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heyclickadee · 7 months ago

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I understand that people are going to cope how they are going to cope, and trying to find meaning in the handling of Tech in season three is part of that, but it’s also okay to criticize the show.

I like a good character death. Tech’s departure was not that. My issue is not that he’s presumed dead, my issue is that it and the handling of it is nonsense. So (I once again get very negative about my favorite show under the cut):

1. When you kill off a main character, you really have to kill them off. How you do so can vary from story to story, but you really have to do four things:

One, you need a good reason to kill them off in the first place. (“Stakes” is not a good reason. A secondary character, sure, but not a main one. More on that in a minute.)

Two, you need to make it perfectly clear that the character is, in fact, dead.

Three, you need to show the other characters processing and accepting that death. This is important because doing so will allow the audience to do the same and let the character go. This is especially important if you’re writing for a young audience.

Four, you need to make it explicitly clear that the character cannot come back. This is especially true in sci fi or fantasy. Especially if you’re the Character Resurrection franchise.

And guess what the show didn’t do?

Any of that. Any of it. What it did instead was ambiguously remove Tech from the story (uniquely in a show that loves making us watch characters die on screen; last time we saw Tech for sure he was alive), never gave a good reason for doing so in or out of the show, never showed us any character working through the impact of his loss (even though there was ample opportunity for Omega, especially, to do so), and ripped the “could he come back?” box wide open by parading CX-2 in front of our faces. It is never, at any point, handled like an actual main character death. It’s handled as a plot point from which the narrative moves fairly quickly, and treated by all parties as an absence. By all the rules of storytelling, Tech isn’t dead. He’s just ambiguously gone. And that means the writing team did a terrible job if what they wanted to do was kill him off. We should not be debating this after the show has ended if he’s actually dead.

2. I understand why some fans are trying to find meaning in losing Tech. I am not, because that meaning is not offered by the text itself. And, if the plan was to never bring him back, it should have been.

We are not, for example, offered a lesson about how not everyone comes home from the war. In order for that to have been the case, we would have needed to see someone, probably Omega, working through that. We would have needed to see her refusing to accept that Tech is gone—like we do in Plan 99, by the way—and slowly coming to terms with the idea that her brother isn’t coming home. But we don’t get that, not even as subtext.

Something else we could have gotten that would have worked with all the little visual reminders of Tech, empty chairs, name-drops, and even the CX-2 leading? The batch being so haunted by losing Tech and not really knowing what happened to him for sure that they start seeing him everywhere. But for that to work we would have needed, again, to see that as an explicit subplot where someone, probably Omega, again, gets really invested in the signs that Tech is coming back and even starts assuming that CX-2 is him, only to realize that she’s seeing what she wants to see and having to accept that Tech isn’t coming back, but that she can still keep Tech’s memory alive by following in his footsteps. That’s something you can kind of project onto what we’re given in the epilogue, but you do have to project it, because it’s entirely absent from the rest of the show.

As is, Tech’s sacrifice isn’t given any weight. From a narrative perspective, it was an incredibly contrived set of circumstances that accomplished nothing except punting Tech off a train, and gave Tech no choice but to remove himself from the story—exit, stage down. Losing Tech doesn’t, even sub-textually, serve as anyone’s motivation. It does nothing to move the plot or anyone’s character development forward. The primary motivators of season three were Omega’s kidnapping, Crosshair’s PTSD, and Hemlock needing to get Omega back.

Tech’s absence does nothing to move anything forward and only really serves to slow the plot down and make the others struggle to do anything because he’s not there to carry the team like he did in the first two seasons—and nothing about that would have played out any differently if Tech spent the season in a coma in a bacta tank. The only part of Tech’s sacrifice that has meaning is that he loved his family enough to offer it. And that is profound, but that’s not something that would be negated by a return because the love and the offer remain. As for his presumed death? His return couldn’t have taken meaning away from that, because the show never gave it any meaning in the first place.

And no, Tech “dying” isn’t something I have to accept. Tech isn’t a real person, he’s an idea, and an idea that didn’t come to fruition. I can point out the ways the handling of his departure didn’t work all day if I want.

