrap metal as Wrecker searched for them. Althea held Omega close to her, doing her best to protect the girl. 

But it was no use. Wrecked flung away the metal they hid behind. Althea aimed her blaster with a shaking hand.

"This isn't you, Wrecker." Omega said. "It's the inhibitor chip."

The demo man towered above them. "Conspiring with traitors makes you guilty of treason."

Althea's finger neared the trigger. "Please, stop. I don't wanna hurt you."

Wrecker smacked the pistol out of her hand, taking his own blaster and aiming it at them.

"We're your friends." Omega said, tears rimming her eyes.

Wrecker's hands shook. "Good soldiers follow orders."

Althea grabbed Omega, shielding the girl from the initial fire that was sure to come. She held the girl's curls in her hand, doing whatever it took to protect her.

A sudden stun brought Wrecker to the ground. Althea looked behind her to see Rex leaning against the door, panting and holding a blaster.

                              •°•°•°•

Tech and Althea worked furiously at the controls of the surgical pod. Rex and Echo stood to the side. "Is it supposed to take this long?" Asked the ARC.

"I'm not sure." Said Rex. "I've never been on this side of it before."

Althea tapped a few more buttons. "It's done." She said as the bed shifted so Wrecked was out of the pod.

Omega smiled and shook him. "Wrecker." When he didn't respond she shook him harder. "Wrecker! She turned back to Althea and Tech. "He should be awake by now."

Althea felt her heart stop. She failed. Tech looked down at the screen. "He is alive, but his vitals have not yet stabilized." He looked over and saw Althea's expression. He tapped her hand lightly, giving her fingers a light squeeze. "We won't know anything until he regains consciousness."

Rex walked over to Hunter. "This could be a while. Why don't you take Omega topside and get some air." He knew Althea wouldn't leave until Wrecker was awake. It must have been a medic thing, because Kix would do the same thing.

"No." Omega said at Rex's words. "I'm staying until he wakes up." She brought a chair up to the bedside, waiting for something none of them were sure would even happen.

                            •°•°•°•°•

Omega awoke to the feeling of someone running their hand through her hair. She looked up to see Wrecker smiling weakly at her. "Hey, kid. Why....why the long face?"

"He's awake!" Omega said brightly, waking up everyone else. Althea rubbed her eyes from where she leaned on the console. 

Tech sat up immediately, as if he was never asleep. "Oh. You made it."

Hunter rested his hand on Wrecker's shoulder. "Welcome back."

Rex held the device in his hand. "One chip down. Three to go. Who's next?"

The rest of the surgeries went faster, everyone waking up within an hour. Althea stuck a bandage into Tech's head. "There." She said softly.

Hunter placed a hand on her shoulder, his own bandage barely visible under his bandana. "You did good, kiddo."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, looks like I didn't have to march down to hell for you."

Hunter smiled, but his eyes were sad. "Yeah, well we've been through enough of that for one day."

Althea's eyes were drawn to where Omega was beginning to pack up her things. She walked over an joined her, readying her bag. The girls shared a smile, but neither of them were expecting to feel someone's hand on their shoulders.

They turned to see Wrecker as he kneeled to Omega's level. "Listen, Thea, Omega. About what happened..." Omega cupped his face in her hand. "I...I tried to control it. I tried as hard as I could. I just couldn't make it stop."

Althea rested her hand on his shoulder. "We know, Wrecker. It's okay."

"But still...I...I'm sorry." He looked so guilty, like he felt he would never be forgiven.

Omega pulled away from him, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a handful of Mantell Mix. "The mission's over." She said.

Althea smiled. "We can't break tradition."

Wrecker smiled at them. "Thanks, guys."

The three of them sat there munching on day old pocket Mantell Mix. Nothing could have been better.

Outside, Hunter found Rex scheduling a rendezvous. "I figured you weren't out of the fight just yet." He said.

The Captain sighed. "I spent my life fighting for the Republic. Can't stop now."

"The Republic's gone, Rex."

The Captain smiled. "Ah, not all of it. We're here. Others are out there too. Your squad's skills would be a tremendous asset."

"Things aren't like before." Hunter said. "Our priorities have shifted."

"So I've noticed."

There was something about the glimmer in Rex's eyes that told Hunter all he needed to know. "Omega needs us, and I have to do what's best for my squad."

"Which is what?"

"I'm still figuring that out."

Rex nodded. "I guess we all are. When you sort things out, let me know where you land. Tell the boys I'll see them around, and tell Althea she's become a fine medic." He held out his hand to shake.

Hunter took it, nodding. "Stay out of trouble."

Rex smirked. "Funny. I was gonna say the same to you. Well..." He pulled away and put on his helmet. "Take care, trooper."

He walked away, but Hunter stopped him. "Captain,"

Rex turned, ready to listen.

"If you're ever in a bind, you know how to reach us."

Rex nodded, saying a silent goodbye before disappearing into the fog. Hunter watched him go, he had definitely been around General Skywalker a long time.

Don't forget to comment an art piece ❤

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[thecleverqueer]

Today's "Ahsoka Being Gay" moment comes from S7:E6 of The Clone Wars "Deal No Deal"

This episode picks up after Trace and Ahsoka's date on the Warf. It starts off with them talking about their past with each other while working on Trace's ship. The banter is flirty. They’re flirting in this scene.

Afterwards, Ahsoka mentions that her life is a big mess so she just wants to be alone for a bit (oh Barriss, get out of her head). Trace begs Ahsoka to stay, and Ahsoka agrees to as long as Rafa is cool with it. Rafa walks in and indicates that she has a job that she needs Trace's help on, so they get ready to set off on an adventure, but first... Rafa gives Ahsoka a shovel talk.

This is the dialogue verbatim:

Rafa: You show up outta nowhere, then suddenly you and my sister are inseparable. What are you after?

Ahsoka: Excuse me?!

Rafa: Come on. Everyone plays an angle. I don't mind except when it involves Trace. So tell me. What are you after? Her mech bay? Her ship?

Ahsoka: I don't have an angle. Unless maybe to keep you both out of trouble.

Rafa: Hmm. You ever thought you might be the trouble that she needs to stay away from?

Ahsoka just sort of sighs and rolls her eyes.

Look. I've honestly tried my BEST to come up with a heterosexual explanation for this conversation, but... on God, there is none.

Anyway, they depart. Ahsoka and Trace give each other a cutesy little flirty glance as Trace takes off.

We soon learn that Rafa has made a deal to smuggle drugs. And, they go to Kessel to pick them up. Ahsoka isn't pleased.

Ahsoka is basically like, "Babe, this is dangerous." Trace thinks that she can manage.

Can we just stop right here for a moment and appreciate the fact that after Ahsoka leaves the Jedi, the first thing she does is smuggle f*&^ing drugs across the galaxy with her rebound girlfriend? Jesus, Dave. Goddamn.

Here's another ambiguous, not-at-all gay glance between Trace and Ahsoka as they're loading spice on the ship.

So, turns out, Rafa has made a deal to drop this said spice off with the Pyke Syndicate, and this sets Ahsoka off into a panic. She realizes that this shit has gone from bad to way worse, and she alarms Trace to the point that Trace and Rafa start fighting. Ahsoka intervenes by stepping in between them, grabbing Trace and standing hella close to her until she calms down.

The oxytocin probably saves Rafa's life. Then, Ahsoka and Rafa start arguing. While this is happening, Trace gets this hare-brained idea to just dump the spice. That way, she doesn't have to chose her sister’s or her girlfriend's side in their argument. Both Ahsoka and Rafa are floored...

Rafa points to Ahsoka and Trace and says, "Oh you two are just a pair, that's for sure” once again implying that there’s “something” going on between the two of them (that neither Trace nor Ahsoka denies).

Rafa suggests that they sell off Trace's ship to pay off the Pykes, but Ahsoka comes up with another idea. She tries a Jedi mind trick on the Pykes to convince them to give the Martez sisters the money while leaving them with empty drug crates. Ahsoka and Trace share yet another unspoken, suggestive glance as they walk off.

They think it's going to work. But, of course it doesn't. The Pykes are drug lords, and the episode ends with them getting captured.

Side note: This arc right here is by far the gayest arc of them all, and it clearly stems off of the Barriss incident, which only serves to make that whole thing gayer too. It's like a gay spiral.

[rancidjuno]

You asked for Clone Wars headcannons. In season 7 the Martez sisters described how their parents were killed, how Luminara accidentally caused their deaths while preventing a greater tragedy. My HC is that Barriss was with her and seeing that was an important step along her road to radicalization.

