#where was crosshair's reaction to finding out Tech had died

[barissoffee]

We've had more scenes of the bad batch talking about Crosshair leaving in S1/S2 than of them talking about Tech's "death" in S3.

[photogirl894]

I can't keep quiet anymore. I've got some things to say about the whole Tech situation from Bad Batch...

I've kept a lot of this bottled in for a long time, but now, I just can't. Long rant ahead, be warned.

First of all, I understand he was loved by many people and seeing your favorite characters die is extremely hard. Believe me, I swore I would quit the show if Hunter died. Though, some of the fans' reactions and the things fans are STILL saying to this day a few months after the show ended, I feel need addressing because I think people are missing the bigger picture here.

"Tech deserved better"/"They killed the only 'neurodivergent' character"...

Frankly, I don't think it would've mattered who they killed because people would've found something negative to say about it.

Hunter: "Of course, they would kill the mentor/father-figure!"

Crosshair: "Why did they have him die to redeem himself?"

Echo: "They killed the disabled character!"

Wrecker: "Why would they kill the big teddy bear character with the biggest heart?"

It wouldn't matter who it was, people would still find some way to complain about it. But of all the Batch to die, I do agree with what the creators said in saying it had to be Tech because things would've been much easier if Tech had lived. Now, hear me out! I'm not saying I wanted him to die or he deserved to die; heavens, no! I was devastated by his death and he's not even my favorite Clone. But if you think about it, his death was what paved the way for everything else that needed to happen.

If Tech had lived, they would've tracked the shuttle to Tantiss, probably stormed the base, broke out Crosshair, gone back to Pabu, end of story. But here's the thing: the mending of the sqaud's relationships with Crosshair probably would've been a bit rougher. Crosshair's relationship with Omega would most likely be different and that all just seems too easy.

Because of Tech's death and what happened on Eriadu, Omega wouldn't have been taken to Tantiss and formed a relationship with Crosshair as well as restore his hope in escaping. They wouldn't have needed to go to Barton IV, which is where a LOT happened in the Batch rebuilding their relationships with Crosshair, especially Hunter. If Tech had been there, he might've had Crosshair check his hand much sooner, which wouldn't have led to Omega bonding with Crosshair over trying to help him and teaching him to meditate. Everything else that followed involving Crosshair's growth, Omega's growth, the Batch growing closer as a family, etc, would not have happened had Tech lived. What we might've gotten would've been vastly underwhelming. Tech's absence made the Batch have to work together more to achieve their goals, which brought them closer together by the end of the show.

Granted, I do believe it still would've been nice to see Tech be a part of the family dynamic after Crosshair's return, but I don't think it would've been remotely the same. I could very well be wrong; maybe what we could've gotten had he lived might've still been just as good, but that's all pure speculation now. But I know there are moments we all loved from season 3 that wouldn't have happened had Tech survived and would've vastly changed the story.

As to the "killing the ND character" thing, I highly doubt that was why they did it. There was no agenda there and I feel that point is just something people want to say to justify hating his death. I understand if you're ND and seeing a character like you/you relate to die on screen is hard, but that doesn't mean that the creators are out to get you and they're "taking away representation". Like I said earlier, you could make any excuse to why they'd kill any of the characters, but that's not what they were doing with Tech. Tech's absence created the most challenges for the Batch, which was what led them to work more together and grow closer as a family. It still sucks we had to lose him anyway, but his loss had more impact on the story than anyone else's would've. Characters are killed for "plot purposes" all the time. That's just part of storytelling and driving a story forward. (Unless you're Game of Thrones and you just kill characters left and right for the hell of it)

"CX-2 should've been Tech! They manipulated us into thinking it was him!"

Here's where I might get a little controversial, but just hear me out.

Here's the thing: I only believed CX-2 might've been Tech when he used the word "domicile". And even then, that was a loose belief because I didn't want to be disappointed if it turned out not to be true, which it did. Everything else people were saying was "proof" that the assassin was Tech, I personally couldn't see it. And I'm someone who closely analyzed a LOT of things throughout the show.

I'm gonna come out and say it: I think a lot of fans were heartbroken over Tech and wanted him to be alive that they saw what they wanted to see in order to justify that want.

I wanted Tech to be alive, too, and I even said a couple times to people "we didn't see a body" or "if X character (like Maul or Palpatine) can survive a fall, then Tech can", but I never firmly held onto that belief. Because I wasn't so set on "he's alive and he's going to come back", I didn't see all the things people claimed they saw that "proved" CX-2 was Tech. They claimed he walked like him, I honestly didn't think so. They claimed he talked like him/sounded like him. How could you tell? He had a voice modulator and frankly, he sounded like a mix of Clone voices and I never heard Tech's voice.

