#and echo man. echo who has had less choices under the techno union. who has always wanted to make a difference beyond what clones have been

[zeb-z]

Echo following change if it means he can make more of a difference, help more people. A reflection of Fives, who had no question about challenging authority, of Rex who will do what needs to be done to get the job done, of Cody who thinks before he leaps, of Ahsoka who puts kindness and mercy above all else, of Hevy who didn’t fear sacrifice for the greater good, of Anakin who can’t just sit still when he can actively do something about it. His decision to leave is not a choice he makes lightly, it’s something he has been stressing over since season one, weighing keeping Omega safe, running from the Empire, and the knowledge that with Rex they could be doing so much more against the rising injustice. But ultimately it was still his choice.

His place isn’t running bounties and avoiding the Empire. Echo, like Rex, like Fives, will be on the front lines so long as he’s needed there, because that’s where he can make the most difference. It’s like Rex told him - “if that’s where you feel your place is, then that’s where you belong.” He belongs to direct action and making a difference just as much as he belongs with his brothers and sister.

The fact that he has a family, a future beyond fighting, is very important. He’ll always be part of the Bad Batch, and he’ll return to them again (I have to believe that), but it’s not his place anymore, not right now. And the fact that it’s his choice, one he did not make without consideration, is important as well.

(and maybe there’s something to be said for Cody’s speech about the choices you make and living with them, because even the right one for you isn’t the right one for someone else. fighting has a cost, a fractured group and a lonely kid - but it’s still his choice, and that’s important. here’s to hoping it’s not a permanent consequence)