Ooooo okay interesting

I read a really good post about this ages ago about this interaction, and while the impact of that event was obviously TERRIBLE of the Martez sisters I don’t think Luminara *intended* to come off so callously. Barriss also being there would be interesting—I suppose Barriss does understand this kind of loss far more than Luminara can because her formative years have literally been during a war, she fears loss of those she cares about more acutely because 1) she’s barely more than a child and 2) because it’s so much more likely to happen that it would have been for Luminara at that age.

And she probably knows that Luminara is doing her best. She did what she had to do—people were going to die anyway, she didn’t really have a choice. But she also knows that two young girls who’ve lost their parents aren’t going to see it like that, they can’t have the objective view that a Jedi Master can. I suppose it could be the first time she sees people they’re supposed to serve dislike Jedi, and she can’t even blame them for it. She can’t really blame Luminara either, not personally, because how *could* she understand? But it could make her question the perception of Jedi in general.

Sorry haha Luminara Unduli is my favourite Jedi so I think about her SO MUCH

[majorshiraharu]

Always there for you - Martez Sisters Fic

Celebration of Star Wars POC 

------------------------------------- Summary: After not being able to spend much time with each other lately the Martez sisters decide to cook food together and cut each others hair, happy to be spending time together and enjoying things they did as kids. -------------------------------------

"Trace?!" Rafa called out, walking through the hanger of their shop, "Trace, where are you?" 

"Right here why?" Trace replied walking out from behind a ship she was repairing, accidentally scaring her sister, "Ahhh! Trace why'd you do that?" "Do what?"  "Scare me like that." "I didn't mean too, -- but it was funny." Rafa pretended like she was bothered by her sisters joking - but after a moment laughed along with her, pulling her in for a side hug as she rubbed her hand through Trace's hair. "Hey," Trace grumbled trying to escape her sisters grasp. "Your hair is gettin' messy sister."  "So is yours!" Rafa runs her hand over her own head feeling how much her hair had grown in, no longer the nice smooth shave it had just a few weeks ago. "We can cut each other's hair again, it's always so much fun to do and it's been a while since we've gotten a chance," Trace said as her expression changed now looking sadder, Rafa had been away a lot more lately doing odd jobs and out trying to find business for their mechanic shop. Thanks to her efforts the shop had a steady stream of work, almost too much for Trace to keep up with despite her plentiful energy and enthusiasm for her work. "I would love too," Rafa replied placing a reassuring hand on her sister's shoulder, "Let's go home, Trace, we can cook some food and cut our hair."  "Sounds like a plan!" Rafa slides her arm across Trace's shoulder pulling her close as they walked home. ------- Rafa took off her coat hanging it off the back of her chair as she walked over to the kitchen counter. Pulling out some ingredients and setting them to the side of the stove, Trace brings over a pan handing it to her sister. "Why don't you go clean up and change out of that umm work clothes and I'll get started on the cooking."  "Awww but helping you is fun." "Well then be quick, I’ll just prep the stuff."  "Got it, I'll be back in a flash!" Trace said running off to the refresher. Rafa cuts up veggies setting them aside on a plate to add in later, as the rice cooks in the pot, -- not long after Trace runs back into the kitchen in her comfy clothes ready to help. 

"The rice is almost finished, throw in the veggies," Rafa said pointing at the plate at the back of the counter. Trace grabs the plate throwing the veggies into the cooking rice after gently mixing it, - once it finishes cooking they throw it all into the pan adding seasoning and some leftovers, this was something their mother always did when they were younger, the food was similar but always tasted special. They fill their bowls and sit down, catching up with each other, talking about the shop, their parents, and how they were doing. It was important to Rafa to always know how her sister felt, hoping that despite being the only family she had left that she knew that they would always be there for each other. After the sisters finished their food, taking extra time to indulge and enjoy the flavorful meal, they get up, cleaning off their dishes, and putting away the extra food for the next day. "So can we cut each other's hair now?!" Trace asked with a wide smile and bright eyes.  "Yes," Rafa replied walking to the refresher, finding the clippers and a towel, "You first Trace." Trace grabs a small stool and sits down watching in the mirror as her sister started to cut her hair, making sure to leave the lovely curls in the center, - she leans down intently looking over each area brushing at it with her hand before standing up straight again, "All done, how's it look?" "I love it, you always do such a great job, thank you!" She replied giving her sister a big hug, "Now it's your turn!" Taking the clippers from her sister as Rafa sat down pulling the towel across her shoulders and combing her section of hair to one side, "Now remember Trace don't cut that part," she said pointing at the section.  "Aw I did that once, it was an accident, I promised it wouldn't happen again," Trace mumbled making her sister laugh. "I know I know, but as your sister, I'm required to tease you about it."  "Very funny, but being bald did suit you though." "Trace!"  "I won't! I promise." "Thank you." Trace bends down slightly to get a better angle, turning on the clippers and carefully moving them around Rafa's head, shaving off the one side completely before moving on to the back of the head. She lifts up the sectioned part of hair, making sure to avoid it as she shaved under it, to just the length Rafa liked. Happy with her work she stands up, turning off the clippers and putting them to the side before leaning back down to loop her arms around her sister, "So what do you think?" "Another wonderful cut Trace, thank you, and thank you for not shaving it off." Both of the sisters laughed helping each other clean up the hair, sweeping up the floor, and putting everything back in its place. "I'm going to go pick out a film for us to watch tonight, it's been a while since we've gotten to do that." "Trace, you have to work tomorrow and so do I, it's already pretty late, we should get ready and go to sleep."  "Pleeeeease, Rafa, please I'll do your chores for a week, I just want to relax and watch a film like we use too." "Okay, but make sure it's not a super long one, I'll get ready while you pick one out."

"Yes!" Trace shouted jumping in the air before running off to find a film. -- Rafa sits down on the bed scooting back to lean against the wall as Trace turned on the film, the holoscreen lights up the otherwise dimly lit room as Trace crawls onto the bed. Grabbing some covers and pillows from the corner to put behind their backs, throwing the cover over her and her sister as they got ready to watch the film. Not even halfway through the movie Trace fell asleep, her head falling onto Rafa's shoulder, -- "Sleep well Trace," Rafa whispered leaning her head against her sisters’ as she too fell asleep, the sound of the movie fading as she dosed off. She missed days like this, they didn't happen often anymore but she treasured every moment of it.

[nekonika]

TBB - Hunter Analysis

I appreciate how the writers didn’t make TBB perfect main characters. 

Throughout the show, TBB subtly reminds the audience that The Bad Batch are only human.

In terms of Hunter, he represents a character that is silently going through an internal struggle of what is the right thing to do when faced with change. 

No one is perfect. Hunter is only human - like us. Hunter makes mistakes - like us. Question is however- will he also learn from his mistakes- like us? Probably! Hopefully we get to see Hunter and the team grow and change for the better...but for him, it won’t happen overnight as we’ve seen so far. 

What we’re deprived of is Hunter’s true thoughts- we’re only given some dialogue and his actions throughout. We can speculate. The question for Hunter in this season really being- what is the right thing to do? From defecting from the only place he’s been born to serve, leaving his brother, protecting/leading his squad, caring for a child, being a mercenary-  from a guy that was simply just a soldier on the battlefield going from mission to mission- he suddenly has all these problems weighing on his shoulders.

Realistically, for someone who formerly only had the simple mindset of serving the Republic, I’d imagine not all of Hunter’s decisions will be the right one going forward. We’ve seen throughout the show his struggle to make the right decisions for his team- some examples ranging from 

Saving the padawan in episode 1- “I did what I thought was right.”

Defecting from the Empire 

Leaving Crosshair behind

Giving away Omega to Cut and Suu as he thought it would best keep her safe 

Taking on the job as mercenaries to stay undercover for the safety of his team

Giving the data rod to the Martez sisters because he believes they’ll do something right with it 

Removing their chips on Bracca 

Reluctantly deciding to take the job to help Separatists- the enemy they have been formerly fighting against

Only deciding to help Hera save her parents on Ryloth after presented with a strategy and a little lecture from Omega 

Hunter has been pretty uptight on his decisions for the team, but as the show continues, we see that Hunter is willing to bend the rules and orders to do what’s right if prodded with solid reasoning. However, one topic remains mostly untouched- Crosshair. Hunter will probably be given another decision to make soon, as the fated reunion is inevitable. Question is, will Hunter make the same decision again or will he change after this whole time? (specifically after the events of Episode 12?) 

A message the writers may be trying to get at through Hunter is that it’s the tough reality in life that sometimes we’re wrong in making decisions we thought would best help others. And that’s okay, as long as we learn from them and do the right thing. Which we have yet to hopefully see with the topic of Hunter deciding to get back Crosshair. (if the writers decide to go down this route) 

It may take a while, but in having The Bad Batch (or specifically Hunter) have this conflict, it opens the storytelling doors to how someone with this struggle in the galaxy navigate themselves. It’s how they grow and learn going forward. 

