The Bad Batch (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
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| "The Bad Batch" | |
|---|---|
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Kyle Dunlevy |
| Written by |
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| Original release date |
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| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"The Bad Batch" is the first episode of the seventh season of the American streaming television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as the 122nd overall episode. It follows The Bad Batch, Captain Rex, Commander Cody, and Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu as they rescue Echo after it is revealed he is alive. It is set in the same universe as other animated series, such as Star Wars Rebels (2014–2017), Star Wars Resistance (2018–2020), and Star Wars: The Bad Batch. It was written by Brett Friedman and Matt Michnovetz. It is the first episode of an four episode arc called The Bad Batch. The episode's introduction of Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, and Tech, as well as Echo's survival, were key storylines in the animated series, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021).
Dee Bradley Baker voices the clone troopers, Matt Lanter voices Anakin Skywalker, and TC Carson voices Mace Windu. "The Bad Batch" was released on Disney+ on February 21, 2020.
Plot[edit]
The Confederacy of Independent Systems has captured the main production facility for the Galactic Republic's battle fleet. While Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu debate on how to proceed, Commander Cody and Captain Rex join them with a theory on their loss. Rex believes that the Separatist droid army uses analytics to predict Republic strategy. The droids learn their tendencies and use that information to fight. The Republic needs to constantly vary its attack. Windu notes that the losses on Anaxes are not commonplace. Rex believes that the Separatists counterattack is so specific because they learned his own personal strategy. Cody explains that if the Separatists have figured out to counter Rex, who is one of the most talented officers, the Republic could suffer even more losses. He proposes that they lead a squad behind enemy lines to steal any intel the Separatists have from their Cyber Center. Windu agrees to this plan, but Skywalker notices Rex obviously has something else on his mind and he asks him if he has anything else to say, and Rex denies this.
In the barracks, Cody finds Rex staring at an old picture of the two of them accompanied by the late ARC troopers Fives and Echo. Rex laments their deaths[lower-alpha 1] and the losses the Republic forces are taking in the war, which Cody understands. Rex tells Cody that he believes there's a chance Echo might still be alive, since the strategies the Separatists are using are old battle plans the two of them came up with, but he didn't tell this to the Jedi since they might think he's crazy. Cody is skeptical, but says it's time to go. Rex asks him who they're taking with them, and Cody responds "Clone Force 99." Going out to the landing platform with ARC trooper Jesse and clone medic Kix, Rex and Cody see the squad's shuttle, the Marauder, come in for a wild landing that has other clones running out of the ship's way.
Rex asks Cody why he's never heard of this group. Cody explains that the squad, informally known as the "Bad Batch," consists of defectively born clones who underwent unique and "desirable" mutations. The squad, emerging from their shuttle, consists of Sergeant Hunter, the team's leader; Wrecker, the squad's brash strongman and assault specialist; Crosshair, the team's grim, sarcastic sniper; and Tech, the hyper-intelligent and knowledgeable tech specialist. Mounting a gunship, the assembled team departs for the Cyber Center. However, on their way the clones are spotted and shot down by a battle droid force, and end up crashing in a ravine, leaving Cody seriously injured and trapped inside the vessel's wreckage. It is there that the Bad Batch begins to demonstrate its unique qualities: Wrecker singlehandedly lifts the gunship off Cody's body, and then he and his squadmates engage the incoming droids in a surprisingly aggressive move, taking down the entire enemy force by themselves. After the clones have left, a second droid force investigates the crash site and inform Trench of their findings.
The clones make their way to the cyber center on foot, guided by Hunter's extraordinary sensory capabilities. With Cody incapable of continuing, Rex announces that he will take charge of the mission. This creates tensions with Crosshair and Wrecker, which threaten to escalate into a fight until Hunter intervenes and concedes command to Rex. Proceeding without Cody and Kix, they reach a Separatist outpost near the cyber center, which Rex decides to take, hoping that it will contain vital information. Using the Bad Batch's prior performance as his attack strategy, Rex and his fellow clones quickly overwhelm the outpost's droid garrison and capture its command and communication center. But while trying to hack into the cyber center's computers to investigate its defensive capabilities, Tech intercepts a message which announces the impending arrival of heavy droid reinforcements.
Rex splits up the squad for a diversionary three-front attack on the center's guard force, just as the droid relief forces arrive at the outpost; but before Trench can warn them about the clones' assault, the cyber center droids are taken by surprise. While Rex, Crosshair, and Jesse keep the guards occupied, Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker penetrate the building and capture its command center. As the other clones hold the incoming droid reinforcements off, Rex joins Tech in the command center. Tech hacks into the computer system and discovers the algorithm, but strangely it is not stored inside the center's memory banks but is instead being broadcast from another planet, Skako Minor. Digging in further, Tech manages to receive an audio signal which sounds like a human voice. Rex asks him to send a transmission requesting the person's identity, and the voice responds "CT-1409," as the voice's masking is dropped so it's clearly the voice of a clone trooper.