3. CX-Tech was not an overly online theory. I need people to understand this. It was an assumption made by most of the casual audience. My sister, who has no contact with the fandom and doesn’t like me discussing the show at all until she’s seen it, assumed he was Tech. My brother-in-law, who was a die-hard Tech-has-to-be-dead-shut-up guy for the entire hiatus and the first half of season three, was convinced he was Tech. Every kid I’ve spoken to who watched the show thought he was Tech and is deeply confused that he got speared like that. My brother, who doesn’t even watch the show but who does walk by when I’m watching it sometimes, thought he was Tech. You can’t get more casual and away from the fandom than that.

The thing is, the answer we get isn’t that he’s not Tech. It’s, “We’re not telling.” Which means that as it currently stands, a season-and-a-half of CX buildup amounted to a five minute boss fight and a non-answer. That’s…not something that works! That’s atrocious writing if that was the whole sum of their intent all along.

And you can say, well, that was a clever misdirect! Plot twist! Except, one, misdirects and twists only work if the real answer is more satisfying than the false one, otherwise it just falls flat. Two, if it was a misdirect, it’s not one the creative team is willing to own. No one will touch the Tech-CX-2 parallels with a twenty-foot pole, except the Kiners, who have incredibly meaningful explanations for every musical choice but then say shit like, “that chord just sounds good in brass” about Battle of the Snipers (…before going on to say that the four note lose motif from “Plan 99” is Tech’s leitmotif…which is also all over Battle of the Snipers…and is only there according because the batch is divided in that scene, a scene in which Crosshair’s leitmotif is entirely absent even though he’s just supposed to be fighting his own dark side represented by a guy who’s totally not Tech. Sure. I’m going to go eat drywall.) Because acknowledging that and saying that was supposed to be Tech will just make the audience angrier, and they may not even be allowed to do so, and saying that it is Tech—you can understand why they can’t do that, right? The implications are horrific. But that horrific implication is probably what at least some of the casual audience who will never interact with the fandom or a single interview is going to walk away with.

4. The thing that bothers me most about all of this is the combined toxicity of the fandom and the leading from the marketing and social media. Part of the fandom saying that there were never any signs Tech could have survived (in Star Wars, no less) is starting to feel like gaslighting; and while I don’t think there was any malice in the leading in the marketing and social media—I’m even willing to give a tiny bit of leeway for the creative team maybe knowing something we don’t yet—it was handled badly, expectations for this season should have been set early and clearly, and as of right now it all feels like an incredibly cruel prank at autistic fans expense, whatever the intent may have been or may still be.

5. And finally, here’s the thing: I’m willing to give the writers a bit of leeway on this. I’m willing to grant that some choices may have been out of their hands for unknown reasons. I’m even willing to say that maybe they’re not really done with this story yet, that The Bad Batch could just be the first chapter of a longer show that was split up for stupid business reasons, and that the finale is the way it is because they had to have an ending of sorts without actually resolving anything. I’m willing to grant a lot of grace there. In fact, I actually think there’s a very good chance we’ll still get Tech back alive in canon, and sooner than later, if only because no one (not even the voice actors) seems happy about this, most fans are coping but disappointed at best, the creative team got asked about Tech non-stop for a solid year and a half, and the writers don’t seem at all committed. We know from the rest of the show that they know how to definitively kill a guy, and, frankly, Tech in the first two seasons comes across as something of a writer favorite. They like using him!

But whatever I’m hoping or suspecting, and whatever leeway I’m willing to grant the creative team here, the final product is all we have right now. And I am going to criticize that final product for badly handling a (presumed) character death and straight up breaking the central conceit of the show in doing so.

#the bad batch #one thing I will say #is that if I knew for sure #that ‘the cavalry has arrived’ was simply a midpoint #not really a series finale in the writers’ heads but just a season finale #and that this story was going to continue but now with more focus on Rex and Echo #with Tech as the bridge between the two series #I would not be nearly as harsh about the finale as I am #it doesn’t resolve anything it simply stops #because it had to end

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waywardsou2 · 7 months ago

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The Cavalry has Arrived Analysis

Here it finally is, the long-awaited analysis of Season 2 Episode 15 of The Bad Batch. Apologies for the wait.