I honestly believe a lot of fans saw what they wanted to see in order to justify saying "Tech is alive" because they were angry or sad that he had died in the first place. Then to find out in the finale that they were wrong, they got angry and claimed the creators "manipulated" them into thinking Tech was the assassin. Which was not what they did. Also side note: with how the actors and creators were vague on talking about Tech's death, which I think was also a contributing factor to people thinking Tech was alive; that could've possibly been handled better, yes, but think about it: they loved Tech as much we did. Maybe they didn't want to outright say "he's dead" because they were struggling with it, too. I don't think those vague statements were made to mess with us. I think the cast and crew were still trying to cope with Tech's death just as much as the rest of us.

This is part of why I say making theories or speculations about shows is dangerous because when you hold on too closely to them or convince yourself your theory is right, it ruins things for you when you turn out to be wrong. Some people get too convinced they're right about certain things and then when they're not, they get angry and hate the show. That's part of why fans got angry at "The Last Jedi"; fans were convinced Rey was a Kenobi or related to some other big SW character and then it was revealed that her parents were nobody, which made people mad cuz their theories were proven wrong. (Not gonna go into how they backpedaled on that in Rise of Skywalker, but my point still stands). I know some people may not agree with what I'm saying to this point, but I assure you, I'm not trying to invalidate anyone. I'm merely pointing that what everyone thought was there was not actually what was happening, which unfortunately soured your opinions on the show/how they handled Tech.

Which then brings me to this point:

"They never mentioned Tech"/"They never mourned Tech"/"They wrote him out of existence"...

First of all, the first and last sentence couldn't be farther from the truth. They reference Tech several times throughout season 3.

And here's the thing: after his death, Tech is mentioned more times in season 3 than several other Clones were ever mentioned after their deaths throughout the entirety of Clone Wars combined!

99: 1 time

Hevy: 2 times

Fives: 3 times

Hardcase: 0 times

Waxer: 0 times

Cody: 0 times (I know he's not dead supposedly, but he's still disappeared and hasn't been mentioned since)

Echo: 1 time, but only just before it was discovered he was actually alive

Gregor: 0 times until it was revealed first he was alive in Rebels

Jesse: 0 times

Mayday: 0 times, but shown 1 time

Tech: 13 times

If you don't believe me, I will give episodes, scenes and/or lines for every single time he's referenced.

The show did not forget him. The Batch did not forget him. If they had completely forgotten about him, they would not have referenced him by name or alluded to him with his goggles or datapad several times. So please, can we stop saying they forgot about him? Cuz it's just not true. Just cuz they didn't all sit down at a table and full on talk about him at length doesn't mean the characters or the creators forgot about him. His absence was still very much felt, but he still had a presence throughout the last season.

Which leads me to the Bad Batch not properly mourning him. First of all, everyone mourns differently. My husband is a good example. Both of his grandparents died within the span of a couple years, but he didn't cry at either funeral because he knows he'll be reunited with them in heaven one day, which I know too, but he chose not to cry. Whereas I was a mess at both funerals and I didn't know them nearly as well as he did.

Same with the Bad Batch. Keep in mind, they are soldiers. They've probably gone a long time knowing any one of them could die throughout the Clone Wars. Most of the Clones knew that. Honestly, when did we ever really see the Clones "properly" mourn their brothers other than the CW series finale? Fives or Rex didn't mourn Echo after he "died". No one properly mourned Fives. Or 99 or Hardcase or Waxer. Most Clones didn't get "properly" mourned because they were soldiers. Rex even says in Clone Wars s7 ep2:

"I have watched so many of my brothers fall during this war, and I try not to hang on to any one of them."

The Clones are taught/programmed to not really mourn their brothers because they are soldiers in war and any of them could die at any moment. The same applies to the Bad Batch. Now, the argument could possibly be made that the Batch are a smaller squad and closer than most other Clone groups, so they should be different, but that still doesn't take away from the fact that they were still born and raised as soldiers. The way they handle death is different than how we might in real life.

The bigger fact of the matter is, right after Tech died, a lot happened. The Batch were all badly injured and then Omega got captured. Their attention was then focused on finding Omega instead of Tech. Plus, what did Tech say in "The Crossing"? That "change is a fundamental part of life" and "we have to adapt and move on". I really think that's what the Batch did: they had to adapt to the change and move on. They couldn't take time to mourn Tech because finding Omega took precedence.

And if you really think about it: that's what Tech would've wanted.

He was adamant about rescuing Crosshair and I honestly believe, if he could speak from beyond the grave, that he would've been adamant about them rescuing Omega instead of wallowing in sorrow over losing him. We all know how much he loved his brothers and his sister, so I firmly believe he would not have wanted them to focus on him.

That all, of course, is more speculation, but it is just something to think about.

If you've made it this far, my point is: I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's feelings about how things with Tech were handled. I think a lot of us were just shocked with his death and plenty more coped with it by essentially denying it and finding things to justify him being alive in the hopes that he would come back somehow. I've seen people act like Tech still being dead is, like, the first time a character's death has been actually final, but this isn't the first time a beloved Clone has died and his death was final.

Fives is still dead.

99 is still dead.

Jesse is still dead.

Mayday is still dead.

Plenty of other Clones are still dead.