In the meantime, the encroaching enemy force drives the remaining clones back into the command center. Rex is so shocked by what the voice is saying that he briefly ignores Hunter telling him they need to leave. The clones fight their way out of the structure and escape aboard a speeder craft secured by Crosshair. While Trench learns about the clones' infiltration of the broadcast, Rex, in turn, is left brooding over the startling discovery that Echo is still alive: "CT-1409" was his identification number.
Cast[edit]
- Dee Bradley Baker as:
- Captain Rex: Anakin's second-in-command of the 501st Infantry and an clone captain.[1]
- Commander Cody: Obi-Wan Kenobi's second-in-command of the 212th Legion and an clone commander.[1]
- Kix: An medical clone.[1]
- Jesse: An advanced recon commando (ARC) trooper.[1]
- Sergeant Hunter: The leader of the Bad Batch, with an enhanced mutation of precognitive senses.[1]
- Crosshair: An member of the Bad Batch who can shoot from long distaances.[1]
- Wrecker: An member of the Bad Batch with superhuman strength.[1]
- Tech: An member of the Bad Batch who is incredibly savvy with tech and extremely intelligence.[1]
- Echo: An former advanced recon commando (ARC) trooper who was believed to have died during the attack on the Citadel. This is subsequently his first appearance other than flashbacks since season 3.[1]
- Admiral Trench: The leader of the Anaxes Separatist base.[1]
- Computer voice[1]
- Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker: An Jedi General and Knight and leader of the 501st Infantry. Skywalker's long hair that he was shown having in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) makes its first appearance in main canon since the Disney acquisition in 2012, while historically marking it's first on-screen appearance since the 2011 re-release of Star Wars: Episode IV – Return of the Jedi (1983). It also marked Anakin's first appearance chronologically since the original season 6 finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, while also marking his first appearance historically since Star Wars: Target Vader and his first on-screen appearance since Star Wars: Episode IX – Rise of Skywalker (2019). [1]
- Matthew Wood as:
- Battle droids[1]
- Commando Droids[1]
- Super Tactical Droid[1]
- TC Carson as Mace Windu: An Jedi General and senior member of the Jedi High Council. This was Carson's first time voicing the character since Star Wars: The Clone Wars' original finale episode in 2014.[1]
- Tom Kane as Narrator[1]
Production[edit]
"The Hidden Enemy" was directed by Kyle Dunlevy and written by Brent Freedman and Matt Michnovetz. This was the first episode with no production code.[1]
Most of the main voice actors appeared in the series, with Matt Lanter voicing Anakin Skywalker, TC Carson voicing Mace Windu, and Dee Bradley Baker voicing the clone troopers in the episode.[1]
"The battles are over, but the heroes live on. Thank you, Clone Wars fans." —Moral in the story reel[2]
The idea for the "Bad Batch" arc came up from Star Wars creator George Lucas, who wanted to explore the idea that there were clones that were a little bit more unique from one another and who were like an enhanced skills special forces unit.[3] While the arc began production in 2012 as part of the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the designs for every member of the Bad Batch had been finalized a year earlier. The episodes were fully scripted, voiced and animated up to the "story reel" stage[4], but the series was canceled by Cartoon Network in 2013 following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd.[5]
Series writer Brent Friedman, who scripted "The Bad Batch" as well as the other three episodes of the arc, released information about the episode via his Twitter account in May 2014. The arc's original moral was "The best defense is a strong offense." Jedi General Anakin Skywalker is involved throughout the arc to an extent, though most of the action focuses on Rex and The Batch. Friedman stated that the "emotional hook" of the arc is Rex's relationship with ARC trooper Echo, a character who had been killed in the third season episode "Counterattack"[6] but was brought back for this arc.[7] The setting for the episodes is split between Anaxes, a planet from the Star Wars Legends line, and a new world called Skako Minor.[7]
On April 9, 2015, StarWars.com announced that "The Bad Batch" and the other three episodes of the story arc would be released on April 17 in story reel form, in a special screening at Celebration Anaheim. On February 21, 2020, a completed version of the episode was aired as part of The Clone Wars revival on Disney+.
Reception[edit]
"The Bad Batch" originally aired on Disney+ on February 21, 2020, and started airing at 12:00 a.m. PT (equivalent to 1:00 a.m. MT, 2:00 a.m. ST, and 3:00 a.m. ET).[8] It scored an Rotten Tomato review of 100% based on 6 critic reviews.
