#when i was a kid we had tcw and that was the only show

[clonehub]

"why does the fandom complain so much!!" do you see what we've been getting

[galactic-rhea]

The thing with Anakin TCW is that I try to reconcille both "versions" of Anakin, but because I keep in mind that at the end of the day, TCW is a serialized kids show, and he's also a general and in charge of a padawan so he must be really charismatic for that to work (long rambling ahead)

This show came in an era where shows ran long, with very random plots per episode and just very few that advanced "a plot", so characters that are new for the show get more development (since they were at zero), and Anakin with already three movies (technically 6 if we count the original trilogy), a mini series, and a bunch of books and comics, feels more flat for the very short narrative purposes.

The way i see it, TCW can be like seeing Anakin from someone's else eyes, like that's probably how Obi-Wan and Ahsoka and Rex saw him, cocky and sassy and fearless and daring and untouchable and cool and sometimes with anger coming from apparently nowhere, and the movies are the actual "omnipresent" look, we see how actually deeply fucked up and scared Anakin is!

TCW gives like a very pink tinted glasses view of him, a very standarized version of him, since the "otherness" that he has in the prequels was really hated (and with otherness i mean that he acts alienated and tormented, is because of the trauma, but also because he can be so easily read as neurodivergent and/or queer; movie Anakin looks like he might as well be a giant walking target for bullying, so to speak), so TCW Anakin looks like he totally would have never ever been bullied, he's the cool kid.

If I don't constantly keep on mind this is probably Ahsoka's POV, it can be a bit hard to connect, like the last episodes in TCW, when he sees Ahsoka, he's like 2 days before ROTS, and he looks so cheerful and normal and sassy, but then if you look at ROTS, he looks so tired and beaten up and just depressed after that battle. But Anakin, in AOTC and ROTS, in general, is a person that looks like doesn't even want to be there at all, he looks like he would rather turn invisible.

I don't have that many problems with Anakin in TCW except for certain arcs (looking at you clovis), because many things in the show do add to Anakin's narrative and character (or more like, pilling up even more trauma onto him for the big moment), but it's not a complete look because by the point we should see how he's dealing or coping with something the episode ends and the next episode is about something different. TCW is plot focused and there are very little "breathing" moments before the action, and is not very character focused. Which leaves the audience with the task of remembering that whatever happened in the show is another piece of the puzzle that may or may not fit perfectly with the character that was presented on the prequels.

"This episode very painfully reminds you that he was a slave, and he's angry about it, very angry...for one bit of the episode, let's go back to the fun action." It touches it, but it doesn't explore it, if you get what I mean? Like, we can only imagine if he had difficult weeks after that or how even was the conversation after all that whole mess, just as an example.

I agree that Anakin in TCW is a incomplete version of his character, because TCW focuses a lot on the Clones and Ahsoka and other little stories, however I also think it does add lots of stuff to explore, even if the show didn't explore it deeply, but touched on it.

And I understand too why it causes such a division, and why some may prefer the TCW version more, and why some may prefer only the movies version.

I mainly use the movies, and then take from TCW what I feel like it fits/makes sense for him, and shake TCW a little bit if i need to, although i still really love it : D

[supremechancellorrex]

I've been thinking about what the Bad Batch means to me these past few weeks and things just don't quite sit right. When I started watching the Clone Wars, it felt like a lot of love and care had been poured into the project. The clones had unique personalities built from the ground up, with even minor characters getting quirks. Hevy only appeared in two episodes, yet is so loved. Hardcase is missed despite only really appearing in one arc because of expert character crafting and real, actual effort with the writing.

The point of the Clone War was that the clones were individuals, they had agency and they could have an impact on their lives and others. Referred to as 'property', with no representation or rights, they are slave soldiers in function, who are biologically identical although at times with slight variation, but their personalities and motivations matter and have weight. This is why Fives nearly ruins Palpatine's plans. This is why Rex is able to resist the inhibitor chip in Order 66 and help save Ahsoka.

This is why I'm not sure I can forgive the Bad Batch.

Spitting on Grandpa

When the Bad Batch started, I was initially quite excited because it was advertised as a sequel to the Clone Wars. The first episode opens up with the title 'The Clone Wars' fading into the Bad Batch, but the show is anything but because the 'regs', as normal clones have been dubbed, don't matter now. Instead, the only characters with agency are a special group of clones who mostly don't look like the clones based on Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) or even scientifically fit the basic definition of what a 'clone' is.

How is this not meant to be insulting for TCW and the Clone Fandom? I watch normal clones like Commander Wilco get shot in the face. I watch Mayday choke and die for Crosshair's development. I watch Rex play second fiddle to the Bad Batch on screen, the man and leader who used to always say "I'm always first, kid" and take the reins. I watch Cody appear for an episode only to not appear again this season and have no impact on the narrative other than Crosshair's development. Can 'regs' no longer change the world? Do the 'boring', 'regular' slave soldiers have no impact anymore?

Echo: "The fate of all the clones is now sealed because of us."

When it comes to normal clones impacting the narrative, the closest we get is Rex's resistance network, which features actual clones actually doing something. Yet apparently an episode about the Bad Batch discovering an island paradise world and battling a tsunami deserves more screen time than seeing how the 'regs' set that one up. Even this plot point is less about finally saving Howzer and normal clones like him, and more about Echo not being with the Bad Batch and further setting up the plot regarding Tech and Crosshair. The normal clones remain non-entities outside of the Bad Batch's development, they have no agency beyond this.

This is why we see stock reg clone characters bully the Bad Batch in the Season 1 opening, because despite them all being slaves under the thumb of fascism and the fact normal clones treated Ninety-Nine (the beloved hunchback clone from TCW Season 3) fine, it's the Bad Batch's plight that only matters now, their persecuted perspective on being special and better than the regs, regs that are now treated as old news, an afterthought. The world feels small, and inexcusably less richer than it was.

Essentially, we're no longer allowed to see what the reg clones motivations are, why there are reg clones that actually, canonically, dislike the Bad Batch as opposed to Ninety-Nine. People like to speculate, but on screen we are not shown or told in TBB. We're also not shown why all the named clones from Howzer, Mayday, Fireball, Gregor and Nemec to Cut, Cody and Rex never had issues with the differences other than they're the good regs I guess. Hell, even Cody and Mayday's remaining squad say nothing of Crosshair's mutations, not even one catty comment.

Conclusion

So, what does this mean? The Bad Batch steals the clones' agency and makes it their own. They wear the clone identity, but refuse to help normal 'reg slave' clones that look like actual clones in favour of focusing on themselves and their 'more important' personal problems. The Bad Batch are special not because of who they are or that they've worked hard, but because they look different from other clones, because they're just more capable and have special abilities. It's not who you are that counts, it's what you are.

And, now, I even see fans doing what TCW told us not to, disregarding normal clones, 'explaining' why the Bad Batch are fine to leave the reg clones to die because they called them "The Sad Batch" one time. Somehow the Bad Batch undoes all of TCW's work, stripping the clones of their agency and making them into just victims sleepwalking into extinction as we wait for the Bad Batch to consider trying to actively save them.

Echo: "The fate of all the clones is now sealed because of us."

And, then the rest of TBB go cave exploring and holidaying on Pabu. This series might as well be about natborns.