The only exception so far has been Echo and Gregor (the first time) for reasons I don't know. So Tech's death being made final after the Bad Batch finale is nothing new, so I don't know why people are so up in arms like it's the first time it's ever happened. I know it sucks other characters in SW can die and come back by some means, but with Clones, this is how it's been.

I miss Tech, too. I struggle watching "Plan 99" and thinking about him being gone is hard even for me...but don't hate on the Bad Batch because they didn't bring him back. They gave us an incredible story; probably the best in all of Star Wars animation and I'm afraid people are losing sight of that because they're mad about Tech not actually being alive like they thought. We didn't see him in season 3, but his memory and legacy was still ever present. Hell, the show ended with Omega becoming a pilot just like him and wanting to help the Rebellion. If that's not perfectly honoring Tech and his sacrifice, then I don't know what is.

If you disagree with me, that's fine, but please keep things civil if you choose to say anything. These are just my thoughts and observations. I felt many of these criticisms were unfair and needed to be addressed.

I love the Bad Batch so much and I just want other people to remember their love for it, too, despite the tragic loss of Tech.

[stars-n-spice]

Recently had a LOTR/The Hobbit marathon with the siblings so have TBB watching LOTR/The Hobbit headcanons:

Once or twice a year they'll sit down and have these marathons - usually while also eating a big Hobbit-styled meal

First started with Echo wanting to show Omega the movies and while they were watching them together, the rest of the Batch came to sit and watch too

Crosshair at first was like "Tch. Nerds, you like this shit?" and then Aragorn popped onto the screen and suddenly Crosshair was very invested (in the plot, of course)

Wrecker enjoys it for the action and thinks the Elves are cool while Hunter watches it because they all watch it and he doesn't want to be left out (he has no idea what's going on but Tech keeps him informed and updated)

Crosshair has a crush on Aragorn while Wrecker has a crush on Lady Arwen

Hunter attempted to bleach his hair ONCE because Legolas inspired him (it did not go well)

Crosshair took up archery because of Legolas and is very good at it

Tech: "Did you know in this scene, Viggo-"

Omega always quotes the "I am no man" scene before immediately attacking the nearest brother to her with a pillow

Hunter will also quote the war speeches Theoden and Aragorn give before riding out into battle and only Omega and Wrecker find it entertaining (they'll scream "DEAAATHH!!" after him)

Echo and Tech are the only ones who've read the books (Omega is in the process but it's a struggle)

Crosshair totally does not get emotional over Faramir and Boromir - oh no definitely no he doesn't cry when Faramir asks his dad if he'd rather he died over Boromir

Actually they are all emotional over Boromir's death

Also for that matter, Crosshair totally does not get super emotional over Samwise and how utterly loyal he is to Frodo - nope definitely not!

They play "take a shot every time Pippin fucks up something" while watching

Every time there's an Orc on the screen they'll point at each other and go "That's you." or "Wow, I can't believe you're in this movie too."

Y'know that scene in Helm's Deep when Aragorn comes through the door?? Yeah. Crosshair nearly fainted.

Gollum freaks Wrecker the fuck out and Crosshair revels in this fact because he can do the voice

When Omega saw the Hobbit for the first time she was so upset about Killi dying that she didn't talk to Tech and Echo for a few days because she was like, "Why would you make me watch this?? >:'( That was so sad!!"

for that matter Wrecker was also crying when Killi died and then Bilbo's reaction to Thorin's death had all of them crying/tearing up

Crosshair hates watching the Hobbit because everyone always brings up how much him and Bilbo are alike (in terms of sass)

Though that one scene in BotFA where Bilbo is showing Thorin the acorn and talking about planting it, the first time Crosshair saw that and saw how Thorin was looking at Bilbo the man fucking melted and now holds all potential partners to that standard (and to Aragorn)

Tech: "Well, now that we've finished watching the entire series, who wants to watch the extended cut?" - "THERE'S MORE!?!"

Feel free to add on!

[thebaddestofbatches]

The Bad Batch Preferences pt. 1

Kissing

------------

Crosshair

Favorite Place: Just behind your ear and along your jaw. He prefers to wrap his arms around you from behind and these places are easier to reach. Plus they’re more sensitive and he likes to watch you squirm.

Makeouts: Definitely. And frequently. Whenever he gets back from a mission, you do something he finds hot, or just because he hasn’t kissed you in awhile.

First Kiss:

It was hot on Techitua. Dusty too. You lowered your shades on your nose, a polarized version of Tech’s goggles as Crosshair opened a case on the ground.

A makeshift shooting range was set up parallel to the Marauder, a metal piece with a target spray painted on it placed at a distance of 25 meters.

Hunter had told you that if you wanted to stay on board, you needed to know how to defend yourself and assigned you to Crosshair, without even asking if you had any prior experience.

“Alright. I don’t expect you to be top notch with this thing.” Crosshair said, his tone borderline patronizing as he removed a small blaster from the case. “Blasters take a lot of practice to use correctly and you’re only a doctor. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t hit anything.”