According to IGN, the series "proved surprisingly resilient for a show that was technically cancelled in 2013". It also stated the fact that Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul, and Captain Rex's character arcs "never quite gave us closure". It also stated that other episodes were previously released, such as Clone Wars: The Lost Missions, Clone Wars: Legacy, and other abandoned "lost episodes" were published in other media, such as the novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple (2015), which finished Asajj Ventress' character arc and backstory that was explored in other seasons and the comic book series, Darth Maul – Son of Dathomir (2014), which explored Maul being rescued by the Shadow Collective, his relationships with Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus, Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, and General Grievous, and his ruling of Mandalore through puppet prime minister Almec, and explained how the animated series Star Wars Rebels (2014–2017) ended several character arcs for these characters, with their endings being, Ahsoka retiring from being a Jedi and serving as an general in the Rebel Alliance to Restore the Republic up until the Empire's dissolution, Maul dying at the hands of an elderly Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Rex, living in self-imposed exile after Order 66 with fellow clone troopers, Wolffe and Gregor, on a distant planet, and eventually joining the Rebellion and fighting in the Battle of Endor.[9]
The episode "immediately set the tone for the final season. Even as the war draws closer to its climatic conclusion, the Republic's clone army is feeling the strain of mounting losses and an enemy that seems to predict it's every move. Many of the series' best arcs have hinged on these clone heroes battling against overwhelming odds, so "The Bad Batch" feels like a great way to welcome the series back and further explain the toll of the war on those who were literally born to fight."[9]
It also states, "while it's enough to see fan-favorite clones like Captain Rex and Commander Cody back in action, this episode stands out by introducing a very different roster of clone heroes, the titular Bad Batch - a group of clones far more independent and genetically diverse than normal. While on one hand the Star Wars geek in me can't help but wish the series had simply dusted off the Republic Commandos for this particular storyline, this episode pretty quickly establishes why Clone Force 99 is the better option. With the premiere being so overwhelmingly clone-focused, it really helps to have characters with such distinct personalities. We need the comic relief provided by clones like Wrecker and Crosshair. The subtle rivalry and unease between Rex and his new comrades add another interesting layer to what might otherwise be a straightforward clones vs. droids mission." [9]
Further, it states, "plus, the addition of the Bad Batch allows voice actor Dee Bradley Baker to cut loose. Baker practically carries the whole episode on his shoulders given how many of the characters are voiced by him. The series has always been surprisingly deft about differentiating the many clone characters even though they all look and sound pretty much the same. But in the case of these genetic abnormalities, they don't look the same. Their personalities are much more extreme and over-the-top. Even in scenes with half a dozen or more clones sharing the same space, it never feels like one voice actor is talking to himself." [9]
The article also states, "It's also easy to see how much the series' animation quality has improved in the six years since the Lost Missions. Fans may already be familiar with the Bad Batch arc, given these four episodes were screened in rough animatic form at Star Wars Celebration 2015 and later released online. But it's quite anoth thing to see this story play out in complete form with full visual effects. This still looks very much like the Clone Wars of old, but with a greater sense of detail and more dramatic camera angles. The upgrades are more apparent with Anakin, who suddenly looks a lot more like his Episode III self."[9]
Further more, "The upgrades are a welcome reminder that The Clone Wars still serves as the gold standard for Star Wars animation. While a worthy sequel in many ways, Rebels always suffered because of its comparatively stiff characters and barren, sterile environments. There's much more detail and energy in this Clone Wars episode, which bodes well as we slowly march toward the long-awaited Siege of Mandalore arc.[9]
Also, "aside from the introduction of Clone Force 99, the biggest hook with "The Bad Batch" is definitely the reveal that fallen clone trooper Echo may still be alive and in Separatist custody. Here, too, this twist gives the storyline a bit of extra weight and differentiates it from similar clone vs. droid skirmishes. The series sometimes struggles to justify these longer story arcs, a problem that may come back into play with Season 7 being divided solely into a trio of four-episode arcs. But for now, "Bad Batch" starts things off on an eventful note."[9]
This article also states, "it's also a fitting twist with which to kick off the final season. The saga of Domino Squad has been one of the most important throughlines of the whole series, with that story seeming to come to an end when Fives was killed back in Season 6's "Orders." It seems only fitting that Season 7 finds a way to continue that story and potentially even find redemption for the one surviving Domino Squad member. We'll see over the next few weeks whether the show can make good on that potential."[9]
Finally, "The Clone Wars may have been off the air for years, but the series quickly and capably welcomes fans back into the fold in its Season 7 premiere. "The Bad Batch" establishes a grim tone for the final season, yet also manages to keep things from becoming too bleak thanks to the wacky members of Clone Force 99. Only time will tell if this arc has enough meat to justify the four-episode structure, but it's off to a promising start."[9]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ as depicted in the season three episode, "Counterattack" and the season five episode, "Orders", respectively.
References[edit]
Text was copied from The Bad Batch (episode) at Wookiepedia, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license.
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" The Bad Batch (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-05-22
- ↑ "The Bad Batch (episode)". Wookieepedia. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ↑ "Star Wars The Clone Wars: Dave Filoni talks final season, Bad Batch | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 2020-03-03. Archived from the original on 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ↑ "Tech's Notes: "The Bad Batch" Trivia Gallery". StarWars.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ↑ "A New Direction for Lucasfilm Animation". StarWars.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Counterattack" (2011)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "To Fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Thank You". StarWars.com. 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 7, Episode 1, retrieved 2022-05-22
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Feb. 21, byJesse Schedeen Posted; 2020; P.m, 1:31 (2020-02-21). "Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 7, Episode 1 Review". IGN India. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
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