As the audience- we feel the anguish, the frustration, and the discomfort of things not going right through our focus on the main characters. Such as why isn’t Crosshair back with his family already? Why isn’t Hunter going after him, he’s his brother... We’ve seen change happen for everyone else so far in this show, but what about our main group? It seems TBB has been in this grey area this whole time, still trying to figure out where they stand... Specifically Hunter, on where they will stand.

We’re really getting in touch with these characters and expecting more and more out of them, growing antsy over why things aren’t getting fixed sooner. It’s building up to the point where the audience want something done- and I believe the writers know this, and want to make the conclusion all the more impactful. If the writers dragged this out on purpose for this result, well they sure got us hook, line and sinker.

Now the main question remains on what Hunter’s resolve will be, and his final decision on what side he chooses. I’m just enjoying the ride as so far this show has been a blast :) I have my reservations for other topics but I’m holding them off until the show is finished... and if a second season is confirmed (pls fingers crossed)

Shoutout to @moonstrider9904′s post for getting my gears turning in my head ^-^’ 

[karlyanalora]

Fox's Kits

Prompt: Day 6 Caring

Warnings: Implied deaths

Relationships: Fox & Rebel Pilots

Characters: Commander Fox, Trace Martez, Rafa Martez

Summary: Pilots are odd creatures and Fox feels for the young ones, so new to war. He does his best to help. (A potential future scene in Speak for the Silent.)

Fox counts helmets.

It’s an old habit, one he’s loathe to give up. It lets him know how many are leaving, how many came back, and sometimes who’s missing without waiting for the report. And despite the fact these aren’t his men -they’re Cody’s, Rex’s, Wolffe’s, or some other commander’s- he finds himself counting anyway.

The Rebel pilots were helmets too. He finds himself counting them as well. The Rebellion is still new and they’ve yet to have any ground battles, but plenty happen among the stars. Far too often the pilots, nat-born and clone alike, come back a helmet or two short.

The nat-borns take it the hardest. It makes sense, them not being soldiers and all. But they keep going out to fight. Fox watches as young pilots suck in a breathe, hold in their tears, and go to personally let a clone’s closest vode know that he won’t be coming back. The vode hold each other close, but all too often there’s no one to comfort the young nat-born pilots.

Fox follows them to their bunks, their hiding places, or sometimes to the med bay. He offers a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, and whatever else they might need. Pilots are an odd bunch, he learns. Every pilot is part of an intergalactic family it seems, friendships striking up quickly and holding true. And yet so many are alone, with no one from their old life left.

Their wing brothers and sisters are often all they have, and the younger ones take their deaths hard.

Fox counts their helmets, remembers the dead, and comforts the living.

Fox doesn’t know who started it, but soon the Rebels and vode refer to young pilots as “Fox’s kits”. He doesn’t bother to dissuade them. Once his brothers get a nickname stuck in their heads, there’s no getting it out. And as long as the clones say it, the rebels will too.

Still, it catches him off guard when Trace calls him dad.

It catches Rafa off guard too. But then she starts calling him “old man”, which is the Rafa equivalent of dad. The other young pilots start doing it too and Fox feels like he’s forty years old instead of thirteen. Fenn Rau and the other Protectors find it hilarious and start giving him dad advice. Every time someone calls him dad, Fox feels the overwhelming responsibility to take care of said pilot and he swears he gets a gray hair. He gets three when Fenn calls him “Grandpa” for different reasons.

Still, as he watches his kits get out of their ships and counts their helmets, finding them all there, he wouldn’t trade it for the galaxy.

@loving-fox-hours

[simplysummers]

is tbb racist

Hi anon.

Uhm. Please forgive me here, I am most likely not the best person to be asking this, since I’m delirious on pain meds the majority of the time at the moment, but I will do my best to answer truthfully and appropriately.

As I don’t know the nature of this question (as I have a lot of non-star wars people who follow me), I will address that directly, TBB doesn’t show active themes of racism in the writing, we don’t see any of the characters being prejudice against others due to the colour of their skin/race. So the show themes itself are not, in my opinion at least. (Please let me know if I missed anything in that regard) Essentially here I’m saying the characters themselves are not racist.

However

There are a lot of issues surrounding the animation of not only the bad batch, but the clone wars too. (It’s a lot more prominent in the bad batch due to characters like Tech, Crosshair and Omega.)

The characters, who are supposed to be clones of Jango Fett (see below.) are predominantly whitewashed. Jango Fett’s actor is Temuera Morrison (an incredible actor btw.) who is both a New Zealander and descends of the Māori/Polynesian New Zealand settlers (I think I have that right.) however, as I’ve stated below, so many of these clones don’t mirror these racial heritages, and as a result, are whitewashed and erasing his culture from the SW media.

Like I said, I am not as well versed in the topic as some might be, but I completely support the “UnWhiteWashTheBadBatch” movement. It is ridiculous we are forced to believe that these people-

-are supposed to be clones of this man.

That in itself is inherently racist.

Alongside this, there have also been multiple accounts of problematic themes and unjust animation throughout the show, regarding prioritising POC as imperial ‘villains’, and other characters such as Fennec Shand, Saw Gerrera, the Martez Sisters, and other clones such as Howzer and Rex.

Below I’m going to tag some helpful links that really helped to enlighten me and get me involved in the subject, and if anybody else happens to have anything extra to add to aide anybody who might find this post, please feel free to reblog/reply.

I actually took part in this form/questionnaire when it was released! Very insightful!

I hope this post was insightful enough to remind everybody to never look past these issues. They are extremely important and should never be silenced. The fact we have such amazing people fighting this cause is a gift, if only we now had animators/directors/people on the tbb team willing to listen.

Awareness is always appreciated.

[missshezz]

So, I decided to do something new this week in regards to watching Bad Batch: I skipped the Omega scenes. That way I don’t get annoyed and can avoid upsetting those who take offense with my annoyance.

Win-Win, right?

Lemme start by saying that skipping those scenes made the episode exactly what it should be: focused solely on the actual Bad Batch (who Omega is NOT one of, sorry to rain on your parade).

The episode was honestly great once I employed this tactic. We finally get scenes showing the Empire’s tactics in forcing the compliance of planets not already under Imperial regime. Added to that, Raxus served as the headquarters of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars.

Avi Singh doesn’t come across as the typical Separatist. He wants to do what’s best for people but recognizes that what the Empire wants and is about is not the best way. He speaks out against this forced occupation and gets imprisoned for it.

Cue the Bad Batch being hired by Singh’s faithful protocol droid GS-8. I love GS-8. She’s a less neurotic version of 3PO and quite willing to get her robot hands into the mix. Her crack about getting the hang of things made me chuckle. I seriously want her to join the BB as their droid-man (wingman).

This was the BB we know and love. They were the organized and elite squad we met in season 7 of Clone Wars. I love how their ideology is challenged here and they are forced to see how the galaxy isn’t the place they were taught to think it was. The people they were told were the bad guys aren’t exactly the bad guys here. In fact, they’re just regular people.

This was the kind of episode we should be getting more of. There were stakes at play and lessons to learn. We see the BB adapting their techniques and stunning their brothers rather than shooting and killing them.

It was a fantastic episode overall.

Do I still have complaints?

Yes.

Like Echo’s traumas not being given more focus given the person they were hired to extract. This was the perfect time to delve into his head and see what memories are lurking. There’s unresolved trauma here and it felt brushed aside because of “reasons”. Them allowing Echo to simply disclose his thoughts on helping a Separatist would have really solidified that great moment at the end when he tells Singh to live and fight another day. In the writing game we call that character progression. It’s resolving a characters issues by having them work through them.

My other complaint?

The lack of Crosshair.

Again.

Look, folks, I get it. Omega is the center of their universe. She has been since she showed up. Ignoring the flaws of this character and the glaring plot holes her existence creates… her introduction still came at the expense of a major character (who is NOT a cutout character despite what some think).

Crosshair was basically forgotten the moment he was taken from that detention cell in episode 1. It’s always been in the back of my mind how there was never any mention by any of the BB about trying to find him and getting off Kamino.

The only concern and focus really was getting Omega out of there.

Why?

She was never in the danger they were. Lama Su at that point wasn’t wanting to terminate her. Nala Se could easily have persuaded Tarkin to overlook her actions, labeling them as the regrettable actions of a child and deemed them “fixable with reprogramming”.

Crosshair was literally in danger and they never once mentioned helping him.