You raised an eyebrow at him and took the blaster from his hand. Barely looking at the target, you took aim and fired one, two, three, four, five shots.

Crosshair’s slack jaw and a quick glance told you they all hit the bullseye.

“You forget, soldier,” You said smugly. “I’m an army doctor. I can rip you apart and put you back together just as easily.”

Crosshair’s toothpick hit the dirt and then he was on you, smashing his lips to your hungrily.

.*(*)*..**(*)**...**(***)**...**(*)**..*(*)*.

Echo

Favorite place: Your hand. He likes to hold your hand and bring it up to his lips for absentminded kisses. When you cup his face, he turns his head and presses kisses to your palm.

Makeouts: Not too often. He’s shy after all his modifications and you definitely have to initiate them, but once he relaxes, then he’s into it.

First Kiss:

“Dang ferreck!” You swore as the control panel of the rescued radio shocked you for the fifth time that night.

You gave it a swift thump on the top in retaliation, gritting your teeth.

You needed this to work. It had to work. It’d been so long since you heard real music.

Another try at the wiring and another spark that singed your fingertips. You let out another string of curses and tossed your screwdriver onto the counter with a clank before thumping your forehead against the table repeatedly.

There was a gentle touch on your back that stopped your assault on your cranium. You didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. You could feel the poke of Echo’s prosthetic through your tunic.

“You alright?” He asked.

“No,” You grumbled into the metal.

Echo sighed quietly and after some shifting behind you, you raised your head to see his human hand disconnect two crossed wires and reconnect them at new points. There was a fizz of static and then a gentle song began to float through the speakers.

You let out a whoop of joy and leaped to your feet, grabbing the clone by his collar to pull him down for a quick kiss.

“Thank you!” You squealed, snatching up your screwdriver again and leaving Echo standing there, stunned and pink.

.*(*)*..**(*)**...**(***)**...**(*)**..*(*)*.

Hunter

Favorite place: Your neck. He likes to feel your pulse point and kiss the sunmarks and spots along your skin. It’s also one of the best places for him to get your scent.

Makeouts: Not as often as Crosshair, but frequent. He likes to be affectionate with you and when he gets time or feels stressed, being around you and close to you is his priority.

First Kiss:

You’d been separated from the Batch in a marketplace and were now wandering aimlessly.

As you passed an alleyway you heard a whistle and a man sidled up to you.

“Hey gorgeous,” He said. “Where you going?”

“Away from you,” You muttered, but he heard it anyway and snorted. “Feisty girl.”

A gag rose up in your throat and you increased your pace. Behind you the man called. “Hey I’m talking to you! Though I appreciate the view!”

A hand landed on your butt and you whirled, fist raised to deck the stranger for daring to touch you. Before you could though, someone stepped between you and punched him, hard.

You looked up to see Hunter, a deep scowl on his tattooed face as he glowered at your harasser.

“Don’t touch her,” He growled, drawing up to his full height.

The man spat and launched himself at Hunter, sending them both rolling to the ground.

There was some yelling and sounds of fists hitting bodies before Hunter scrambled to his feet breathing hard as your harasser lay on the ground, groaning.

Hunter turned to you with worried eyes and you punched him in the arm hard and then quickly pecked his lips. “You didn’t have to make a scene.”

“Sorry,” He said, not sounding sorry at all as he pulled you in for another kiss.

.*(*)*..**(*)**...**(***)**...**(*)**..*(*)*.

Tech

Favorite place: Your forehead and temples. He can get so busy with this or that and a quick peck to the forehead is his go-to for affection when he’s caught up in something.

Makeouts: Usually whenever he gets an idea he wants to try with you. He learned affection mainly from books so he’s picking up more and more as he goes. Usually you initiate the sessions. However, when he gains confidence later in the relationship, things get more serious as he experiments.

First Kiss:

“Tech?” You called from the porch of your hideout. Hunter had sent you to fetch the male for dinner and so far he was nowhere to be found.

“In here!” The clone called and you followed the sound into the shed to see Tech holding two vials above a pot.

“What’re you doing?” You asked leaning on the doorframe.

“I’m testing a theory. The substance excreted from the fire salamanders’ skin may have some properties that can boost our explosives.” He replied, carefully tipping the vial of white powder in, followed by the orange liquid.

“And you thought it was a good idea to test that in my shed?” You said, quirking a brow.

The technician had the decency to look a little abashed. “Well it isn’t in the house.”

He set the tubes aside and picked up a firestarter, holding it over the pot. “And a spark to trigger the reaction..”

Crack. Fwoomp! Boom!

The small windows shattered and you ducked as a blaze burst up from the pot and then died out just as quickly, sending up a cloud of ash and dust.

When the smoke receded, you heard Tech give a small cough and looked over to see his whole face covered in soot and the front of his normally gelled back hair spiked up.

You burst into giggles, picking up a small cloth from the worktable and approaching the clone to wipe his goggles clean.

He blinked at you from behind the lenses, like he was surprised to see you and you smiled. “That went well.”