[antianakin]

I watched that scene in V for Vendetta when V kills Delia, and it occurred to me that there isn't quite the same scene throughout TBB S3. Despite the heavy redemption themes for Crosshair and Emerie, I don't think I heard either of them directly acknowledge their wrongs and apologise to their (live) victims. I didn't hear Crosshair admit fault for shooting Wrecker on Kamino, trying to incinerate the squad on Bracca, or kidnapping Hunter and using him as bait. Never mind to Howzer for his squad's arrest and death in captivity, or the people of Ryloth for his assassination of Orn Free Taa. Or to the next of kin of at least two women I remembered he killed during his Imperial service.

I never heard Emerie apologise for using the kids and clones as pincushions to draw blood, abducting and imprisoning them. Has everyone forgotten that she was there regularly while Crosshair was strapped to the bed and being experimented on?

The point is that while both characters did heel-face turns and performed deeds to atone for their pasts, the lack of apology is deafening. Howzer was portrayed as the asshole for not seeing Crosshair's heel-face turn because it should have been ''obvious'' how Crosshair treats Omega. I see it as the characters who should have broken the fourth wall and read the script to bypass the drama that would have occurred if an apology had been forthcoming. The "hard" part was done; Crosshair lost his hand; what more do you idiots want? I would have chalked it to the cancellation had I not seen something similar running around Season 1...

It's one of those aspects that gnaws at me with Disney Star Wars. What I call the externalisation of evil, paired with the lack of accountability. Evil happens because people were forced or duped to act on its behalf, but because these people are not "true" believers (as seen by their redemption), they need not be held accountable for their actions while serving evil. Their acts in service of the "superior good" balance the scales and bypass the need for accountability.

And for a "kids" show lauded as the most "adult" of the TCW-era animation, I have to ask, is this really the lesson to teach kids? Because in real life, no one can read your mind and hear your apology mentally. And some can fake it and be unrepentant in the end. The victims of your wrongdoing have the right to confront you, hear your apology, and decide to absolve or condemn you. "I am not here for what you hoped to do. I am here for what you did"- V

"Is it meaningless to apologise? Never I'm so sorry" - Delia's last words to V

I find myself less upset about Emerie because Emerie was introduced so late that not only do we not see her doing anything THAT horrific, but there wouldn't have been a lot of time to really work through any kind of redemption arc for her. Within her first few episodes, we do see her soften towards Omega a bit, so they DO set up that Emerie isn't all she appears to be which allows for her to have stronger reactions to things like the Force sensitive children in the vault later.

My issue with Emerie, which is likely partially due to the cancellation cutting off some of what they might have planned to do with her, is that we have ZERO EXPLANATION for her. Why does she exist, was she just a defective clone who came out female and so the Kaminoans sent her away or did one of them intentionally try to create a female clone for some reason? Why did they send her to Hemlock, how was Hemlock connected with the Kaminoans to begin with and connected SO early that he was able to acquire a clone before the Jedi and the Republic even knew they existed? Why did Hemlock accept her and what has he been doing TO her this whole time? What is her relationship with being a clone if she was presumably separated from the rest of them for her entire life and not necessarily raised as a clone the same way as even TBB would've been? How does this impact her relationship with the clone prisoners on Tantiss as well as Hemlock?

Her redemption arc feels both half-assed and like... just half-assed enough because Emerie is basically a blank slate the whole time. We don't know anything about her or her motivations for anything and so there's nothing to really make me feel like her quicker change of heart goes against anything we know about her. She's never shown to be particularly unkind or malicious, just... somewhat disconnected from the clone prisoners and inclined to just accept that Hemlock's work is necessary. Because we know so little about her aside from that she's been with Hemlock since she was extremely young, it works for me that she's mostly just kind-of disconnected about the things he's doing to the other clones until she manages to make a personal connection that sort-of changes her perspective. She does not personally capture or hurt anyone to my memory, she never seems to be intentionally trying to cause pain to anybody, there's no malicious intent behind her actions that she has to work around and make up for. There's not even any real prejudice and anger towards the clones themselves that is causing her to be okay with what Hemlock is doing to them. So just her recognizing that a change NEEDS to be made is enough for me with Emerie, I don't feel like I needed more of an apology in order for her "redemption arc" to make sense because she's barely a fleshed out character as it is.

Crosshair on the other hand, DID owe an apology to a lot of people. I HATE the way they handled his interactions with the rest of the squad and with Howzer in particular. I HATE the way HOWZER has to apologize and Crosshair never does. It's fucked up and wrong and such a badly done redemption arc and I honestly can't even blame that on the cancellation because it's early enough in the season that they likely already had that built in before they had to make any changes. There's also already been TWO SEASONS before this to build up to Crosshair's change of heart that I think got mishandled as well. He got so little screen time in season two that his change of heart that turns him against the Empire doesn't feel believable to me at all.

My biggest issue with BOTH of these characters and the way their stories were handled was the distance from the ACTUAL CLONES.

This is an issue I've had with the show from the beginning. It's billed as a show about clones, but the main characters are SO separated and distant from the real clones that none of their development really has anything to do with the clones and it makes it feel like it never really WAS a clone story at all. Crosshair's story would've been more compelling if it had been about his bigotry towards the clones and his development had come specifically from learning they were good people and he was wrong about them. Emerie and Omega's stories should've been about them finally being able to connect to the other clones that they'd been forced away from their whole lives and figuring out what it truly means to BE a clone. The Bad Batch's story would've been more compelling if it had had more focus on what was actually happening to the clones immediately after Order 66 and the desperation and tragedy of trying to save them in a world that cares about them even less than it used to.

Instead, Crosshair's story seems to be about realizing the Empire sees him, PERSONALLY, as expendable and THAT'S what makes him realize it's bad. The fact that the Empire sees him as no different than the other clones doesn't really allow him to see the CLONES in a different light or connect to them better, it just destroys his loyalty to the Empire because he's not considered special anymore. Emerie only turns against the Empire after she sees what's happening with the Force sensitive children, the torture and captivity of the clones doesn't seem to bother her at all. Omega's development for the last two seasons has had nothing to do with her identity as a clone and a lot more with her identity as a "soldier". Echo is the only character with any real connection to the other clones and the moment he starts to voice that, he gets written off and becomes a recurring cameo character instead of a regular main ensemble member. The moment he decides to more fully be a part of a clone-centric storyline, he can't be a part of the Bad Batch's story because the Bad Batch is inherently NOT A CLONE STORY.

And this is the biggest problem with this show. It's selling itself as a clone story and not actually following through on it and it causes this weird dissonance within the narrative because I don't think this show ever truly knew what story it was telling. It hurts every single one of the characters.

This show would've been a LOT better if they had just let it be a story about, say, four random bounty hunters who worked as a team. Or even, god help me, four Mandalorians from different clans or houses or whatever who are BARELY managing to stay civil with each other. It would've made the stories with Crosshair and Emerie feel a LOT easier to stomach because we aren't sitting there wondering why they aren't reacting to what's happening to the other clones around them. It might've made the stories easier to WRITE, too, because they wouldn't have had to keep trying to force a connection between these characters and the clones that so clearly just isn't there.

Maybe these "redemption arcs" would've been better done and made more sense if these characters weren't clones.

But then again I remember how well done Ventress and Kallus's "redemption arcs" were and I think that maybe it wouldn't have mattered at all.