The only time he is even mentioned as being missed by the team is by Wrecker in the episode with the Martez sisters.

That’s it.

This episode has Hunter issuing orders and instantly replacing Crosshair with Omega.

It doesn’t fly.

Crosshair was their teammate for years.

Omega has been with them for months, if that, at this point.

Years trumps months.

Years in the deepest, darkest trenches. Having each others backs. Planning and executing and completing missions together.

Hunter even reached out to Crosshair in Reunion, further making this neglect woefully painful, frustrating, and abundantly inconsistent.

Look, I love the found family trope. Anyone who knows Batman knows the found family trope is huge in that fandom.

It didn’t happen overnight, though.

There was growth and development that went into the formation of that family. Batman & Robin (Bruce & Dick) didn’t become family in the same comic or cartoon. It happened across multiple comics and episodes. They struggled along the way and became a family eventually. I myself write the found family trope in my works. You see it in my Batman, Prodigal Son, Supernatural, and Walking Dead stories. I don’t sacrifice major characters to create that family. I work characters into the story if they are necessary to that story. That’s what good writers do. You incorporate and adapt. Build your characters around the established ones. Give everyone a chance to shine.

I know my pointing this out upsets folks.

Guess what?

I don’t honestly care.

I watch the Bad Batch for the BAD BATCH.

Here’s another writing tip for you to end this post: if a character or scene can be removed and it strengthens your narrative?

It wasn’t necessary in the first place.

I skipped three scenes and the episode turned out wonderful.

Guess what that means?

That’s right… they weren’t important.

[danielalortega]

— BASICS

Name: Daniela Maria Luisa Marin Ortega  Age / D.O.B.: 30 / 22 August 1990 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Cis Female, She/Her, Straight Hometown: Morris Heights, Bronx, NY Affiliation: Cortázar Cartel  Job position: Waitress Drug Dealer Education: High School Relationship status: Single Children: Hermosa Ortega, Martez Ortega None  Positive traits: Active, Dedicated, Honest, Neat, Objective  Negative traits: Competitive, Angry, Sarcastic, Pessimistic, Cynical

— BIOGRAPHY ( tw for death, drug mention ) 

Daniela was the first born child of Isabel Marin and Luis Diaz. At the time, Isabel and Luis were midway through college, but Isabel dropped out to have her first child. Luis was never truly in the picture for Daniela’s life, though thankfully Isabel’s father helped her raise the child while she went to night school to finish her degree.

By the time Daniela was five, her mother had finished her degree and was working at a small law firm in the Bronx. From an early age, her mother pushed education, wanting the best for her daughter. Daniela a smart kid too and she was the pride and joy of the small Ortega family. When her abuelito was working, Daniela would sit in a corner booth of his diner and color photos, waiting for her mom to get off work. 

Her mother let her join a soccer team when she was eight and Daniela quickly fell in love with the sport. She had always enjoyed watching the sport, but playing it was better. At first she was on a children’s team, but eventually her coach asked her to join a more competitive team. Even at a young age, she had talent and drive to play soccer. 

She was ten years old when her mother married a man named Emilio Ortega. He’d been previously married and had one child of his own already, Hermosa. She was two at the time and suddenly Daniela was an older sister. Her small family was growing and that was important to her. Emilio officially adopted Daniela right when she turned eleven. Four years later, the family welcomed a little boy into the family, Martez. 

It wasn’t long after the baby boy, did Emilio take off. He was struggling with the responsibility of having three children to take care of. It was around then that Daniela started working at the diner with her grandfather to help support the family. 

Daniela was not the smartest student, which was an argument between her and her mother often. Her mom believed Daniela was not trying as hard as she could be, but Daniel struggled in school. She didn’t care about college or education when she only wanted to play soccer. 

By the time she was seventeen, she was playing for both her school soccer team and a competitive travel team. College recruiters were already starting to scout her, wanting to give her a full ride scholarships. Still her mother wanted her to focus on education, not the sport, regardless of what it could give her in terms of education. 

Daniela is not proud of the day her mother died. She’d gotten into a screaming match with her mom and stormed out to take a run. When she came back, an ambulance was outside her home. A heart attack, they said. Dead at the scene. She was barely eighteen and her mother was gone. 

Her abuelito had sold the diner, but Daniela still managed to keep her job. But she needed to find work and quickly, otherwise her siblings would suffer. Thankfully, she knew people from school involved in petty crime. Daniela soon began dealing, specifically for the Cartel, since they ran in her neighborhood. 

Somehow, she managed to graduate high school, but with having to take care of her siblings, Daniela ended up not being able to play soccer, meaning she lost any scholarship or chance she had to play soccer after graduation. Raising two children became her primary goal and the more she started dealing, the harder and harder it became to leave that life behind.  

When Hermosa turned eighteen, she moved out of the house in a rage. She and Daniela had stopped getting along the moment her the second Emilio left. While it always made her sad, she couldn’t do anything about the fact that at barely eighteen, she had to raise two children, not really knowing how to do that in the first place. Daniela hopes some distance from her will give her sister some perspective. 

Daniela still had one more kid to finish raising though. Her younger brother seemed to be cut from much of the same cloth as Daniela and this time, she was determined to let him have the experiences she never had. Daniela doubled down on activity with the cartel, hoping that saving the money her brother would need to be successful after graduating. 

Now that her younger brother is nineteen and moved out and at college, Daniela has slowly started wondering if she ought to back out of the Cartel, but doesn’t really know how to begin doing that. She doesn’t have a college degree of any type and doesn’t have anywhere to go either. This is all she’s known for so long that she doesn’t really know what to do for a living with no education. Maybe her mother was right about that. 

— WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS

a best friend

hook up (daniela doesn’t do relationships) 

people she sells to / frequent customers

competition

fellow soccer lovers (someone to go to games with her)

good influence

people that will go partying with her

[sepublic]

This episode of The Bad Batch I really enjoyed a lot! With Trace and Rafa, there was a bittersweet tinge to their arc in The Clone Wars to me; I was resigned to us never seeing them again, for their story I got invested in to be left up in the open, in the ethereal void and forgotten like so many others... For their story to only serve a purpose in Ahsoka’s arc before their lives are kind of thrown away and disregarded by canon;

BUT NO! We got them back in this show and I am DELIGHTED, and the way things ended, the implication is that they could still return! Not to mention we got fun action and banter, and dynamics- And BATTLE DROIDS HELPING!!!

This truly was everything I wanted to see, coupled with Cid getting them used to missions, that Ithorian and Weequay being fun recurring characters... Omega training! Echo being a mom! Tactical Droids! The teamwork felt great and I loved how Hunter acts like it’s the most obvious thing in the world that he can’t let Rafa get shot, that OF COURSE he has to help, it’s sweet and so is Trace being a bleeding heart and helping out Omega!

I feel the setting and premise of the show where the Bad Batch gets settled on Ord Mantell is coming to fruition, and now the premise can come into play; Bounty hunting is a WIDE variety of tasks, so it’ll really take the Bad Batch around the galaxy, which is great for worldbuilding in regards to the galaxy post-Clone Wars and into the Empire’s transition! I’d say this one of, if not THE best episode so far!

Also, to be petty- I just think it’s fun to imagine nerdbros being enraged at the Martez Sisters returning, I once saw a poll discussing potential characters to return, and I chose the sisters -even though they were meant to be a joke option- both out of spite, but also because I DID want to see them! And unlike characters such as Rex, there was no guarantee of them eventually returning in media, so I wanted that closure, and I got it!

And I want to believe that those reactivated Battle Droids managed to set up a fort of their own at the decommissioning plant, maybe reprogram some of the Police Droids, and will find their own way through the galaxy as a merry army on the run... A lone Separatist Cell trying to survive like the Bad Batch!

[gffa]

I KNOW THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF CONTENTION OVER THIS SCENE, but within the episode itself, so far I’ve actually genuinely liked it a lot, and so much of that comes down to who Rafa Martez is and unreliable narrators in the Star Wars universe. Rafa is a character that I actually like very much, she’s incredibly fun to watch and there’s a heart somewhere in there, but this scene also doesn’t come without context.  She’s a hurt young woman who is not a good influence on her sister, even within this single arc she’s been shown over and over again that she thinks she can handle dealing with the Pykes, she drags Trace into trouble and justifies it, she has to admit by the end that she was wrong. Does this mean her hurt at the lack of what she felt from Luminara wasn’t genuine?  Of course not!  For all that “The Force will be with you.” is incredibly meaningful to Jedi and even within the context of the movies, that blessing is incredibly meaningful.