Tech gave you a sheepish look. “I’m sorry about the windows. I’ll fix them tomorrow.”

You laughed again, waving him off. “It’s alright. I was prepared for damages when I brought you lot here.”

He gave you a grateful look and suddenly you couldn’t help yourself, darting forward and pecking his lips.

Tech immediately turned scarlet. “What was that for?”

You shrugged. “For being you.”

And then you passed him the cloth with a wink. “Hunter says dinner’s ready. You should probably clean up a bit before you come inside.”

.*(*)*..**(*)**...**(***)**...**(*)**..*(*)*.

Wrecker

Favorite place: Your cheeks and nose. He likes to pepper kisses all over your face. He’s so enraptured by you that he wants to keep you close at all times to make sure you’re real. Plus he’s a massive cuddlebug.

Makeouts: On occasion. But this boy is too much of a teddy bear for anything more than gentle loving touches. He’s slow and sweet and so very careful with you.

First Kiss:

The Batch was pinned down in an abandoned bunker as a gang faction gathered outside. Echo was doing his best to reboot the turrets while Tech worked on the doors, but unless it happened fast, you weren’t getting out of this unscathed.

You were peering out one of the broken windows with Hunter, Crosshair, and Wrecker picking off grunts where you could, but they had greater numbers and illegal firepower.

A shot from a bike mounted turret hit the wall above your lookout and the ceiling caved in, causing Wrecker tackle you, cradling you to him as he rolled away.

“You alright?” He asked, pushing off of you, his voice higher than normal.

“Yeah.” You said and Hunter swore as glass shattered behind you.

“Echo!! What’s the status on those defense systems?!”

“Same as you asked thirty seconds ago!” Echo snapped. “These circuits are rubbish! This place should have been scrapped for parts years ago!”

Parts.

A light bulb went off in your brain and you immediately turned to Wrecker. “Give me a charge!”

“Why?!”

“Trust me!”

He gave you a look you couldn’t read under the helmet, but dropped an explosive in your palm.

Immediately you started dismantling it. “I need a gravmag, some wires, and anything explosive we can spare. Oh and Echo’s arm.”

“What?” Said Echo.

You ignored him and started your hunt for parts as you snatched a screwdriver, a multipurpose laser tool, and pliers from Tech’s backpack, stripped a console, broke Crosshair’s gravmag off of his grappling hook, and took three more charges from Wrecker. You dismantled, screwed, and rewired before beckoning Echo over and having him weld it all together.

“(Y/N),” Wrecker asked as he fired off another shot. “What are you doing?”

You waved him off as you activated your new, shoddy weapon of mass destruction and bolted for the window, lobbing it as hard and far as you could.

“Hit the dirt!” You yelled and there was a large boom and the whole building rattled.

When the dust cleared, you beamed proudly at the clear landscape.

The gang that had been surrounding your hiding place was now lying unconscious having been thrown a good 50 meters in all directions at extreme speeds.

“What-“ Said Crosshair in his rare stunned tone. “What did you do?”

“Simply,” You said. “I reversed the polarity and made it into a big bang.”

Wrecker whooped and tossed his helmet aside, scooping you into a bear hug and peppering kisses all over your face. “THAT’S MY GIRL!”

You turned pink and he drew back from you enough to press a sweet kiss to your lips, which only served to fill your face with crimson.

There was an awkward cough from one of his brothers and Wrecker turned a similar shade of red, setting you back on the ground.

“Er-“ He said, patting your shoulder awkwardly. “Good job.”

[lokigodofaces]

thoughts on loki ep 2: the variant (spoilers)

under cut to not disturb your scrolling

Overall I enjoyed so that's good

Uh frick my mind blanked so sorry if things are completely out of order

I don't know, I expected the renaissance fair to be 2012 or 2021 or 2024 (Loki's time, our time, current time in the "sacred timeline"). So I was genuinely surprised when it was in 1985.

Ok, i really like the title card thing. And how the year scrolls around. It's a nice aesthetic touch there.

I wonder why the female Loki variant chooses her locations? Does she have a thing for renaissance fairs, French cathedrals, and Oklahoma?

1985 is when Back to the Future came out. And it's y'know, one of the most popular time travel movies ever. So I think they chose that year as a reference.

Again, not liking that the minutemen only have numbers, not names. It is giving me lots of Clone Wars vibes. If you don't know anything about Clone Wars, the clones are given number identifiers by the Kaminoans. Things like CT-7567. The clones would give themselves names (CT-7567, for example, names himself Rex). A really good sign throughout the series that someone is a sketchy person is if they call the clones by their numbers. The clones don't want to be known as numbers. They are people too, they deserve names, so they come up with all sorts of creative names (Rex, Fives, Cody, Tup, Hevy, Hardcase, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Jesse, Kix, Fox, Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Omega, Tech, Matchstick, etc). The jedi respect this, and the only jedi that i can think of that called clones by their numbers is Krell, who fell to the dark side. the Kaminoans and other sketchy people all call them by their numbers and the clones don't like it. A big focus of the show is on the clone's agency (at the end, they all have brain chips that take away their agency and force them to kill jedi), and how the clones need to be respected. So for me to see in another series that people are only given numbers is bad. What's worse is that the minutemen are fine with this. They don't see it as dehumanizing or belittling. They are brainwashed into being okay with it. Which says a thing or two about the Time Keepers.

did. did the renaissance fair really have Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" for their renaissance themed fight? Is this normal? Was it normal in the '80's? We saw later that the female Loki can do electronic stuff. Did she rig it to play it? For the vibes?