I would just like to say that this is long, like 4500+ words long, so I understand if it's hard to get all the way through, I'm going to post it on my Ao3 as well if that makes it more bearable to read. And also, it might be easier to understand if you watch the episode alongside it, but I understand if that is too much effort. Anyway, let's begin!

(Disclaimer I did have gifs and screen recordings I wanted to share but my laptop is being a bitch so you get screenshots and sourced gifs instead)

0:36

The introduction is missing its colour, the same way their armour is now missing its colour, I think that represents the chage they all went through at this point and the change that was to come.

Props to Wrecker’s perseverance.

2:22 “I knew Clone Force 99 would attempt to recover Omega, their failure is inevitable”

He is so sure of himself when he says this, Hemlock’s ego and over confidence was ultimately his downfall, he believes he has everything figured out.

2:26 “What I am working on is beyond your understanding, something so vital to the Emperor, it makes me, indispensable, unlike yourself”

The way Emery speaks of Hemlock makes me think he took her under his wing or took her for medical purposes (she may have been the first Omega) and she was loyal to him out of obligation. She is a Clone as well; I think like Tech she was built for advanced medical/scientific intelligence.

The timid nature of Ava and Sami makes me think they are either extremely young and have been here for a while or have both attempted to break out just like Jax did and they are afraid of being punished again.

6:22

Wrecker doing all he can despite the pain to make it to the base. He deserves more props!

If you’re dumb like me and didn’t realise – Project: Necromancer is what keeps Palpatine alive until the events in Rise of Skywalker

8:02

Omega knew that even if she was seen, the Zilo Beast would be the ultimate catalyst for the destruction of Tantis. Without having freed the Zilo Beat I doubt they would have been able to all make it out.

Despite all of Hemlock’s planning I don’t think he had a backup plan for the kids using the droid tunnels to escape and unleash the Zilo Beast as well.

8:53

The troopers that finds the kids in the vent are Clones which shows how far the dismissal of Clones has travelled. They already got rid of so many Clones that even on a secret base there are enlisted civilian troopers. Also, the fact that it’s a reprogramming facility full of Clones being inhumanely tested on would have made sense that there were less Clones serving there because seeing what was going on might have spurred on more deserters.

10:32 “Omega. She released the Zilo”

I love how Echo just knew that it was Omega based on how she had been on their missions and the influence the rest of the Batch must’ve had on her. He knew that the trail of chaos would somehow be hers. Presious.

[Personal note: I like the lack of Jedi in The Bad Batch, don’t get me wrong they are cool and all but it’s nice with them not being the center of attention for once]

11:15

When Crosshair is using the binoculars to look at the search patrols his hand begins to shake but it only starts shaking when he looks at them. I think that may be from the anxiety that he has undoubtedly developed. He’s remembering the fear of when he first broke out of Tantis base. He also inhales quite sharply, and it isn’t a tsk of annoyance, it’s the sound you make when something frightens you but you are trying to swallow it.

12:33 “Wake up Wrecker, Clone Force 99 died with Tech”

[ok so we are just saying that now?!?!?]

It’s a blunt and harsh statement but it doesn’t necessarily make sense in the flow of the conversation, he also directs it at an injured Wrecker, why would he do that? I think it’s because he’s frustrated and scared, he’s in a stressful situation and he’s venting his emotions. He doesn’t ever do that so he’s doing it at a time of heightened emotions. I think because of his trauma on Tantis, being back here is a huge trigger that he simply has an irrational emotional response to. It also shows how hard he is taking Tech’s death. Because like, why would he just blurt that out? He wouldn’t unless it was the underlying reason for his stress on top of the situation, they are presently in.

12:42 “I’ve been inside that mountain; I know what we’re up against. If we all go in, we’re not all making it back out. Omega needs you both. So, I’m doing this alone. It’s…it’s what I deserve”.

Hunter and Wrecker look at each other when Crosshair says “Omega needs you both” they immediately understood what he was implying, but I think they were also concerned that Crosshair was talking in such a way that meant he didn’t feel Omega needed him. But they’ve seen the contrary during times without him and on Pabu briefly. The way Omega reacted around him in the collapse Tipoca city and when he chose to stay away from them and when she was with him on Tantis. It’s obvious to everyone but him how much she cares about it.

