"The Solitary Clone" Is A Masterpiece **MASSIVE SPOILERS!** Episode 3 Discussion PART 1

If I think about it for too long, I'll literally burst into tears. Please, for the love of all things good in this world, let Crosshair return to his family. Let them be a happy family again. I'm begging. I cannot take much more of this shit. My mental state is decaying as I speak.

Also, if anyone dies, I'm going off the grid and living in a forest. That will be the 13th reason. I won't emotionally survive. I'll never recover.

The Bad Batch - Season 3, so far

Spoilers Ahead!

Hey you guys, I'm back! So before I hop into any discussion, just a quick debrief on what's going on for me in regards to tbb: I've been trying to control my excitement and hope for this final season, as I don't want to set myself up for anymore emotional damage (it'll happen anyways). That's not to say I'm not excited or hopeful, but I'm just very nervous and still healing from the heartbreak of you-know-what.

Onto this season so far. A very strong start with the first three episodes (haven't watch ep 4 yet). They wasted no time getting right into it and I'm honestly surprised that Cross and Omega escaped as fast as they did. I'm glad they didn't waste too much time on their escape. I will say though, things are feeling sadder than ever, with so many characters out of the picture. Echo is with Rex, Tech is...well I'm not too sure, to be completely honest (more on this in a min), and Cid backstabbed the gang. All I can say is that I anticipate more sadness but I'm cautiously optimistic for a mostly happy/good ending.

okay, now onto the elephant in the room. my previous theory post of Tech being alive and having a Winter Soldier situation is looking to be more real by the day and that makes me deeply uncomfortable. It was just a theory (a game theory) I made up, albeit using my English degree to hyper analyze the story, but sometimes (most times) my big brain is a burden. I honestly don't know what's worse: Tech dying, or Tech surviving and becoming something horrible (probably the second). Which brings me to this random ah dude:

There is actually no logical reason for this dude to be shown 3 separate times in an episode for it to not be important later. He also stands with the sass of our beloved engineer, not to mention his helmet and outfit contains small stylistic callbacks to Tech's armour (maybe I'm just delusional though). Which makes me violently ill, to say the least.

Anyways, whatever happens, we're all in this together besties. God speed

Thank you ♡

Now that The Bad Batch has come to a close, I wanted to make a little appreciation post.

It has been such an honour to be apart of this beautiful community. The past 3 years have been truly wonderful. Through all of the ups and downs, the happy and sad, the exciting and tragic moments. I have so much fun and have deeply loved the camaraderie, the discussions, the memes and the absolutely stunning art works. Thank you to everyone who have been apart of this journey. I will miss this show and its characters, but I’m also grateful to have experienced their story. While I still wish certain parts of the show had ended differently, I will forever miss them, especially our goggle nerd. And lastly, thank you to the amazing and talented folks who worked on this show, Especially Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang.

Thank you everyone, I’m sending all my love and gratitude to you! ♡

The Unseen Tragedy of the Clones

Alright folks, I am back once again with another Star Wars discussion. And yes, I could be putting my time towards actual school work yet here I am…we live with the choices we make….anyways! 

MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for both The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch! 

CONTENT WARNING! Mentions of torture, eugenics, and slavery. If any of these topics are sensitive or triggering to you, please do not proceed.  Mental Health first, take care of yourselves!

With out further ado, enjoy!

I’ve been thinking about this for a really long time and it has finally reached a point where I need to formulate my thoughts. Basically (as you can probably tell from the title), I wanted to discuss the tragedy that is the clones. I know this is not a new concept whatsoever, and that most if not all people have thought and/or talked about this by now, but I wanted to post about it regardless. 

The clones, right from the moment of their creation, were tragic. They were bred to fight in a war they had no choice in, and in turn, were never given the opportunity to think about what they were truly fighting for. Their opinions, thoughts and feelings simply never mattered. By design, literally right down to their DNA, they were made to be subservient and obedient child soldiers. Moreover, they were subjected to cruel and unjust treatment at the hands of the Kaminoan’s, undergoing inhumane procedures from the [standardized] accelerated growth of all clones, to random biopsies and other enhancement operations. Yet, when a clone failed to meet Kaminoan expectations, they are “decommissioned;” in other words, eugenics. However, it can be argued that the whole Kaminoan cloning operation is eugenics (selecting desirable traits, etc.), but that’s a topic for another time. 

Referring back to the clones disposition of accelerated growth is another point of concern. Sure, it was a “necessity” in order to get an army ready as fast as possible, but when you take a step back and look at what’s really going on, you have an army of clone children (chronologically); albeit, they are physically and mentally adults. Irregardless, it is an extremely fine line and depending on who you ask, it can be acceptable or unacceptable.