"The Force will be with you” is important enough that it’s one of the biggest bookends for Luke’s entire journey with the Force, as a Jedi. It’s one of the last things Obi-Wan says to Luke on the Death Star before he dies. It’s one of the last things the Jedi say to Rey on Exegol to help her rise up to defeat Palpatine again. This isn’t an empty platitude to the Jedi, nor within the context of Star Wars as a whole, it’s incredibly touching!  The idea that Luminara saying them to Rafa is empty and cold, on a meta level, is to then also say that Obi-Wan’s words to Luke and Luke’s words to Rey, are empty and cold and meaningless. That Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost wasn’t still there encouraging Luke, that Luke’s Force Ghost wasn’t still there encouraging Rey, and we see those are a huge part of the grandness of Star Wars. THESE WORDS HAVE MEANING TO US AND TO THE JEDI. But that doesn’t mean that Rafa has to take comfort in them, especially as a Force-sensitive, that there is absolutely room for both of these points of view within Star Wars and one does not negate the other.  Rafa doesn’t feel the Force in the same way that Luminara does, even though it’s a demonstrable, provable thing that the Force exists, even though Luminara is giving her something that has meaning to her and to us, Rafa herself can’t do much with it, she can’t find comfort in it. This doesn’t make either one of them bad or wrong!  Luminara’s not great at comforting non-Force-sensitives (nobody is obligated to be good at comforting, this is not some terrible sin), but also the specific use of Luminara does not come without context on how people misjudge her and misinterpret her.

Even Anakin Skywalker, a fellow Jedi misjudges her and what she’s actually saying!  She’s not saying to abandon Barriss--we see her helping, we see the concern on her face, we see her joy at seeing Barriss alive again, we see her praising Anakin’s faith in Ahsoka, even as she maintains that being willing to accept the possibility that they can’t be saved is something Jedi must prepare themselves for. And why’s that important?  Oh, right, because THAT HAPPENED IN THE ARC JUST PREVIOUS TO THIS ONE, TOO.

That is the arc we just watched, where Anakin Skywalker, the character who misjudged Luminara’s heart being prepared to mourn Barriss but let go of her, to celebrate her life, to accept what’s happened to her, is now telling the same exact thing to Rex about Echo. Yes, it’s a moment of irony, considering that we’re this close to Revenge of the Sith and the episodes don’t come without context that Anakin’s basically going to be like “ha ha yeah I’m not absorbing any of my own advice” once he fears Padme’s life is in danger, but it’s still part of the bigger context. --> Luminara’s point isn’t to give up, but that they must accept the possibility that they’ll lose their Padawans --> Anakin’s advice to Rex isn’t that they give up, but that they must accept the possibility that Echo is already gone --> This arc doesn’t exist without context of Revenge of the Sith looming on the horizon --> Luminara being the one to talk to Rafa about the loss of people she cares about does not come without context of all of the above ALL OF THIS TIES TOGETHER. This doesn’t undercut Rafa’s hurt or loss being genuine and valid, but it doesn’t make Luminara wrong, either.  Especially when look at how else Rafa is contextualized within this episode--she’s fun, she’s exciting, that moment in the holding cell is genuine feeling, but how does that scene literally end? With her being willing to sell Ahsoka out to torture, rather than herself.

Ahsoka is defending her, saying the Pykes won’t touch Rafa!  Rafa’s immediate response is, “Yeah!  She’s right!  Take her instead!” and pushes Ahsoka forward. She’s still hilarious, she’s still a blast to watch, but maybe Rafa isn’t the best person and that throws her status as a reliable narrator a lot closer to being an unreliable narrator. So much of her actions clearly come from a place of being hurt, her willingness to do all sorts of shady things, her willingness to drag Trace into all of this, her willingness to overlook the spice that’s going to actively destroy lives, but as long as Rafa gets hers, it’s fine, her willingness to actively sell Ahsoka out or abandon her, is the context of where Rafa is coming from.  Hurt, anger, and selfishness of someone who experienced tragedy and let it color her view. And that is also the source of what she says about Luminara.  Not coming from a place of evil, but of someone who let tragedy color her view of the galaxy and the way she relates to people. I mean, look at how she treats Ahsoka, someone who has constantly been trying to help both her and her sister, that she’s ready to ditch Ahsoka constantly, even when Ahsoka hasn’t even tried to get across the bridge, she’s ready to just ditch her and leave her to the Pykes.

Literally five minutes after the conversation in the cell, we have Ahsoka talking to her about her relatonship with Trace--not just that Rafa drags her sister into these missions without recognizing that Trace really kind of couldn’t say no to her, but specifically in the context of, “Trace would never believe you don’t have her best interests at heart.” Rafa genuinely, clearly cares about Trace!  But Ahsoka is our reliable narrator in this arc and we can trust a lot about what she asks, the points she makes--and she’s pointing out that Rafa is not actually coming from a place of reliability or true care. That she speaks to Rafa with softness, rather than anger, also speaks to that she recognizes Rafa’s hurt, but that doesn’t mean she’s not spot on about how Rafa isn’t actually thinking about Trace, that she’s justifying and rationalizing a lot of things, that Rafa is not the reliable narrator she presents herself as.

And if that weren’t enough, there’s still more!  The way Rafa treats the Gotal who asks her for credits is dismissive and uncaring.  It isn’t that she has to give him money, but the way she tells him to buzz off, the way Rafa treats people in the galaxy (and maybe once upon a time she was a sweet girl, I could easily see that! but now she’s not acting out of an unbiased place, all her actions/words are coming from a place of bias now) DIRECTLY leads to the Gotal telling the Pykes about them. Attitudes towards people and reliability as a narrator have direct consequences even within a single episode!

And, finally, the thing that made me clutch my heart was Ahsoka’s words about why she’s doing what she’s doing, especially as it’s also directly tied to Rafa’s treatment of Trace, that that was the conversation right before this moment: “In my life, when you find people who need your help, you help them, no matter what.”

This is a Jedi right in front of Rafa.  For all that Ahsoka isn’t a Jedi any longer, this arc is her struggling to find her place in the galaxy, to find the path forward for herself as someone who was raised by the Jedi, who believes in their teachings, who is the person they helped her become, that is a good person because she herself is a good person, but also because that’s how Anakin and the Jedi taught her to be. It’s about Ahsoka struggling to accept that not everyone sees the Jedi in a positive light, but Star Wars is not a series that’s about straightforward or even honest narratives, from the very beginning it’s been baked into the foundations that the propaganda in the galaxy is a huge, huge factor, that misunderstanding who the Jedi are (and thus being willing to overlook a literal genocide against them, against their children, who were murdered just for being Jedi, to overlook that you can’t even talk about the Jedi or practice their culture without “disappearing”, it’s the literal definition of a genocide) and that what we’re told versus what we’re shown is often two entirely separate things and that these things ARE NOT CLEARED UP. These things are let go and never made right.  The galaxy’s view of the Jedi is never cleared up.  The galaxy’s view of the clones and the horror that happened to them with their minds being taken away from them is never cleared up. So we, the audience, know these things that the characters don’t always know and maybe won’t find out, ever. Thus seeing Ahsoka with our own eyes vs Rafa telling us her experience--an experience that is real from her point of view, whatever else is coloring it--fits in with the bigger structure of Star Wars pretty damn well and it’s up to the audience to remember the context, because the show won’t, as that’s not really how SW works. And none of this makes Rafa bad, she’s a valuable, worthwhile character and I adore her, she’s so much fun and we can all feel there’s a heart in there and I want good things for her!  But this arc is illustrating that the galaxy is a complicated place--as Trace says, “This life I lead?  It’s not how I was raised.  It’s how it is.” is about the entire galaxy, not just one small sub-corner of it.

[jedi-order-apologist]

The new episode was good, but I'm also thinking "thanks, I hate it" because it kicked off a whoooole new round of Jedi-bashing in certain circles. *eyeroll*

*sigh* of course the fandom is going to blame the Jedi for not being able to save literally everyone. Of course they are.

I’ll admit that I have mixed feelings about that backstory. I mean, I don’t think the show itself is condemning the Jedi - even as the story is being told by someone who's understandably going to characterize it in the least charitable way possible, it’s obvious that the Jedi were doing their best to contain and minimize harm from a wildly out-of-control situation, and I think that’s fine and consistent as a parallel to the whole war. But on the other hand I think it takes away something to make this personal for the Martez sisters - it’s no longer about the affects of propaganda on the general public, which is what I initially assumed the sisters were supposed to be standing in for. Maybe that’s my mistake for assuming that’s what this was supposed to be, but that’s really what I felt the first half of this arc was going for.