It also highlights how Crosshair perceives himself, he doesn’t think he’s needed by his siblings and he doesn’t think he’s redeemable after what he has done, he doesn’t think they have missed or would have missed him if he were to be gone and he most likely doesn’t think he is useful anymore because of his tremors affecting his ability to be the sniper he once was.

He doesn’t see how much they all still love him. He is still their brother.

13:00 “Don’t even think about Plan 99 Crosshair, Omega needs all of us and so do those Clones”

Hunter jumps in right away to remind Crosshair he is still of value to them as a Clone and a brother, he may not say it directly but he wouldn’t have phrased it that way if that wasn’t what the underlying tone was.

By mentioning the other Clones as well he if further cementing that Crosshair has value beyond that, they need him as well.

13:13 “We do this together”

Wrecker further emphasised his use and value as a person by saying this to Crosshair. He is still their brother, and they are still a team, with or without Tech.

14:31 “The Zilo got out this way, so can we. What’s wrong?” “I’m not good with heights, I guess I’d make a poor soldier” “My brother Wrecker hates heights too, and he’s the strongest soldier I know. Just stay focused on what’s ahead, not what’s below”

Omega reaffirms the Jax’s fear instead of shutting it down, she builds him up by saying that a person she admires has the same fear he does, showing that he can still be strong despite his fear.

15:30 “Of course they will. Do it”

More proof that Hemlock believes he has everything under control despite actually having nothing under control.

16:08

I believe the back shot of that trooper’s head is Tech. If you look at the placement of his left ear compared to his right “ear” (our left, our right) the angle of his ear doesn’t match the placement of his other one, I believe that what we think was his ear on the right was actually the edge of Tech’s goggles.

Look at the way they move when they step out of the capsules, they move shakily and jarringly, they sort of look like Zombies right? And what project are they apart of? Project: Necromancer, what is necromancy? The process of bringing something back from the dead. (I feel like this was obvious but I only noticed it the second time around)

17:18

This seems to be a very practiced technique, but not one I’ve seen Clones use before, so I’m going to assume it’s something they’ve practiced and developed themselves. The way they move allows them to have eyes in every direction all at once. The rear Clone moving first each time so they can shuffle forward whilst still being able to look in every direction at once, this also means it’s a fresh set eyes every rotation so that if the last one missed something the other one might catch it.

They are staying in a tight formation so that no one is left out in the open and they can look out for one another. This seems to signify the closeness of them in more than just physicality, I think it also shows that not only are they still a well-oiled machine in terms of a team, but they have each others back as brothers as well.

18:09 “We need to fall back. Go, I’ll be right behind you”

Notice the difference of how he says this and what he says, this isn’t a sacrifice, it’s back up, it’s a calculated way to let them escape whilst still allowing him to follow them, one strategically placed shot and he’s out of there. He’s not sacrificing himself like he wanted to in the forest.

18:47

Despite his tremors he is still able to shoot the pilot, dead centre in the chest from 75+ meters out. It also shows that his tremors are not only an anxiety thing but a nerve damage thing, because his hand didn’t shake in this intense moment like it would have if it was entirely an anxiety.

Wrecker is fighting the hardest out of all of his brothers at some points I would say. He has a serious chest injury so bad his armour cracked and still he tries to carry Hunter away from falling debris and when Crosshair is kicked across the floor he still tries to get up and save his brother. Not only is he strong by nature he is mighty resilient. And with the electric spear that is thrust right into his chest over his wound, that has to be enough volts to kill him at this point and yet he’s grabbing onto it WITH HIS BARE HANDS and trying to pull it away.

19:20

Crosshair sees his brother in trouble and INSTANTLY tried to reach for his gun to shoot his brother’s attacker.

His hand instantly starts shaking when the CX trooper stands on his wrist, not does his hand shake but his entire arm starts shaking as well, its not just a tremor, it’s a trauma response. He is frightened, clearly and rightly so and still he reaches for his gun, desperate. The tremor then shakes his whole body when the Necro Clone is beginning to cut his hand off. He shakes violently.

19:30 “You should be more careful with your shooting hand”.

It may be a coincidence, but would the Necro clones really have time to pay attention to which shooting hand was each of the Clones? IDK this is more of an out their observation than an acute theory.