[wombatttttt]

Hello!

First of all, I'm living for your Rep Com musings. 😍 As a relatively new fan to the series, I've been wondering how the Skirata gang would handle some of the "official" canon stuff like the inhibitor chips. If you ever have time or inclination, I'd love to know your thoughts. 🥰

K'oyacyi! 😊

Thank you, vod!! I have DO have a lot of thoughts. I've only just bEGUN with my Repcomm BS

So new canon and Republic Commando/Legends canon...

I think a lot of what’s in current SW canon is just incompatible with Repcomm/Legends. Like even entertaining the idea of inhibitor chips in Repcomm, I think the Nulls would have found out when they hacked the systems on Kamino. That derails like a looot of the book plot. Even if they didn't know what the chips would be used for, the idea that there's a way to control all of the clones against their will would make it impossible to continue supporting the war.

I also don't like the inhibitor chips. I think it's a lazy plot device. It also ignores the very easy totally applicable reality that by the third year of the war, there could have been widespread discontent with how the war's been conducted and talk of clones being a 'slave army' to the Jedi.

I think Repcomm did a really good job laying out how Order 66 was totally possible just based on the conduct of the Jedi during the war. And I'm not a Jedi hater! The Jedi Order had its motivations and loyalty the Republic for many reasons. And the moral high ground of thinking they're 'doing the right thing' by keeping the Republic intact.

TCW was a kids show that didn't dig into the morality of the situation and slapped inhibitor chips in the clones.

I have thoughts about the Jedi pertaining to Zey's storyline/motivations, but another time!

The only current SW canon stuff that could have been interesting to see written into the Repcomm series if it was written now is if we had the New Mandalorians/Kryze government and also the diaspora of surviving exiled True Mandalorians with Jango Fett as Manda'lor calling upon the Cuy'val Dar to train the clone army for the Republic. There would be a loooot of explaining to do, I think it would be really hard to argue Jango would do something like that for the Republic when they instilled a 'pacifist' government on Mandalore, even if it was for revenge on the Jedi. But with the right motivations/set pieces it could have been a way to tell the story of the true Mandalorian's cultural genocide and the after effects.

All right, that's enough, getting off my soapbox now~

Idk, I am very happy writing my silly little fics, OCs, and headcanons in the Repcomm/legends canon.

[warsamongthestars]

On to the ranting, because the ride never ends for me.

( Warning to you Hunter fans, I am going after him this time. Avert your gazes, for I am going to shred this man like cheese. )

That end message of the finale with the whole "We can't be Clone Force 99 without Tech"... and the whole "We can be who we want to be now!"

... Dude, they spent 2 seasons being CF99 without you, Cross. Didn't even discuss anything about it either. They went "We have this kid now, that we knew all of 30 minutes, and went back for without ever talking to you once while you were going insane in front of ours eye... Buh-Bye now!"

Tech was not the glue holding the team together.

Frankly, nothing was holding the team together besides contrivance... because everything that made CF99 into CF99 was left behind in the Clone Wars Show, in favor of a copycat idiot plot where the Writers and Directors fanfic'd three seasons outta nonsense, and left all the important bits off the script.

As for "We CaN bE wHaT wE wAnT". ( Which still fucking kills me )

Congratulations, it took TBB Hunter 3 years to grasp, what TCWs Hunter already knew in less than 15 minutes outta a 4 episode arc.

And it only took the brainwashing and torture of one brother, and the entire death of another. At a certain point, I'm pretty sure TBB Hunter is the antagonist here, just not the villian (Because we cannot attribute to malice, what can clearly be seen as sheer unadulterated stupid).

TCWs Hunter would've fucking killed him. I place credits on it.

Its not a case of "Oh past hunter doesn't like future self" oh no no no. TBBshow is an entire alternate universe to TCWshow, as it bends on the whims of amateur writers and corporate greed rather than the story and characters.

( And there is no reason for any of what happened, to have happened. The only thing that ever had any guarantee of what folks have called "canon", had been Order 66.... and that's it. )

Its a case of:

THe original Hunter would've taken one look at this sad spineless excuse of an alternate version of him, saw the negligence that cost 3 teammates, 2 of which are likely life-long batchmates (HCs aside), and would've just fucking lost his gods damn mind. Would've just outright shown that he isn't just Billy from Predator, but in fact, Predator in clone form. You don't get a name like Hunter for a Modified-Gene Super Soldier with Super Senses and think he's an average gods damn joe you find at Walmart.

And you don't get a tight-knit squad like TCWs CFF99, without having some real consequences on what happens when one of them is taken or dies.

[stars-n-spice]

So, this is it, huh?

I figured the least I could do was write something down before shit goes down because I know after tomorrow I don't think I'll be emotionally available to do or say much about the show and what it and the fanbase means to me.

The last few days, my mind has been a whirlwind of emotions and I don't think I've ever really suspended my disbelief since it was announced that this would be the last season.

I felt like Po honestly, in Kung Fu Panda 2, when he's like "But I just got Kung Fu!" when they're talking about Lord Shen making that weapon that straight-up kills people who practice Kung Fu (I'm going somewhere with this just bear with me-) because I'm fairly new to the animated shows of Star Wars fandom and didn't start hyperfixating on Bad Batch until midway through Season 2 while those episodes were still releasing.

So when they announced that the 3rd season was the final season I was devastated. "What do you mean no more Bad Batch? I just got Bad Batch!" - I didn't want to believe it.

But here we are. Final season. Final episode.

I can't describe how the obsession started. It just did.

When the first season was coming out, I was still on Season 6 of TCW, so I got into it a little late. Then when it was over I immediately jumped into watching Rebels and became utterly obsessed with that show while Bad Batch just stayed, "Oh, neat show I watched."

Then the second season came out. I don't know how or when or why but suddenly something just went off in my brain and I became obsessed. I became attached. I fell in love with Wrecker in a way that I've never once felt or experienced towards any other fictional character, or person for that matter. I grew to understand Crosshair on a deeper level that made my heart ache for him and made me reflect on my own past and choices. Echo became a comfort character and an anchor in my life in where he's the first thing I think of when I'm down to put myself in a better mood. Suddenly I was ready to give Omega the universe and everything good in it. Tech became a lifelife (ironically) a hope that despite how I am and who I am, I'm capable of loving and being loved. And recently I've become so incredibly attached to Hunter because as the oldest child of five as well, I know that crushing weight of responsibility. Of failing your siblings. Of trying to be better.

This squad. This family. Cheesy as it is, I can't describe what they mean to me but Force, I'll try.

Recently I've been wondering why I'm so attached to this show and these characters. Jokingly, part of it is yes, the Bad Batch are lovely to look at and that does play a role in why I enjoy watching the show so much, but that's not completely it.

I think I speak for a lot of us fans when I say that I didn't fit in as a kid. I still don't even as an 'adult.' Look, I'm a biracial guy from two VERY different cultures that don't feel like home to me. On top of that, half of the time I don't know how to identify myself in gender and sexuality because I don't feel either most of the time. I'm introverted. I have anxiety. I probably have autism. I'm a burnt-out former gifted kid. I quite simply don't fit in.

"No, I'll stay. You guys don't fit in here either."

That? Yeah.