With this more personal backstory, this arc doesn’t really tell us anything about how the general public see the Jedi, just how these two sisters do. I guess it’s not a huge change, it’s still showing how people scapegoat and blame the Jedi for situations that they did not start and were actively preventing from being much worse, just because they couldn’t magically fix everything. But it’s not really a good reflection of how the wider galaxy/average citizen scapegoats the Jedi, which I personally think would’ve been a better angle to take.

[dykefoosh]

This is an analysis of the last Clone Wars episode I wrote exactly a year ago today. I feel like sharing it because why not so tada.

I'm also kinda posting this for me so you seriously don't have to read it- unless you want to idk I can't exactly stop you. And if yall want more, I did them all on the last 8 episodes of the Clone Wars because I felt like it.

Victory and Death

Before you go through this. I just want to say that the Clone Wars and primarily Ahsoka have been in my life for as along as I can remember. I have grown up on this TV Show. So for it to finally get the ending it deserves, is in a way a dream come true. My heart and soul is poured into this show. But with the Clone Wars ending, I know this won’t be the last of Ahsoka.

* This opening music is called Victory and Death

* It’s very similar to the music played at Padmè’s funeral, I guess you could say its a reminder of what death is lurking.

* I’ve never seen such a crisp Venator class Star Destroyer.

* It’s so detailed and for that reason, its going to make this all hurt even more then it already will.

* We are back from where we were left off moments ago in Shattered.

* Ahsoka still doesn’t want to kill any of the clones. She knows they can’t control it, and she wants to be able to help them. Just like she did with Rex. Ahsoka and Rex are the only ones who know its not their fault.

* This isn’t her first rodeo, she dealt with a similar thing in brain invaders with the Genosians.

* Similar with the Brain invaders, she didn’t want to be the one to personally kill them.

* She knew they were willing to die if it meant she would be dead.

* She just couldn’t deal with the fact that she would have killed clones who chose to be with her. Who CHOSE to stand by her on this mission and serve with her against Maul on Mandalore. She knew just about every single one of the clone’s names. She took the time to acknowledge them all. And they all are ready to die because of her. So as the person Ahsoka is, to make that decision and refuse to kill them is untimely better then being the one to personally “pull the trigger”

* The reason why in Shattered that she killed a few of the troopers was because at the time she didn’t know they were unable to control their actions. She had no idea what was happening. She was in fight or flight mode.

* Watching Rex and Ahsoka go right into attack mode on their brothers is just brutal, but beautiful at the same time.

* Ahsoka is in a defensive position and guarding Rex with every move, while allowing Rex to be on the offense.

* I find it interesting about how Ahsoka doesn’t try to hide at all that she let Maul out.

* In reality it was either she let him out and create a diversion to survive or allow him to die and have every single clone looking for her. Although no answer is the right one, considering her odds, it was the only one left.

* The worst part about the entire clone wars, is that every character is always put in a situation where they have to compromise their morals for this war. No matter what side you were on in this war, you were sacrificing so much when none of it ever mattered in the end, because no one won.

* No matter what choice Ahsoka mode in that moment, she was stuck with the deaths of troopers on her hands, and there was nothing she could do about it. Because in the end, no one wins the clone wars.

* Maul is on another rampage and it’s terrifying

* He uses a 332nd HELMET AS A SHIELD

* He’s so incredibly powerful and it’s just crazy.

* I loved how the bridge looked when they came out of hyperspace. Really cinematic

* All of the lives Maul is taking is also taking a toll on Ahsoka. When she tells Rex she let him out, you can tell there’s a bit of guilt in there. She knows what Maul is capable of, and by Ahsoka letting him out. She’s allowing all of these clones to die. In the end it’s a fight for survival, and she’s doing everything she can to survive. So by allowing Maul do what he will do, it’s the best choice out of a really bad situation.

* The way the ship comes out of Hyperspace is insane.

* Knowing this ship is going to crash on this moon, and there’s nothing Ahsoka can do to save all of the clones is ripping her apart.

* In all of her life, she has only ever wanted to help people. But everyone on this ship wants to kill her, and yet she still wants to help. Knowing this ship is going down is terrifying for her because she can’t save them all.

* This is important because in the Martez sisters arc, Ahsoka learns what truly goes wrong when the people who need help most aren’t able to be helped.

* The Martez sisters taught her that everyone deserves a chance to be saved. Their parents should have been saved because that’s what a Jedi is supposed to do. They are supposed to save the people who need it most. Not catching criminals when they are interfering with a Jedi’s work.

* As the ship is getting into orbit, and becoming more and more destroyed, it just furthers the fact of how the clones are programed to purely just follow order 66.

* Their humanity is lost. Their worry for their lives is completely out the window.

* They don’t care that the ship is breaking apart around them.

* Every single clone is hyper focused to complete the mission, because in the end, good soldiers follow orders.

* All that the clones can think about and is programed to do, is to kill Ahsoka Tano.

* What makes this moment worse, is that Ahsoka doesn’t want to hurt them. She knows this isn’t really them.

* Rex on the other hand for the first time ever, has distanced himself from his brothers.

* Rex knows deep down that there’s no way to save them all. He knows threes nothing he can do about it, so for him to distance himself in the moment, is his best bet to survive.

* When Rex is trying to get Ahsoka to understand that she can’t save them all, he is wearing his helmet.

* That helmet is what the empire wanted

* They wanted the helmets to be a sign of emptiness and unable to show expression for what had to be done.

* Rex didn’t want Ahsoka to see his face because he was being emotional. It in a sense was a sign of weakness but in reality, the helmet was what separated him and the mind controlled clones.

* Under the helmet, Rex still had his humanity.

* Under the helmets of the other clones, they were just a blank slate, made to be destroyed.

* So when Rex cries and doesn’t look at Ahsoka in that moment. It’s because he wants to hide his humanity and not let it get in the way of getting the job done. Getting to safety.

* When Ahsoka says “While they may be willing to die. I will not be the one who is to kill them” It’s bittersweet. She knows they are beyond saving, but she knows that if she kills them, then she will have the blood on her hands of someone who was unable to control themselves and in a sense fight back.

* Rex just wants to do the right thing. And he knew what it was like being on the other side. To execute the order and to be completely okay with loosing his life for it.

* Rex just was so vulnerable in this moment, because he was completely helpless.

* When Rex goes into being defeated and everything, he is never one to back off and surrender, so for him to surrender, it’s just painful. By Rex surrendering to him, I think it means he failed Ahsoka, and in the last episode. Rex calling Ahsoka kid, his younger sister, for him to fail her, is something Rex would have never ever wanted to do.

* This moment, is very Anakin and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan did it at the battle of Christiopsis, and Anakin did it on Yerbana.

* The way every single one of the clones goes from at attention to aiming at Ahsoka and Rex is just terrifying. They are truly no longer human, and are droids.

* These soldiers who chose to be with Ahsoka on this ship, and chose to fight along side her at the Siege of Mandalore, are in the end wearing her markings and holding her at gunpoint.

* When Rex says the order was to execute the Jedi in all fairness its a fair point. She’s not a Jedi.

* But in the end, Ahsoka was an important person in Anakin’s life, so in order for her to not interfere with Sidious’s plans, she had to be eliminated.

* This whole scene with Rex and Jesse is just so heartbreaking because after everything Jesse went through, he still couldn’t catch a break

* Rex was most likely worried sick when he found out Maul took Jesse.

* Jesse was tortured by Maul and we all through something horrible was going to happen to him with Maul. The Satine and Obi-Wan scene was HUGLY paralleling the scene when Jesse goes back to Rex.

* But then when Rex thought him and Jesse would be finally okay, Order 66 happens.

* And Rex’s brother, one of his closest, turned on him.

* It’s such a bittersweet moment, because Rex is stalling, and him no longer being a commander is just iconic. He wanted to stay a captain so he could be on the front lines.

* In this moment, Vaders theme I think is slowed down.

* It’s such a tense moment with hundreds of clones ready to fire at Ahsoka and Rex, and with the ship going down too, the anxiety in both of Ahsoka and Rex is very prominent

* Ahsoka’s plan of dropping the clones under with the help of the droids is so smart. It allows her to have the upper hand while they recover.

* And even with hundreds of clones, she is still not wanting to kill a single one.

* Ahsoka is ready to kill Maul.

* She spared him and did what the council wanted. But now with for all Ahsoka knows the order crumbling in every moment, Maul is going to hinder her, and she can’t allow that.

* So when Maul says “You wanted this chaos” It’s brilliant because she really did, but because she could defeat Maul, she underestimated the clones potential to stop/kill him.

* I love how RG-G1 (the black and gold droid) almost laughed at the fact the clones were locked out of the control panel.

* Watching Maul start to get away and seeing how clone the ship was to the surface is terrifying. You know what is going to come, and although we know both Ahsoka and Rex’s fate, we are still on the edge of our seats.