19:45

Sami reaches for Omega, scared of the blaster fire, its clear that she trusts Omega a lot now. I’m guessing there may have been fighting or a shoot out when/before she was taken to the vault. Omega holds her hand to comfort her!

21:07

Echo is just so chill about the other kids, despite the situation they are in and his prior knowledge of him hes calm, collected and his face even visibly softened at the sight of the timid children.

[Personal note: My brother pointed out that despite everything Emery is still quite blunt and blank – I think that’s because she was raised in an environment that didn’t allow her to develop fully in an emotional sense]

22:44

Hunter hasn’t made an audible sound of pain or discomfort past a groan this entire series, he seems to have high pain thresh hold. However, during this scene he’s clearly grunting at the pain, and knowing Hemlock and the threats and methods he used on Crosshair, this is most likely a more painful process than it has to be. When it stops Hunter is clearly out of it and loopy, but he is still fighting so hard, straining at the restraints with everything he has left, when it stops, he slumps considerably.

Hemlock is a sadist; he’s fucking smiling during all of this

23:13

Hemlock could have let Crosshair bleed out from his hand but instead he patches him up, knowing that even if he didn’t survive the conditioning again at least he would suffer for all the trouble he caused. Hemlock wanted him to live just a little longer to inflict as much paint as possible until he died.

23:36 "We'll survive, but you wont"

Hunter the badass he is talking smack despite being in pain

When the conditioning started up again, he actually screams, he was not prepared and was clearly struggling this time around.

24:29

The clones despite being free look really tired and worn out, they are most likely an older generation of clones and the must be hella resilient to still be kicking after their many attempts at conditioning.

25:06

Echo asks where their brothers may have been taken and the Clone at the front looks down and right – this means he’s recalling a memory/emotion before he answers.

He says “conditioning” really hesitantly. He’s remembering that place he’s afraid no afraid of.

30:56

Hemlock said “A glaring weakness in Clones is their loyalty to one another” I think that’s where he is the most wrong because it’s not their downfall, it an honourable trait and its why the Clone’s will always be better than the storm troopers. They are always willing to fight for one another.

[Personal note: Why the hell did we never get a full explanation on what Omega’ purpose was, we got some science her and there but never a full answer, that is so frustrating]

29:32 Echo doesn’t tell Omega to stay put or to hand back he says, “We’re on our way” The don’t treat Omega like a kid anymore. They treat her like a soldier because they know she is capable, and she has been through so much it further proves that fact.

33:00 “You’re forgetting one thing, I have them”

She trusts her brothers, unwavering, she is there for them and she knows they will be there for her, this warms my heart to an unimaginable degree

[Personal note: There is something so delicious about watching Wrecker yeet himself out of the restraints and fucking up the whole machine and one of the CX troopers. Especially since less than 10 minutes ago he was out cold, not to mention in a shit tonne of pain]

33:46

Wrecker sees Hemlock walk away with Omega and uses that adrenaline and rage mix to his advantage to fight back. He is much more hurt than the first time he was under pressure of that spear, but he fights back, and wins this time.

33:58

Wrecker looks so fucking mad, he’s usually a massive teddy bear with super strength but he’s not even Wrecker anymore, he just pure rage in Clone form. And he watches as Hemlock walks out with Omega and just loses it, he dives at the CX trooper with full force to give his brothers time to leave. This man deserves a medal.

34:38

Hunter is delirious and probably just woke up from being passed out and he speared that CX trooper directly in the chest into the wall. The strength that would have taken is something he shouldn’t have had in his state, the powers of adrenaline are quite remarkable.

[Personal note: THE BEGINNING OF THE FINAL CROSSHAIR / HUNTER TEAM UP!!!]

34:50 “I’ll find Omega, you should stay here” “Not a chance”

This shows how far Crosshair has come, not only in the few hours this episode has taken place in but over the course of the entire series. In Season 1 he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Omega and was quite harsh towards her, and now Season 3 where he is severely injured and refusing to rest until she is safe.

They are brothers till the very end, they hold onto each other lending the other the last bit of strength they have so that they can find Omega.

[Personal note: the amount of force Wrecker must have used to slam the CX troopers head into a solid wall, especially in this weakened state of his makes me wonder how much he has been holding back in the past]