Also the stuff before the song was about fighting for a princess, and in the end she kidnaps C-20.

Okay, btw, I'm just gonna say Lady Loki for a while because no one has explicitly said Sylvie yet, so I'm going to refer to di Martino as Loki until she or another calls her Sylvie. Cool? Cool.

I was thinking the "Holding Out for a Hero" fight would be the roomba fight or something. It is such a good song that has huge potential for this genre. Why did they use it in a lame fight as that one?

When Lady Loki did the spell on C-20, it looked similar to what Wanda and Agatha can do. As in, it had similar visuals.

Loki reading a random magazine he finds while sitting with his feet on the desk bored out of his mind because he has to learn sh*t is a MOOD.

What is Miss Minutes? She can jump around anywhere, and pop into computers. But she can't be just a projection. She took the effort to dodge Loki swatting at her, so that may mean she was corporeal. She also could be something similar to the Kree's Supreme Intelligence?

So, did Mobius give Loki the shirt, tie, and slacks, but really didn't give him the jacket until they had to call him in? What? That makes no sense? Did the TVA not have any jackets with the variant label? Did someone have to custom design a jacket for Loki?

What is up with this show giving me things I wanted to see only in holographic form? First we saw Coulson's death, and now Loki in his Jotun form in a holograph of another variant.

Okay, Loki being someone the TVA has to constantly deal with is very on brand. Loki is a creature of chaos, of course he's going to unknowingly rebel against the sacred timeline.

Also, headcanon that the Jotun Loki we see is king of Jotunheim because that would be epic.

Also, for personal reasons I choose to believe there is a Loki variant that defeated the Avengers and immediately went queer rights.

Loki's reaction to there being many Loki variants. He's seen what his life is supposed to be. I think he is even more upset that the TVA often deals with him, that there are so many things that could have been instead if it weren't for the TVA and the "sacred timeline."

Also, I totally think Mobius was waiting for another Loki to show up to help him defeat Lady Loki. They get them so often, it makes sense.

Loki explaining the difference between illusion projection and duplication was great. And very helpful to me personally understanding lore. Also, Mobius, get your crap together. If you're a Loki expert, figure this stuff out.

Loki calling the TVA out on propaganda, we love that.

The wolf quote is actually very nice, I quite like it.

Okay, the TVA doesn't even bury or cremate or do any sort of ritual for their fallen minutemen, they just reset the timeline. Which to me seems like another way to show how little the TVA actually care for their workers.

There are statues of the Time Keepers in Ravonna's office. The camera pays extra attention to it. Keep reading for more about Time Keepers and cinematography choices.

What. What sort of relationship does Ravonna and Mobius have? What is going on there? I am really confused.

Who is this "analyst on the side?" What is going on there?

Ravonna is MEGA SUS. Along with that, the Time Keepers are mega sus.

She signs R. Slayer. Yeah. Slayer. Not at all subtle, Marvel. Letting us know that she'll do the deed if needed.

Mobius you are sending me mixed signals. What do you want?

Okay, Mobius saying Loki was a "cold, scared boy" and an "ice runt" and stuff was totally a jab at Loki being Jotun.

Mobius saying Loki is insecure because of Lady Loki is...probably true.

With the elevator, the camera stops and focuses on the Time Keepers.

The Creation of the TVA, the beginning of time, the end of time, all classified. That is sus.

Loki almost crying over Ragnarok was good. Let him cry over the destruction of his home.

Loki being the one to discover something the TVA had no idea about after a day is on brand for Loki. And it shows how the TVA really are vulnerable.

Mobius: Really? In front of my salad?

No but the object lesson was well done and actually did help me understand what Loki was talking about.

Casey! Casey drinks grape juice! Imagine how confusing this is for Casey though. Loki is captured, threatens to gut you like a fish (whatever that means), and now he's dressed like an analysist, stealing your juice box. Does Loki get Casey more juice?

Honestly, Loki looking at everything logically and scientifically is fantastic. Adds to the science = magic thing Marvel's got going on, since Loki is a sorcerer.

Loki saying volcanoes are cool is fun. I agree. Volcanoes mean the planet is geologically active, which means we won't die. Also, there is a volcano named Loki on one of Jupiter's moons. I wonder if the creators knew that and put Loki in Pompeii because he is already linked with volcanoes.

Mobius telling Loki to start off small and Loki completely disregarding that felt very personal to me.