This show is for all those kids. Everyone who never fit in. Everyone who was told they were strange or weird, for the kids who ate glue in the back of the classroom, who were told they were too loud, who were put down because they didn't express emotion a certain way, for the kids who sat alone at lunch, who got left behind in their friend groups, for the kids who felt like they had no one so turned to harmful things, for the kids who were told they were special only to be discarded later in life, for the kids who don't know their place, don't know where they fit in and if they even do or ever will.

It's a show that tells those kids you're more than that. You're worth it. You're worth loving. You're worth protecting. You're worth the second chance. You're worth being loyal to. You're worth teaching. You're worth forgiving. You're worth it. You're worth it. You're worth it.

In the end there's hope for us. There's hope for all of us. And I think that's why I cling to tightly to this show. Why it means so much to me. Why I so desperately need these characters to make it out alive.

It's what Star Wars was from the start. About hope. About family. About loving and being loved and learning to love despite your circumstances. It's a show that took a bunch of neurodivergent absolute daddies and packed in so much angst but also feel-good moments with stunning animation, beautiful, moving music, and phenomenal voice acting. It's a show I can't help but love and love immensely because it feels like it was written for me.

For that kid who spent their recesses with their nose buried in an animal encyclopedia or talking to imaginary characters from their favorite books. For that kid who always felt so utterly useless and hopeless whenever they got less than an A- for a grade because they were supposed to be the gifted one. For the kid who struggled so much to be the older sibling they never asked to be. For the kid who just wants to find someone, anyone, who will love them as they are and fight for them. For the kid who valued loyalty above all else, always has, always will, and never gets it in return. For the kid who never fit in.

And well, whatever happens in the finale, I'm so grateful, so blessed, and so honored to have been a part of this journey with all of you.

[ooops-i-arted]

ahsoka still calling anakin a 'good master' after everything he fucking did to her oh my god, ENOUGH!

cowboy hat man won't give it a rest. he wants to throw ahsoka in everything and have her ascend to glorified creator's pet status, but he still can't figure out how to feature her without making her whole worth and existence about anakin. a two year relationship that ended with the master nearly murdering his padawan gets to be highlighted repeatedly, as if it was the most emotionally resonant thing to ever happen to ahsoka and anakin. instead of literally any other relationship that could be explored more.

screw ahsoka's other relationships from the jedi temple or the clones. she can hang out with rebels characters who are reduced to hollow husks of themselves while she has the charisma of a plank. but let's remind everyone how special and awesome she is because anakin was assigned to her for a short time. ahsoka is almost fifty years old now, were the options really that limited? screw respecting anakin's kids who achieved their own legacies and played important roles in the rebellion, defying what he chose to become. luke and leia are barely present in these galactic events and it's rare for their names to be mentioned at all. and who the hell is padme at this point?

ahsoka's writing has been unimpressive for a while now and i haven't cared about her story beyond fandom osmosis. but her show probably isn't even servicing people who actually liked her from tcw anymore, it's about whatever caters to filoni's warped perception of these characters.

Not only is it egregious because we know Anakin is a child murderer, Ahsoka NEVER moves on or comes to terms with it! She just keeps wallowing in it so Filoni can wank off to Anakin licking Ahsoka's butthole. Also: two years. There's no way she's near as speshul to him as Padme (the woman he was in love with for 10+ years and his wife) or Obi-Wan (his Master who was like a brother to him, again for over a decade) or Shmi (his freakin' mother and likely his one point of stability in a chaotic childhood as a slave). Don't even tell me that if Anakin was dropped in the World Between Contrived Time Travel he would save Ahsoka over any of them lmao. Or drop her like a hot potato if he had to choose between Ahsoka and Luke, his son and the last remnant he has of Padme (her son), Obi-Wan (guarded and trained by), Shmi (her grandson) and pretty much the one person he was able to commit an act of true, unselfish love for (killing Palps).

I do feel bad for the fans since I've seen plenty of comments that it's "not her" and that RD's portrayal is just so flat and devoid of smirky smugness/cheekiness/whatever. I personally may hate it but it is part of her character. And you're right, why is it only people she isn't connected to? She barely knew the Rebels crew and mostly as Fulcrum, so a professional relationship, not a friendship. Not to mention Sabine being forced into a Jedi Padawan role despite NEVER showing Force sensitivity or any interest in being a Jedi, and she lived with two of them for years. She had plenty of opportunity to ask Kanan if she wanted to be trained! But nah, we gotta give Ahsoka a Padawan and throw in some forced girl power stuff on the side. (As a former little girl who deeply craved female representation in the male-dominated stories I loved, I can tell you, little girls can tell when it's forced.) (Also Sabine choosing to force herself into a Jedi role out of grief for missing Kanan and Ezra instead of actually being into it or confronting her feelings of loss could've been a really interesting character moment. But nah.)

Side note but I also find it interesting that Rex is barely in this show. Wasn't Rex Ahsoka's clone counterpart? They're very close friends? He's still alive and kicking and could help her out? That would be a really cool relationship to explore? Or did Filoni realize he can't whitewash a real Māori man the way he can animated clones?

(Also I saw this ask before bed and woke up thinking about Mara Jade and Jaina Solo, a female teacher-student relationship that was so badass, and now I want Mara Jade being Rey's teacher and helping her confront her relationship to Palpatine and Rey having the guidance of someone who Gets It, can you imagine. We could've had it alllllllll)

[dontbelasagnax]

Hello

What is a character that you did not expect you would like but ended up being obsessed with?

Hi thank you for the question! You have no idea what can of worms you just opened haha! My answer is Obi-Wan but wait- let me explain!

I first watched the Star Wars movies with my family when I was 5 or 6 in the order that they were released. So originals then prequels. Over the years, we watched 2003 Clone Wars, the TCW movie, and then we would catch some episodes of TCW from time to time when we were somewhere that had cable TV and was playing the show on Cartoon Network.

My little child brain did not see any nuance whatsoever because I was a child and therefore all my favorite characters were characters I thought were cool or the epitome of #girlpower (I'm a lesbian. I was obsessing over them in a lesbian way. I did not know this. Go women.) To me, Obi-Wan was just a white man. He was nice but he was also bland and boring. I didn't really touch his action figure when I would play with the Star Wars ones my brothers and I shared.

Last year I decided to watch Star Wars in chronological order of events rather than release date. And I really wanted to sit down and actually watch TCW because I'd only seen odd episodes here and there as a kid. In my rewatch, I was struck by Obi-Wan's kind heart, undying belief in the Jedi Order and the light side of the Force, sass and wit mingling with posh Brit attitude, the way he just slays nonstop (even in flavors of drowned wet cat and pathetic meow meow), and his overwhelming vibes of bisexuality. I was quite taken by him. He went from being just some white guy to being My Special White Guy.

[If you are curious and would like to see my list of childhood faves, it's under the cut.]

Vader - He's intimidating and I had his lightsaber. (Came in a three pack of Vader, Luke, and Obi-Wan. My mom went ham for things that came in three's or multiples of three because I'm a triplet and it's convenient)

C-3P0 - He literally went to the school of cuntology. (Special honor goes to his husband R2. Inseparable comedy and fuck-shit-up duo.)

Leia - She's a badass and I'm a lesbian. Slave Leia outfit did something to my developing brain.