* It’s such a Vader & Starkiller, Maybe even Rey moment, when Ahsoka is using the force to pull back the ship.

* It truly just shows how powerful she is.

* During the first battle of Felucia, after Ahsoka got carried away and realized that she was going to be overrun and as Anakin said “You just don’t see it yet”. Once they got back to the temple and go over what happened with the Jedi Council,

* Anakin talks about how he forgot how young Ahsoka was because of how powerful she is.

* From the beginning Ahsoka has always been powerful with the force.

* She was at first thought to be from Anakin himself, “aren’t you too young to be a padawan” which Ahsoka replies that “Master Yoda thinks I’m ready”

* This was just another moment that showed some of her true potential. Her power is the reason why she was assigned to Anakin and not to Obi-Wan. She needed someone as/more powerful than her to give her the best jedi training possible.

* Version of imperial march is there when Ahsoka is really starting to pull when Rex grabs onto Ahsoka.

* When she sees R7 get shot down, that loss hits, her hard and she loses focus for a second because this droid had been with her from the Battle of Ryloth, her first proper mission in a starfighter.

* Then when Rex gets shot, thats just when for her it clicks that she can’t lose anyone else.

* Up until this point She had lost Kalifa (Jedi Lost- Trandosion arc) Master Piell, Tryla (Carlac), Steela Gerrera, Barriss, Anakin, Plo, and everyone who lost faith in her for leaving the order.

* Rex was the only person that after everything, he refused to give up on her. He saw her for who she was, and not for being in the order, but as a person who fought alongside him in the Clone War.

* Rex was the last person Ahsoka had left, and so when he got shot, she couldn’t let him die in exchange for Maul.

* When we see Maul leave, the sight of how close the ship is to the surface is terrifying. They are running out of time, but Ahsoka can save her friend for the time being.

* Ahsoka isn’t breaking a sweat. She’s doing everything in her power to protect herself and Rex.

* Anakin taught her everything she needed to know to survive. “When I was out there, alone, all I had was your training and the lessons you taught me. And because of you, I did survive. And not only that, I was able to lead others to survive as well.” And she was able to allow Rex to survive.

* The way she cuts the ground to save both herself and Rex is genius. They can’t go up so they might as well go down.

* It’s very much an Anakin moment with her not telling Rex what she Is going to do.

* As Rex and Ahsoka gain their footing from that drop, and we see how close they are getting to the surface, if you listen closely, we get duel of the fates in a higher key.

* The music just escalates as we see the clones who were brought to the bottom are all ready to fire on Ahsoka and Rex.

* Cheep and RG try to save Rex and Ahsoka by bringing the clones back up, which ultimately lead to their demise.

* This is the first time we have seen a droid be murdered. Because Cheep and RG were helping Ahsoka and Rex, just like if they were human, they were murdered in cold blood.

* When Ahsoka gets shot again, in that moment you can really tell she’s starting to get tired. She has been fighting non stop for quite a bit now and like any person its taking a toll on her, but her persistence to survive is what gets her through the next few moments.

* The music gets more intense and slivers of duel of the fates kick into action. When she makes that jump just before she throws Rex, the keys as ROTS starts in Race you to the top play and its just a beautiful cinematic parallel.

* She’s really starting to struggle now. It’s just her against hundreds of clones.

* And the ship really starts to take a turn for the worse.

* Rex is clearly terrified for Ahsoka once the ship starts to really deteriorate, and as Ahsoka jumps to get into the Y-Wing, it’s almost too late. The ship is falling apart.

* But Rex isn’t giving up on her. He never has and never will.

* And as she looses her grip on the ship, more notes from Race you to the surface kick in.

* The way she falls but catches herself while running just shows how determined she is to stay alive. She knows that all, or believes that all Jedi have died in this order and she is the only survivor. She can’t let the history and the hope with the Jedi die with this war. She can’t let Rex die alone, so she keeps going.

* While she’s running it just really shows how MASSIVE these ships are in comparison to a person. They are just gigantic.

* Ahsoka and Rex truly got out on the very last second.

* This war has taken a toll on both of them. That fight took a toll. They just fought tooth and bone against their brothers in an effort to survive. Every single one of those clones was ready to give up their lives if it meant for Ahsoka and Rex to die.

* The silence from when they get into the Y-Wing is just perfect. We don’t need any dialogue to represent how powerful this moment is. No words are needed to explain how painful this moment was. After everything Ahsoka and Rex had went through, no words were needed.

* The ship is completely destroyed and same with the republic/grand army of the republic. We even see the Open Circle Fleet logo.

* Ahsoka and Rex are surrounded by the ruins and graves of everything they tried to save. They tried so hard to save the clones. The Jedi tried to save the galaxy. None of them could save the thing they wanted to most.

* Everything Ahsoka and Rex had fought for died. There was so much hope for their futures. Ahsoka talking with Yoda- she could have come back into the order, and she could have been happy.

* Ahsoka and Rex took the time to find R7, and as many clones as they could find. They didn’t JUST put the helmets on the sticks, she buried the bodies of the clones. Every single one they could find.

* These were clones that chose to fight with her. They chose to serve Ahsoka in the Siege of Mandalore.

* The entire planet is shown in more earth-colored tones, lots of browns and tans.  It tells us exactly what her and Rex’s mood is, that there is warmth still there, but it’s been dulled and grayed out, she’s devastated and numb, everything she worked so incredibly hard to save is in ashes.  Everything she loved is dead or lost.

* She cloaked in Grey, which parallels her in the end of Rebels with the white cloak. Similar to Gandalf, which ( I have confirmation from Dave, this WAS INTENTIONAL)

* She is looking over all the death and destruction from the end of the Clone War. “She was alone, something she was never meant to be”

* As we pan to the Clones helmets up close, we see all of these clones that fought for Ahsoka and chose to be with her until the very end.

* And then we get Jesse.

* A clone who had been fighting alongside her and Anakin since he became a proper clone. He was the last remaining member of the domino squad, who had been through so much, from Umbara to Maul, and then was just another clone. Made to follow order 66 and be expendable.

* Ahsoka’s theme plays.

* so the last time ahsoka’s theme plays (the classic six-note melody) when she lets go of her sabers, it never actually resolves to its sixth and last note—the melody left hanging and incomplete, and it just fades away, just like how this chapter of ahsoka’s life has been abruptly and cruelly cut off because of Palpatine and order 66. Go to 1:42 https://open.spotify.com/track/2EgVDzhE9yBHO7DgMdWCwk?si=z7rGUvqXR6Gd6iCSeFfiPg

* She took the time to bury every single one, so they could have an end of their story, but because of their deaths Ahsoka couldn't with hers, and the music having her theme play unfinished just futures that. She could have come back into the order. She could have saved Anakin. She could have been able to have a peaceful life at the temple with Anakin and Obi-Wan and all of the other Jedi. She could have been able to peacefully explore her potential of being the physical light side embodiment of the force. It's not just the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker. It's the tragedy of everyone he ever cared about too, and them having to face the consequences of his actions.

* She then hesitates to leave her lightsaber. That moment of hesitation before she drops it, that this is so hard for her to let go of, the last piece of Anakin that she had, the last piece of the Jedi that she had.  The Jedi Order that she wanted to go back to someday, but they’re gone now.  Her connection to them is gone, just like her connection to anything of the Republic. The one thing Anakin had told her and had been consistent from the start, to never lose it. “Your lightsaber is your life. Don’t lose it”

* Ahsoka drops it because she has no hope anymore, she believes Anakin is dead. 

* And in this moment Ahsoka Tano died on that moon. Just like Obi-Wan and Anakin did on Mustafar.

* She had to leave everything behind, including her lightsaber. All her hopes for the future, her connections to the people she cared about, the things she wanted to do, her name, everything that made her her.  She would go into hiding, become Ashla, and just try to survive.

* Theres no hope. Absolutely no hope for Ashla and Rex.

* This is the first time and the last in the Clone Wars we see that kind of transition of fading out.

* The music that plays is just so sinister. It makes you feel cold, and eludes to the fact that Vader is now there and not Anakin, but yet, it also doesn’t feel like Vader.

*  literally every other film depiction of Darth Vader is something very simple, but the way he moves, is just different. He doesn’t’ move like any version we have seen of Vader. He moves like Anakin Skywalker.

* In contrast to what was said about where Ahsoka was, its a frozen wasteland, cold and empty just like Vader.

* “Everything is bleached out. Everything is pretty stark. Everything’s washed away color-wise, which is what George did it at the end of Revenge of the Sith. A lot of things I do are just ways of taking what George did and reasserting them, enhancing them, showing that this is what his half of Star Wars is about, ultimately, and how the heroes will prevail through it, despite all of the wickedness of the enemy.” - Dave Filoni

* And thats what the dark side is. It’s cold. It’s empty.