Loki being absolutely chaotic and telling everyone they were going to die while speaking perfect Latin was iconic. I want more of that content. Let the man be buckwild.

Again, Loki finding something out after a day that the TVA never knew about is on brand.

"Be free, my horned friends, be free!" I love that way too much.

Mobius being obsessed with jet skis wasn't something I expected, but I'm down for it. Heck, even Loki admitted they were cool.

The discussion on beliefs is going to lead to saying the Time Keepers are bullcrap. Hopefully.

Grapes and nuts are "candy" on Asgard. So, when Loki was eating grapes in Ragnarok, we can interpret that as him eating M&Ms. Second, this might add to something I've seen around here. I've seen things about a book somewhere with Loki saying chocolate fountains are mythical (which is really funny to me). So, I guess Asgard really doesn't have chocolate.

Oh my gosh, so many apocalypses between 2047 and 2051...hopefully none of those happen in real life.

Roxxcart is probably part of Roxxon, something that has been around in Iron Man movies.

Lady Loki got the shovel thing from Roxxcart that she left in Oklahoma! The minutemen said it was from the early third millenia, which is where we are now! 2050 also fits that category!

I saw something about the file saying Class 8 hurricane...there are only 5 classes...which means this is a crazy storm.

Does B-15 want Loki dead? This is a legitimate question, because I think she does. Dead or pruned.

Loki looking around at the storm, I love it. This could be him loving science, or him missing Thor, since Thor creates storms. Also, at this point Loki probably things Thor dies shortly after him in the sacred timeline, so Loki would be particularly sentimental about Thor.

I love Loki drying himself off and not anyone else. And B-15 yelling about his magic. And Loki's motions are so fluid, it's so aesthetically pleasing, I love it.

Dudes, I thought B-15 was going to try to prune Loki when they were alone.

Okay, was Lady Loki bsing about the azalea sale, or does Roxxcart actually do that? I want to know.

Wunmi Mosaku did a really good job as Lady Loki, I loved it.

Loki being annoyed at Lady Loki and saying he understood how Thor felt, does that insinuate Loki can do what Lady Loki was doing?

B-15 and C-20 were both very shaken after being possessed by Lady Loki. I wonder how that felt for them? We've had different explanations of mind control/brainwashing/similar from Clint, Bucky, Daisy, Mack, Fitz, and Monica in the MCU (including AoS). I wonder what is specific to Lady Loki's possession.

C-20 kept going on about something being real. What was that about?

C-20 revealed the location of the Time Keepers to Lady Loki!

Lady Loki not wanting to be called Loki could be a sign she is Sylvie.

There's something weird where Loki's voice echoed around while the camera focused on Lady Loki. Maybe she's telepathic?

Someone needs to keep a tracker on people telling Loki this isn't his story in a show literally about him.

But, that does add to themes for his life, and how everything was always about someone else in his life. He was always a supporting character for Thor, for Odin, for Thanos. Now, even in his own story, everyone insists he doesn't matter.

I was wondering what the reset charges would be used for. I wasn't expecting a massive bombing of the sacred timeline! Wow! That was unexpected and I loved it!

Okay, this isn't from me, this is from New Rockstars. But to list all the places mentioned on chronomonitors, either bombed or not: Knowhere, Barcelona, Niflheim, Dartford, Phong Nha, Lisbon, Vormir, Thorton, Cookeville, Asgard, Rome, Sakaar, Barichara, Porvoo, Ego, Titan, New York City, Tokyo, Hala, Kingsport, Xandar, Beijing, Madrid, Portland, Jotunheim. Bolded are other planets. Those are almost all the planets visited in the MCU. So fun easter eggs there!

I like Lady Loki's aesthetic. The fingerless gloves, the cloak, I love it. And YES SHE ISN'T SEXUALIZED. So many genderbent characters are excuses to sexualize women. But Lady Loki is just as covered as the male Lokis.

Lady Loki just...left the time door open for Loki to follow...for a really long time...I'm worried he's running into a trap.

What is Loki going to do now?

Theory time y'alls: Lady Loki bombed the sacred timeline to flush the minutemen out of the TVA, leaving it defenseless. And she's gonna go after the Time Keepers themselves. We know she gets into the TVA from trailer footage, and that's what I think we're gonna see next episode. I think she (like the Loki we are following) is upset over the lack of free will, and she plans to change that. That's why she wasn't interested in helping Loki "take over" the TVA, because she doesn't want to become the leader of a new TVA, she wants it destroyed.

Alright, back to the Time Keepers stuff. They keep focusing on the middle Time Keeper. Even in the end credits they have a weird cut to focus directly on his face. I'm not 100% on this, but I like this theory. That face is similar to Jonathan Major's, the actor confirmed to be Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang is a well known time travelling villain in Marvel. Maybe he is Kang, and is using variant versions of himself (that's a Kang thing in the comics) to mess with the timeline, and no one expects that from him. Also, Renslayer was his S/O for a bit in the comics, and they keep framing her in front of that one Time Keeper's face. I feel like this would be a good way to set up Quantumania and to show how sus the Time Keepers are.