Padmé - She's competent and I'm a lesbian. Also I would regularly check out the Star Wars visual dictionaries from the library or just look at them while I was there (I would go every Wednesday) and stare her costumes for way too long. Genuinely, I was (and still am) obsessed with every single costume they gave her.

Ahsoka - Jedi who's a girl and also a kid like me???!? Instant fave.

Ventress - Oaughhhgg drop dead gorgeous woman with two beautiful red lightsabers and the way she fights????? Guards, take me away

Aurra Sing - Genuinely think this one was because I'm a lesbian. I recall checking out a novel where she was the mc along with a comic that featured her from the library and the only thing from them I remember is looking at the pictures of her and thinking she's so pretty.

Mace Windu - Special honors go to him because his lightsaber color is the best. When I dove into Star Wars fandom spaces for the first time last year, I could not fathom why I kept seeing people say stuff about "Windu hate". I was under the impression the only thing to critique was they didn't let Samuel L Jackson say motherfucker even once. I stand by this.

[heyclickadee]

My take (that no one asked for) on every single Star Wars show and non-saga movie:

The Clone Wars (movie): It’s…okay it’s rough. This wasn’t supposed to be a movie at all, putting three episodes of the show together and releasing it theatrically was part of the distribution deal with Cartoon Network, as far as I know, and it does show. It’s grown on me, though.

Clone Wars (The Tartakovsky Series): I think I’m probably in the minority here, but I actually don’t love this one. It’s fun, slick, and stylish, like everything Tartakovsky does is, and I don’t dislike it, but it just doesn’t do much for me. It’s cool. Maybe it’s a little too cool. Great art style, though.

The Clone Wars: Very high highs, very low lows. Though to be honest, I actually love a lot of the goofier episodes. They’re fun. It doesn’t have to be all drama all the time. Sometimes you can let Jar Jar be an agent of chaos. Sometimes you can have an episode about interest rates. I don’t have the nostalgia factor going with TCW the way a lot of people do—I didn’t watch it until I was in my twenties—so I do have to admit that it is tied with one other show as my least favorite of the animated shows, but that’s not a bad thing. I still love it.

Ewoks: I’ve only seen about six episodes. It’s veeerry 80’s. I think eight year old me would have gone insane for this show had I seen it. Adult me actually has a bit of a soft spot for it. I’ll watch the rest of it eventually. (Aaaand now I have the theme song stuck in my head. It’s. It’s definitely a theme song.)

Droids: I…haven’t seen it.

Resistance: I finally had a chance to get all the way through this show (I was eyeballs deep in “okay fine we’ll try this college thing AGAIN” when it was airing and just didn’t have time to check it out) and you know what? It’s actually pretty good. It’s definitely skewed even a little younger than Star Wars typically is, but it does what it does really well. Sort of feel like this one is slept on.

The Mandalorian: It’s a fantastic adventure of the week show. I actually don’t dislike the “plot” episodes, but mostly I’m just here to watch what shenanigans Din and his small green force son get into. Season three is weaker than the first two, but I don’t even really think that season is bad. There was some great stuff in it—just uneven and mixed in with some not so great stuff. Overall, good popcorn viewing, as far as I’m concerned.

Andor: Okay, yeah, Andor is fantastic. I do think some of its popularity is that it’s one of two (maybe three) Star Wars shows made for adults more than anyone else, so some people don’t quite have the same “why isn’t this making me feel like Star Wars did when I was a kid?” dissonance watching it, but it is also genuinely amazing. Probably the best thing Star Wars has ever done even if it’s not technically my favorite.

The Book of Boba Fett: Is it a mess? Yes. Do I still enjoy it? Yeah. My main problem with BoBF is that it’s got some serious structural issues. Even besides Din coming in and taking over two whole episodes, I think that the telling the story via flashbacks was a mistake, and that we should have followed Boba through the childhood bits and slowly caught up to him in the present. Maybe revealed it was all a flashback while he was in the bacta tank from there. And I…don’t love Robert Rodriguez’s directorial style all that much, never really have. That said, I do hope we eventually get more of this, though if we do I think it will be folded into something else. Still don’t love the live action pike design. (I actually have a conspiracy theory that BoBF was originally just a few episodes or even a season of The Mandalorian, and that it was made its own thing for marketing purposes.) I want more Boba, more Fennec, and more Sand People, if nothing else.

Solo: One, killing off Val Beckett was a huge mistake. It’s not story breaking or anything like that, but doing so when she’s one of very few black women in Star Wars and half of one of, like, two interracial couples in the entire franchise means that it hits in a way it wouldn’t if she was someone else. So, yeah, don’t like that. Two, the rest of this movie is a blast and audiences just hate fun. I don’t care that no one asked for this movie, it’s fun and campy and there’s a heist and I like it. Three, Enfys Nest has the sickest armor design in the whole franchise and I need more of her.

Kenobi: So…maybe unpopular opinion here, but…I really like Kenobi. Kenobi’s a delight. It’s not perfect, it’s got some problems, but I like that it’s about a guy who’s that depressed and alone slowly regaining his sense of hope, I like that we had something focus on Leia for a while (because Anakin and Padme had two kids and Leia always gets left second string), I like that you’ve got grifters like Haja and former imperials doing what little bits they can to help even though they can’t fight the whole empire. And I know that thoughts are mixed on this, but I actually thought it made a couple bits of A New Hope make more sense where Leia is concerned; kid me could never figure out how she knew who Ben Kenobi was when that was the name he only went by in exile on Tattooine (“Ben Kenobi? Where is he!?”), and it kind of made the switch from the very formal request for aid on behalf of her father to the more personal, “Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi,” a little more poignant, for me, anyway. Reva is an amazing character, she’s a perfect parallel and eventually perfect foil for Anakin, she’s a mess and a he’s in pain and I just. I love her. I have mixed feelings on the live action Grand Inquisitor’s performance (and mixed feelings on the makeup—on the one hand it could be better and on the other hand the other main live action pau’an we’ve got—the actor’s head was just shaped like that). Nevertheless, this show for me was mostly about the big emotional beats, and it hit all of those really well.

The Bad Batch: This is a magnificent show and I adore it apart from That One Thing and the fact that everything was left completely open, even going into the epilogue, apart from Omega’s coming of age and the Hunter’s and Omega’s relationship’s arc. That was resolved very well. I am mildly insane about this show. I love it. Also, it vexes me. Tied with two other shows as my favorite Star Wars show in spite of all that. Amazing soundtrack. Sidebar: If it turns out I’m right and That One Thing is an extended fake out and we’re not quite done with these characters, I’m sorry, but I’m going to be the most insufferable person alive.

The Acolyte: Everyone is very pretty and just a little stupid. Mae is very fun. The good scenes are very, very good. The writing is pretty uneven; judging from interviews I have a completely different view of writing than Leslye Headland and had a hard time picking up why a lot of the characters did anything, but when it hit, it hit. It’s…very CW drama, which isn’t a bad thing—just not always my thing. That said, Sol is a fascinating concept for a character and Lee Jung-jae did an incredible job with what he was given. Same with Qimir and Manny Jacinto. It’s honestly not my favorite Star Wars show, but I’m still disappointed that it looks like it’s not moving forward. The leftover story might end up being folded into the high republic book series, but I still hope we get some kind of on-screen continuation. I think the public needs more of Darth Babe the Jacked.