* In Rebels Ezra shivers from it when he feels a wave of it crash over him, people who are falling into it suddenly feel cold inside, despite that it’s perfectly warm outside.

* It just shows how lost he is. How there were warm yet cold colors with Ahsoka. She’s held onto the light, she’ll return to it when she’s had time to heal, but Anakin has fully embraced it. 

* The cruiser is frozen over.  Vader walking through the ruins. 

* Hearing Vaders breathing is just horrifying. Never have we heard in the clone wars, such a breathtaking sound.

* Ahsoka’s lightsaber.

* This lightsaber is frozen in memory.

* He cradles it in his hand, brushing the snow away again with the other.

* When Anakin goes also to pick up Ahsoka’s saber, its a perfect parallel to Obi-Wan picking up Anakin’s saber.

* Then, inexplicably, he flicks it on and we see Vader wielding a blue lightsaber for the very last time onscreen. Who knows why he turned it on. Maybe he couldn’t quite believe it was Ahsoka’s and that she’d lost it once more. Because he always taught her that “this weapon is your life.”

* Maybe he was testing to see if it still worked or if the color was still that brilliant blue he tweaked it into.

* We then see Vader look to Morai.

* We see the eyes of Anakin. NOT Vader. We see Anakin Skywalker again. The last time in the Clone Wars.

* It’s a clear parallel to Twilight of the Apprentice when Ahsoka destroys the side of his mask with her ‘sabre and Anakin leaks through.

* It’s so, so obviously clear that he still loves Ahsoka in this moment. That Ahsoka still brings out the good in him.

* That this is, awfully, their final goodbye as they knew each other.

* We always read about how Ahsoka and the Convor are linked and how it’s really Ahsoka and the Light Side of the Force that’s linked.

* But I don’t think we’ve ever really seen anything about how Anakin is linked to the Convor and Ahsoka.

* The thing is, I think the Convor also represents the link between Anakin and Ahsoka.

* During the Mortis Arc, Ahsoka essentially dies. The Son kills her, inadvertently mortally wounding his own sister in the process. As the Father grieves, Anakin rushes over to Ahsoka and pleads with the Father. But Anakin in the moment is the one who is the conduit of the Daughter’s life-force as its transferred to Ahsoka.

* Right after the Mortis Arc, Ahsoka gets kidnapped. It’s the first time she’s ever really been alone and forced to fight to survive. But she manages it, despite the other Padawans on the island giving up or succumbing to their fate. Again, out of everyone, Ahsoka survives. This is also the first time we see the convorees.

* During this arc, Anakin is left alone, as well. Fearful and lost, he worries for Ahsoka, but Plo, the Master who found Ahsoka in the first place, guides him. “What is Ahsoka’s strength?” Plo asks him.“She is fearless,” Anakin replies. “That can also be a weakness. Is she a worthy apprentice?” “No one has her kind of determination.”“Except you.”“I’ll find her.”“This may not be within your power.”“Whatever you’re trying to say Master Plo, just say it!”“I am suggesting that perhaps if you have trained her well, she’ll take care of herself and find a way back to you.” This, again, is so, so important. “Except you,” Plo says.

* No one has Ahsoka’s determination except for Anakin. No one has her hope except for him. Ahsoka was already a wonderful, resilient person, but Anakin brought it out in her. He taught her, guided her, and now those lessons must guide her as she faces the world alone. This is only reiterated when Anakin and Ahsoka reunite.

* “Ahsoka, I am so sorry,” “For what?”“For letting you go, for letting you get taken. It was my fault.”“No, Master, it wasn’t your fault.”“I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve tried harder. I…”“You already did everything you could, everything you had to do. When I was out there, alone, all I had was your training and the lessons you taught me. And because of you, I did survive. And not only that, I was able to lead others to survive as well.”

* Thats a huge recurring theme in Star Wars. Ahsoka preservers and survives. She saves and guides people. Ahsoka will always be Anakin’s Padawan, his legacy.

* She embodies all his best qualities, including, of course, his ever-lingering hope.

* And that is one of the reasons why Ahsoka is so important: Anakin’s goodness lives on within her. Of course she is her own person, I wouldn’t love her as much as I do if she wasn’t, but being Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan shaped her into the woman we know today.

* “You never would have made it as Obi-Wan’s Padawan,” Anakin told her in that very first movie so many years ago. “But you might make it as mine.”That has never been more true.If Ahsoka had been Obi-Wan’s Padawan, she’d be dead along with the rest of the Order. If she’d been Obi-Wan’s Padawan, yes she’d be skilled, and yes she would have learned to persevere throughout hardship— But there’s a certain passion for life and hope in Anakin that Obi-Wan simply doesn’t possess.

* Ahsoka inherited that from him.So now we circle back to the convor. In various cultures owls represent death and wisdom. Filoni has even confirmed that in the Star Wars universe, it is the same. This isn’t surprising when Anakin and Ahsoka are constantly facing off death and rising above it, becoming wiser because of it. And, horribly, I’m reminded that this finale is the death of them. They cannot be who they once were, and they cannot be to each other who they once were. But owls can also represent luck and good fortune.

* “Master Kenobi always said there’s no such thing as luck.”“Good thing I taught you otherwise.”

* All throughout her life, Anakin’s lessons and influence guide her, and after the Mortis Arc in moments of great struggle: a convor appears. What I’m trying to say, I suppose, is that the convor not only symbolizes the Light Side of the Force. It also symbolizes Anakin Skywalker.

* And maybe that’s because Anakin Skywalker does embody the Light Side of the Force. Despite everything he goes through and everything he does, Anakin Skywalker clutches onto that bit of hope and comes back to the Light. He brings Balance to the Force.

* The convor lingers above Anakin at the end of the Clone Wars after Ahsoka has survived despite the odds. It appears again after their duel in Twilight of the Apprentice. Morai watches Anakin limp out of the Temple, and then returns to Ahsoka after guiding her back from the World Between Worlds. After guiding her back to Anakin.

* “I am suggesting that perhaps if you have trained her well, she’ll take care of herself and find a way back to you,” Plo told Anakin that first time Ahsoka was lost. And he’s right. Ahsoka does find her way back. Again and again and again.

* She loves him. He’s her brother and he taught her everything he knew, and she survives because of it. Ahsoka won’t ever let that bit of Anakin go. She won’t ever lose sight of the good in him, or in anyone else.

* “I won’t leave you,” she promises him. “Not this time.”

* It’s more a promise of hope than anything else. A declaration of loyalty and determination and love. She still believes in him, and she wants, no needs him to know that.

* we talk a lot about how the Daughter and Ahsoka are connected through the convor, but we never talk about how Anakin was that conduit in the first place. The Light and life flowed through him into Ahsoka and so she survived.

* In the moments when Anakin holds Ahsoka’s saber it points him towards the light, and TOWARDS Morai, and we see him for who he is, and who he will become.

* Ahsoka has survived through Anakin. And she continues to survive.  And maybe it’s still making me cry as I write this, but we know how this story ends, and we’re reminded when Anakin, not Vader, looks up into the sky, Ahsoka’s lightsaber in hand and watches Morai circle above. Star Wars is about hope. It always has been. Despite everything they’ve gone through, there is hope for Anakin Skywalker. And there is hope for Ahsoka Tano, too.

* Vader takes the lightsaber it with him, just like he did with Obi-Wans years later. but even more symbolically–the helmet that has her markings on it, the helmet of a clone trooper of the Republic, with Vader’s reflection walking away from it, forgotten and left behind in the snow, as dead as everything else.

* The last shot we are given of the Clone Wars ever is of the trooper helmet with Ahsoka’s markings and Vader in the shadow.

* It’s the last thing ever we get of the clone wars and represents everything the Clone Wars was about.

* It was about Ahsoka and Rex’s story, and the tie into the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

* Dave Filoni did everything he intended to do with these last episodes. To give us the ending we didn’t just want, but the ending that we deserved.

* Star Wars has always been about hope. Every Star Wars anything has ended on hope, even RotS has hope! (Luke and Leia)

* The audience knows what will happen and that there is hope..

* But Ahsoka and Rex don’t know that. Theres no hope for them.

* This is the first time in Star Wars that something has closed on a Hopeless note.

I would be lying to you if I told you I didn’t cry every time writing a piece of this, and that I wouldn’t be here without the Clone Wars. I would be lying if I said that I won’t ever get over this ending, and I won’t. But the fact that we have an ending, and a really solid one, is everything I need.