Also, Loki was absolutely adorable the entire episode. And he got to sleep! Yay for him!

Again, I enjoyed, and can't wait for next week!

[iellarenuodolorian]

I was sad when there were no quotes to start the Bad Batch episodes :((

I hate that we don’ get more of all five of them in action together before Order66

I blame the Legion 501st guys who have made their Batch armor and done shoots for making me do this tonight. They want to do a shoot in the snow for this episode and….it might unalive me. They are the Batch characters they cosplay in real life and it makes me so happy 🥲

That first “good soldiers follow orders” cracks my heart open every time

I was 100% ready to dislike Kanan if he had taken Crosshair out

What kind of math did you just do in your head Tech?!

And I love seeing Crosshair and Hunter taking naps in the back…

Crosshair is the only one with his helmet still on, and hes the only one still wearing it when they all debark the Marauder too…

Are we ever gonna find out which Jedi that was???

oh. Well, they seem the same to me.

Their room…..scares me

How deep have you dug into the chips Tech?? And why weren‘t you more prepared for it then

So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.

So what else does Omega do???? And how is a child a medical assistant??? Like, WHAT!?

Oh the horrible, terrible, torturous, despicable things I would do to Tarkin…..

And Nala Se for that matter as well

Is Hunter just getting there or going back for seconds….or where has Hunter been??

Well, I’m convinced

I did. Now apologize to my friends. Literally me if anyone insults them in front of me

Can we talk about Echo and Tarkin for a minute?? He’s half the reason Echo almost died.

WHAT IS IN THE SUBLEVEL MEDICAL WING?!?!?!

So how many other times have they been in trouble from being deviant and saving their own lives that have no value to anyone else but them????

The battle simulation is such a wonderful glimpse into how they operate…

and Tech rolling his eyes at Wrecker is one of my favorite things

Oh look, its Thrawn’s droids

I remember the first time I watch this and my initial panic of “how are they gonna get out of this one???” Because we don’t see them in many sticky situations like this. We just know that this is what they do and they somehow manage to get out of it

Oh! I hate hand signals. Perhaps if you memorized them. Why don’t you memorize them!? I HAVE!!

What happened on Felucia???

This is the only time we hear their theme until we get to the finale. And it’s in this exact same room, fighting the exact same droids, but my how all of them have changed since this.

Wrecker, knife! That shot…..is almost better than the mirror trick. ALMOST!!

“Five are all that remain”…..WHO IS THE FIFTH CLONE?!?!?! It’s not Omega if she’s unaltered like Alpha/Boba.

And why was Omega created anyway?? As a source of DNA for more clones since she is pure Jango, but that seems too easy. Was she created because Nala Se wasn’t sure if Jango wanted a son or a daughter? Or did she think he would take both of them?? You can’t convince me Nala Se cares for Omega, I will never forget what she did with Tup and Fives.

I love the music while they’re on Onderon.

I want more missions of the five of them and how they recon, plan, execute, and bang out….I wanna watch them wiggle out of one close call after another and look like the BAMF they are! We’ve been robbed of seeing them at their greatest potential.

The Clone War may have ended, but a civil war is about to begin.

You can either adapt and survive, or die with the past. The decision is yours.

But is she enhanced Tech??? She’s not the fifth…

So you’re gonna go back for a kid you’ve known for all of what, three hours Hunter??? Why

That picture likes to pop up in my thoughts still and drive me insane…

Why is Omega in the brig??? Just for being in their barracks? That makes no sense..

Did they tell him what they were doing?? Oh Tarkin..the things I would do to you for what you have done to Crosshair…getting blown up on the Death Star due to your own arrogance was too swift and merciful for you.

Yes Tech, that was my exact reaction to Wrecker as well lol

Ya’ll are terrible at blending in…..GRAB SOME GEAR FOR A REG!! I know it won’t fit Wrecker, but send him on a different mission and he rest of you can blend in….but whatever

The music when CT-9904 walks in never fails to give me chills

YES HE HAS LOST HIS MIND HUNTER

Their stare down is chilling…..can Hunter sense what CT-9904 if about to do and can CT-9904 see Hunter’s subtle movements?

Man, that is a record cold start Tech….can’t imagine you were too happy to put your ship through a cold start like that

CT-9904 hesitates!!! HE HAS HUNTER RIGHT IN HIS SIGHTS and when that happens he takes the shot, ALWAYS. But he doesn’t. And his look when they just leave him, WHICH IS BREAKING RULE NUMBER ONE! Echo should know, we see his original squad the Dominoes, go through that in their training.

I knew it was Cut. But I’m curious who else is on their “short list“ of friends…

I am home alone, which means I get to turn the volume up as loud as I want on the TV and get as drunk as I want. And since it’s been a shitty two weeks, I will also be watching Bad Batch and wallowing in my feels. If you don’t want to keep reading my thoughts from all the episodes, filter “Emily watches TBB”