Rogue One: It’s great. Yes, the entire main cast dies, but the central message was still about hope. Vader gets to pun. I remain somewhat dismayed that the only thing a portion of the audience took away from it was that the Vader hallway scene was cool. He’s a horror movie monster there. Still a great movie. (Also, Saw, why do you have that??)

Young Jedi Adventures: This skews very young; most Star Wars is for kids in the first place apart from Andor, the Acolyte, and mmaaaaaybe the Tales of anthology (the other live action shows are, in my opinion, solidly whole family), but this really is made for very young children. That said, I have watched it, and it’s a very well done show for very young kids. Also I would die and kill for Nubs.

The “Tales Of” anthology series: Yes, I am counting this as one, because even though there’s a shift in focus from the Jedi to the empire between seasons, it all follows the exact same format and structure. I’d argue this series is the one that’s primarily for the adults who either grew up watching Star Wars animation or got into it as adults. It’s good, lots of atmosphere, the episodes do range in quality but I generally like them, and it’s nice they get to play around with different techniques, like making miniatures and incorporating them into the animation. The Dooku and Barriss episodes are probably my favorites.

Ahsoka: I know the fandom is divided on this, like they are on most things, but I love this one, okay? It’s not perfect, but I have a good time watching it. It just happens to be this perfect blend of campy, fun, dramatic, and mystical that really feels like Star Wars for me. I like it when Star Wars gets weird, has silly little guys, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Lucky for me that this series has extragalactic travel via whale, Ahsoka being dragged to Force Therapy by Anakin, and Ezra hanging out with the space fraggles. That, and I love some of the concepts. I like the idea that force sensitivity isn’t the be all end all, that connecting to the force is something you can learn with practice even if you weren’t blessed with the genetic lottery. Peridea and the space it occupies in folklore is neat. And the music is wonderful. It is a little uneven, it’s not Andor or anything quite that amazing, but I’m eager for more.

Visions: This anthology is fantastic and you’re missing out if you haven’t seen it. I don’t love every entry, but even the weaker ones are worth seeing once, and the stronger ones are worth seeing a whole lot more than that. It’s a great blend of styles and takes from people normally not involved in creating Star Wars. This is in a three way tie for my favorite Star Wars show.

Rebels: Again, it’s not perfect, because no show is, but I also think it’s the strongest standalone show Star Wars has besides Andor. Yes, there are weaker episodes, but on the whole it’s remarkably consistent, and the second half of season four might be some of my favorite Star Wars outside of parts of the original trilogy. Also, it has some stunning backgrounds, and while the art style doesn’t always work for every character, the character animation ends up really hitting its stride towards the end of the second season, and just gets better from there. And, as always, the music is fantastic. Rebels rounds out that three way tie for my favorite Star Wars show along with TBB and Visions.

[babkaboy]

I previously asked what got you into Dead Dove, and I'm going to two questions this time :)

What got you into ObiKin?

How/when were you first properly introduced to Star Wars? (As in, remember and got interested in it)

I love these questions!! i watched episodes 1 and 2 when i was too young but my first memory of enjoying SW for real was when i was in third grade, first i was obsessed with tartakovsky’s clone wars show and later with revenge of the sith, my 8 year old ass came out of the movies shaken to the core LMAO also fun fact but i grew up with the prequels and didn’t watch the OG trilogy until i was 21! my young self was NOT impressed with the vfx in the old films so i kinda just avoided them for years, had to watch them later for college but yeah i’m a prequels girlie 💋

i got into obikin literally when owk came out in 2022. at this point i haven’t revisisted star wars since i was a kid (if we don’t count me watching the original trilogy). plus the only ship i ever liked was anidala? TCW 2003 did that to me (i still kinda like it to this day). tbh i never paid attention to obikin until 2022, mostly it was thanks to 1) columbo’s horny asf obikin art and 2) danmei novels, they opened my third eye to master x disciple ships and why they fuck so hard. gotta thank SVSSS bc i watched owk with my fujo lenses and it was amazing and horny. i will never be normal again

[cisheteronormativityfetishist]

This is my first Tumblr post, so sorry if I break some sort of convention.

Alright, I know we’re all bummed that Sabezra is separated again. However, thanks to the sequels we know that there is such a thing as a force dyad. It really seems that a lot of the storytelling in the shows serves to clean up around the movies…TCW did this for the prequels and Mando, Ahsoka, etc are going back and elaborating for the sequels. Grogu did force healing. Now, which character suddenly had a massive increase in her force abilities as soon as she reunited with Ezra?

Lots of people complained about about Rey and Ben just suddenly coming into this dyad. Ezra and Sabine have a LOT of history and have now chased each other across multiple galaxies. It makes more sense that they would develop some sort of special force connection than just about anyone else. Moreover, Sabine resolved the conflict within her at the end of Ahsoka season 1. She let Ezra go. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about him. It means that they have a healthy relationship where they can respect where they both need to be, unlike at the end of Rebels where they were very much in conflict. So I expect Sabine to retain her powers if not grow in them. Now what does that mean? First, the downsides. Force dyads, like Star Wars relationships, pretty much only have a history of ending tragically. Much as I’d like for them to catch the next purgill to the other galaxy, they will need to respect each other’s independence. “We are one when parted.” Ezra needs to deal with Thrawn and Ahsoka and Sabine need to figure out what’s going on with the Mortis Gods on Peridia. Still, I imagine that their paths will cross again.

Now the positives: There can be force Skype calls. It might take them a minute to figure out how or take some sort of divine intervention, but we have plenty of that just sort of lying around at the moment. There might be an “our lightsaber” moment—yeah I know Ezra made a new one, but it would still be epic. This has less to do with the force dyad theory I’m proposing, but if someone was gonna train Grogu it should be Sabine and I think there’s good reason to have Ezra there too. If, as some people are, you wanna insist that Sabine noticing the baby Noti is foreshadowing then rather than the unlikely conclusion that she wants a child, it could foreshadow that she’s going to teach The Child.

All in all, there’s hope for these kids yet. Their bond has been tested yet again and it’s stronger than ever. They’re the right person for each other. Eventually it’ll be the right time too.

[kanansdume]

So the show is going for this message of "Ahsoka is more than a legacy of death and destruction" but they do this by having her.... just not kill a fake vision version of Anakin? Cool, she's more than a warrior, more than just death and destruction and war. So then WHO IS SHE?

And this show doesn't have an answer. Who IS Ahsoka without the death and destruction? Who does she WANT to be? What traits would she rather focus on than the ones Anakin chose to instill in her that she knows are going to lead her down a bad path?

Like I get that they wanna focus on the master/padawan relationship thing and so they ONLY want to focus on Anakin, but personally, I think this is where it would've been really great to see Ahsoka's OTHER relationships in order to explore the other influences Ahsoka has had on her life that make her MORE than just "death and destruction."

This is where it would've been nice to see more of Rex and their friendship, or fleshing out the friendship with Barriss that was implied in TCW but never explored, or even more of Ezra or Hera from back in Rebels era, or Plo Koon with her as a very young child. Obi-Wan would've been nice, but Ewan's busy and that's an unrealistic expectation (however the narrative parallels of Obi-Wan to Anakin and how Obi-Wan represents the Jedi and the GOOD that is in Ahsoka from the THIRTEEN YEARS she spent growing up with the Jedi before she ever even MET Anakin, coupled with the fact that Obi-Wan considered her at least partly his Padawan as well, would've been really great). This allows you to showcase who Ahsoka actually IS outside of her relationship to Anakin and the legacy he forced upon her as his apprentice. She is more than Darth Vader's apprentice, she is more than an Order 66 survivor, she is more than a failed Jedi Padawan. She was someone who loved her men and joked around with them, she was someone who could cry on her friend's shoulder, she was someone who enjoyed being a mischievous kid, etc etc. Literally ANYTHING.

Because Ahsoka can't be a good master to ANYBODY if she doesn't know who she is. Anakin fails as a Master because he doesn't understand or accept who HE is and so all he passes on to Ahsoka are some basic Jedi platitudes and a lot of Sith manipulation along with pieces of his own trauma, none of which do her any good. If Ahsoka can't discover and accept who she ACTUALLY is, how is she ever supposed to guide someone else on that journey?

This is why I feel like this show should've been TWO shows: one to explore Ahsoka and who she is and letting go of that connection to Anakin and the ways it's weighing her down, and one to follow up on the Rebels finale that actually allows the Rebels characters the focus they deserved. One episode to explore this for Ahsoka was NOT enough because we got to the end of it and.... we still don't know who she was any more than we did before this. She chooses to live? Cool, was she choosing to die before this? Was she just wandering around waiting to die? Was it a metaphorical death of falling to her own darkness? There's not enough in the four episodes leading up to this to tell us any of that and this episode didn't have NEARLY enough time to actually get into it as deeply as they needed to. Ahsoka is a cardboard cutout just throwing out one-liners that sound deep and meaningful but when put back in context and analyzed for like... 60 seconds, there's nothing there.

[yukipri]

The Bad Batch Ep S2 Ep 11 - Thoughts & Spoilers

Spoilers,

Spoilers,

Spoilers,

So everything's beneath the cut!

I know with the Mando S3 premiere, this episode may have gotten even less attention than the rest of the show. BUT this episode had some incredible things, so here are *some* of my thoughts.

FIRST:

HIM!!!!! and he was NAMED and had LINES!!!!

This is super exciting, because while we glimpsed Scorch in Season 1 while they were rescuing Gregor, I don't think he was mentioned anywhere by name, meaning it could have just been a random other RC with similar paint.

Delta Squad (from Legends) was technically canonized when they cameo'd in the Clone Wars, but it's so nice to see them again! It makes me pray that the other 3 members have escaped and are with Rex, because Scorch is *definitely* still super chipped....

Next, the MAIN thing I was super excited about:

So many things in this episode made me absolutely SCREAM, but the main one was probably FINALLY some movement on the connection between Nala Se and Omega. That's something I've been dying for more elaboration on since S1.

Omega is clearly a kid created for a specific reason, raised under specific circumstances, who has a unique bond with Nala Se, the primary creator of all clones. I was sure this would be part of the central storyline of TBB so I'm SO GLAD we're finally getting to it.

The thing is, Omega clearly has very complex feelings towards Nala Se, and Nala Se also considers Omega "special." SUPER curious to see where they go with this, especially since Nala Se seems to be reluctant to help the Empire. Understandable, given the destruction of Tipoca City, but she also never struck me as the sentimental type. I'm personally very wary of the "care" Nala Se seems to be showing Omega, and based on what we currently know, doubt that she means it sincerely—Omega (or her DNA) is likely valuable in some way.

Not sure how I'll react if they paint Nala Se as a sympathetic character, because I doubt I'll ever forgive her for what she did to Fives. Her treatment of Fives, which is also indicative of her treatment of all other clones. Her being kind(?) to Omega doesn't erase that.

I am absolutely confident that this lab and Nala Se/Omega is part of a plot that will connect to the experiments done to Grogu, which in turn will connect to Snoke + the return of Sidious in the ST. That's the running thread, to provide explanation/justification for that "twist."

While I think TBB is fun, THIS is what I personally was waiting for—Omega's true identity and why she's of value to Nala Se, how she therefore fits into the greater plan Nala Se had, and how that in turn affects not just Fett clones, but all the cloning that runs throughout SW.

I also LOVED that Omega showed her skills here—yes, she DOES know her way around Kaminoan tech!! The only time we've really seen it before is when Cad Bane kidnapped her + the S1 finale. She was Nala Se's personal MEDICAL ASSISTANT. She is older than the Batch! She KNOWS things!!

I was genuinely expecting (hoping) to learn more about Omega throughout the entire show, and we do see her being skilled + confident around various tools, but that's around it. I hope her past that she doesn't want to talk about is dragged out into the open in these last few eps.

I have a LOT of theories about Omega's past and her connection to the Batch and their origins (pst it's all in my fic), some of which will likely no longer be canon compliant, but ah well!

Other things that really made me happy:

-The Batch showing some growth due to the last episode, and growing a spine to stand up against Cid. Both pointing out that she didn't help them like they've helped her, and demanding a higher cut, though she did get the final say in the end. It was still a massive improvement!

-The ZILLO BEAST. First of all, it was definitely one of the coolest creatures in TCW, so it was super exciting to see it brought back! Its physiology is fascinating, and I loved how we got to see it visibly grow due to it feeding on electricity. This is actually the second creature we've encountered in TBB that seems to like electricity as an energy source, the first being in S1. It's neat to see this pattern, perhaps they're distantly related species?

I also LOVED that it tied into more experiments. I need to rewatch the eps, but i think it was implied in TCW that Palps was interested in the Zillo beast's armor, so I loved seeing that actually followed up on!

In general, I'm just a huge fan when world building plot points connect or are followed up on to build continuity and a greater view of the SW universe, and this episode definitely connected a bunch of points, so that was awesome!

Anyway, only 5 eps left of S2, excited to see where it goes!

[antianakin]

If you were in charge of the Star Wars Prequels how would you have written Anakin? (assuming the only thing you can't do is erase him from canon :P)

Would you learn into Anakin's evilness or try to make him more sympathetic?

Honestly? I don't have THAT much of an issue with Anakin's general characterization in the Prequel Trilogy. I think for the most part that Anakin is a really interesting character in the Prequels and pretty unique as far as villain origin stories and action heroes of the time tended to be written. The focus on Anakin as FEARFUL, as someone who CRIES a lot and is AWKWARD and honestly not suave or smooth AT ALL (unless he's giving himself over to darkness, generally) is actually a really interestingly novel choice to go for. And that unique aspect of him is, arguably, why Anakin was so despised in the Prequels for being "whiny" and "annoying" and people really did not vibe with this weird awkward dude as proto-Vader. Obi-Wan as the much more competent, smooth, suave character with all of the snarky one-liners comes off looking much better in comparison. Same with Padme, usually.

So I wouldn't actually change the CORE of Anakin, the journey he goes on and the way his vices tend to be shown. TCW has already done that, they've just replaced Anakin's less likable characteristics with Obi-Wan's much more affable personality. They gave him snarky one-liners, he's now suave and smooth and charming, etc. It's annoying and it's boring.

But there are two things that don't work for me that I WOULD change if I were capable of going back in time and influencing Lucas's mind towards certain rewrites.

One is that I would make his romance with Padme more believable. The problem with the romance in AOTC for me is that you can completely believe that Anakin would be into Padme, but it feels a lot more difficult to understand why Padme is into Anakin in return. Especially after he murders an entire village of people down to the last child (we'll come back to this one). So we need to be told more WHY Padme is so into him when he is this weird, awkward, whiny manchild. Like, sure, he's pretty, but being pretty isn't enough to explain why Padme is willing to jeopardize her entire career to marry him by the end of the film.

So Padme either needs to be more corrupt, more angry herself, more connected to this part of Anakin that desires power, or they need to show us a better genuine connection. One of the things from the extended/deleted scenes from AOTC that I think could've helped with this is the bits where Padme mentions she had thought she'd be a wife and a mother by now and we see how close she is to her own family when she takes Anakin there. We know how close Anakin was to his mother and I think it would've been REALLY easy to use that as an easy connection. You could even help along the next movie by having Anakin mention that when he was a kid, he'd always sort-of wanted a big family. He didn't HATE that it was just him and his mom obviously, but it had been a sort of dream of his that one day they'd be free and he'd find a beautiful wife and have a big family for Shmi to dote on later in life. This gives Anakin and Padme a shared dream that neither of them is allowed to pursue due to their chosen careers. They've both sacrificed a desire for a family in favor of duty to the galaxy so when they get together later, you can kind-of understand why. No one else gets it but each other, etc.

The second thing I would change is the Tusken Massacre. I think that going as far as completely massacring the entire village is too far too soon. This is something that works only if you as the viewer don't truly see the Tuskens as equal to humans like Shmi or a people like the Jedi. The Tuskens aren't QUITE animals maybe, but they're also just savages who torture innocent women to death, so their deaths aren't sad for THEIR sake, the massacre is sad because of what it represents for Anakin - it's the beginning of the end. And obviously from a modern viewpoint, this really doesn't work anymore, especially with the way the Tuskens are being written these days. It also feels a little redundant with Order 66. It's not as impactful that he murders Jedi children when we already saw him murder Tusken children in the last movie. Baby murder is baby murder, there's no escalation in the evil he commits aside from sheer numbers I guess.

So I would probably have Anakin either choose to just leave the village quietly without killing anyone, or have him stop at just the guards/men and leave the women/children alive and either way he admits to Padme that he WANTED to kill them all and only just barely stopped himself. This also helps the romance aspect in that now you don't have to figure out why Padme is super chill with marrying a MASS BABY MURDERER and her moral code is a lot less gray. If he only killed the people who attacked him in the village or didn't kill anyone at all but just WANTED to, then you can dismiss it a lot easier. The rage is sympathetic and understandable and relatable, but Anakin is still mostly in control of himself. Padme can say that she's felt the same rage and not acted on it, so Anakin is the same. She can insist he would never murder Jedi younglings to Obi-Wan in the next film without sounding like an idiotic hypocrite.

(There's obviously a LOT of other issues with the Tusken Massacre in terms of how the Tuskens are written and presented in this film that could be rewritten to be a lot better and make the Tuskens more sympathetic, etc etc, but that's not really what you're asking me about and I'm not necessarily the right person to speak to that anyway.)

[supremechancellorrex]

While I still enjoy the Bad Batch and the limelight it gives clones to an extent, it feels the show really doesn't understand the concepts and implications its grappling with. I get that Omega deserves a childhood, but Hunter is getting really out of line with his condescension and dismissiveness on the clone issue. The fact is, Echo's brothers are enslaved, being abused, experimented on, mind-controlled and being left to die right now, and they have no one so Echo is trying his best to save them.

The exchange in Tipping Point felt really tone deaf.

Hunter: "Echo, you've seen the power you're up against. We can't defeat them."

Echo: "It's not about that. It's about fighting for our brothers."

Hunter: "I understand why you're doing this... When will it be enough?"

Hunter speaks like lives aren't on the line, or at least 'worthwhile' ones. He talks to Echo as if Echo's just a workaholic obsessing over a pointless venture and at some point Echo will have to give up and let his 'reg' brothers be dropped into the fire and start dying as usual. It's obvious Echo will save as many clones lives as he can, because each life is a person and has value like TCW said. You wouldn't tell an activist saving slaves on the underground railway in 1800s America "When will it be enough?" and "We can't defeat the slavemasters" as if it's stupid and completely pointless. That would be morally bankrupt and pathetically defeatist.

For all their talk of being clones, the Bad Batch have helped more non-clones than actual clones at this point. What is the justification for such callousness for the clones? I've heard people say the Bad Batch were 'bullied for being different' and that's why they don't really care about clones being tortured, enslaved and left to die, yet that would be bad writing. The concept of them being 'bullied for their differences' was only briefly introduced in the BB show itself and the evidence is mostly one-note clones calling them 'Sad Batch' in the canteen and a food fight, yet at the same time every clone CHARACTER the Bad Batch meet they have a good relationship with, from Cody, Rex, Gregor, Cut and Howzer to Mayday with Crosshair. Plus, none of Cody's team had a seeming issue with Crosshair, nor did Mayday's. Force, just before Hunter talked to Echo on Echo's whole saving people from slavery thing, Echo had just saved Howzer! Howzer, you know, the swell guy who way back warned the Bad Batch about Crosshair's trap and bought them time by putting himself at risk.

If the Bad Batch still care about the bullying at this point, a concept that feels underdeveloped and superficial at this point it makes the Bad Batch sound like petty, dumb kids, maybe they shouldn't be our protagonists in a clone-orientated story about clone rights? Especially since I'm losing confidence that the narrative is going to properly call Hunter and BB out at this point. Furthermore, if the 'regs' as they call them really hated differences, why did they all like Ninety-Nine? Ninety-Nine was very different physically, and they still listened to him and valued him. And why does no one have a problem with Echo looking so 'unreg'? Echo is working with tons of 'regs' and he's doing fine.

The Bad Batch being 'bullied' just feels like it was a cheap way to drum up sympathy for our new protagonists while crapping on the old ones.

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So, what are the lessons I can take from the Bad Batch? The Bad Batch can tolerate fascism and slavery as long as it doesn't affect their family unit, even when it's obvious that any real parent would see that Omega would never have a good life growing up with the Empire around. Hunter could have easily just talked about Omega needing Echo, and the Bad Batch needing him too, and that it's been difficult him being gone, but instead he chose to trivialise saving people from galaxy-wide slavery, death and torture in a bid to get Echo to hang and sit around on an island and give Omega advice on ship flying or whatever. How unlikeable, and these are our protagonists.

Meanwhile, Katara from A:TLA: "I will never ever turn my back on people who need me!" That's a real good person, a real hero, a real protagonist.

Also Ahsoka from TCW, "In my life, when you find people who need help, you help them no matter what."

Also Fives from TCW, "Wait, this is wrong and we all know it. The general is making a mistake, and he needs to be called upon it. No clone should have to go out this way! We are loyal soldiers. We follow orders, but we are not a bunch of unthinking droids! We are men! We must be trusted to make the right decision, especially when the orders we are given are wrong!"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot just follow orders when I know they're wrong. Especially when lives are at stake." You hear that Bad Batch? 'Right decisions'? 'Lives at stake'? 'Help people' no matter what? 'Reg' clones being good men deserving better? I wonder what that means.