 Now for the rancor in the room: the clones are literally slaves. They were unpaid (chronologically) child soldiers who were not viewed as humans by the general public, they did not have rights whatsoever, they were not allowed to make any decisions for their own lives (have a life beyond being a soldier of the GAR) and most importantly, they were viewed as replaceable cogs apart of the ever-turning wheel that is the war. This looks extremely bad on its own, but when you apply the fact that this army is the army of the Republic? It’s far worse, let me explain. The Republic, a government that not only preaches but actively advocates for peace and liberty, has an army made of soldiers who do not have liberty. The hypocrisy is unrivalled. And sure, you could argue that this is due to Palpatine and his master plan to destroy the Jedi and the Republic. But when you remove him from the equation, the hypocrisy remains. The “Great” Republic isn’t as great as its made out to be. As all things are, there are a lot of grey areas here. What remains though, is the fact that not many, if any, senators or civilians advocated for clone rights. Only Senator Padmé Amidala had ever advocated for them when she was trying to stop their needless production. And we all remember how that turned out. Sure Palpatine was the devil on the shoulder of a lot of senators, egging them on to one direction over another. But the fact is, those senators and those civilians never bothered to consider any of this. They remained complacent and were happy to accept an army of expendable soldiers. 

Even with all of these disadvantages in their lives, the clones made the best of it with what they were given. Not all people were against them. They made strong bonds among their brothers and found friendship in their Jedi generals. They also found a way to be unique, through different hair styles to tattoos and even armour paint. They made their lives bearable. But what really cemented the fact that they meant nothing to the people they protected was during order 66. This is not the fault of the people but rather their failure as a people to question the unethical operations of the Kaminoan’s and protest against it. Had they done something small like that, it would’ve put a lot more into question, like what were the ethics of the clone production, what did they do or didn’t do to them, etc. It is the job of the people to constantly challenge the politics of their government in order to keep it in check and to always strive for an even better democracy. Where the Republic had failed, the people of the Republic failed as well. The clones were merely the physical embodiment of the failure of a democracy that had died long before episode 1. And the clones, along with many others (civilians, sovereign planets, etc.) were the victims. That is the unseen tragedy of the clones.

The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 7 & 8 Review and Discussion - The Consequences of Truth

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING!

First and foremost, these two episodes were absolutely fantastic from start to finish. It had the same energy that peek Clone Wars had. And the politics. The politics of the clones and the military are some of the best moments to me, as they flesh out the world that our beloved characters live in.

Riyo Chuchi is the absolute goat. End of discussion. I’m so glad that someone is finally stepping up to fight for the clones and their rights, even though it may inevitably be all for nothing. Nevertheless, it was so good to see her appear in TBB, and I love what she was standing for. How the clones have been treated has always broken my heart. They have always deserved so much more and while I know not much will come out of this, it’s good to know that there are people who see them and recognize what they did for the galaxy. Also, it was really nice to see Bail. I wish we got a bit more of him but I understand that perhaps he wants to lay low and not have a target on his back, especially when considering his position in all of this (being the adoptive father of Leia, spearheading the pre-rebellion, etc.)

Seeing the truth be revealed in regards to what really happened to Tipoca City, while short lived, was a victory to me. The dramatic irony that was Rampart saying he was “just following orders,” in the same way that the clones are “just following orders,” was masterful. And to hammer it home, Palpatine saying that “if the clones blindly follow orders” then they need to usher in a new military; thus the introduction of the storm troopers, That stung. Yet, I cannot say I’m necessarily surprised since we are all aware by now of how well Palpatine plays his cards. I am devastated, regardless, at how easy it was for him to spin it around in his favour. 

The final scenes of episode 8 was heartbreaking to say the least. I didn’t expect it at all and I’m honestly really concerned for Echo now that he’s decided to stay with Rex. As we have all speculated, there has to be some sort of event that will push Rex over the edge, enough for him to want to stop fighting. I fear that the possibility of Echo dying has increased because of his decision to stay with Rex and moreover, the chances that his death being the breaking point for Rex has increased. I really hope that isn’t the case though, I don’t think I’d ever recover from that. Plus, It would feel a bit cheap to kill him AGAIN.

To continue from that, the bad batch’s numbers are growing eerily thin. They are now down to four 3.5 members (no offence to Omega, love her character, but let’s be real for a second, she’s not a soldier, she’s a child). I don’t really know what this could mean for them in the long run. All I know is that the family dynamic is breaking down and they may need to start considering their place in all of this; perhaps joining the fight alongside Rex and Echo. 

Overall, these two episodes were on par, if not even better, than episode three. They really gave viewers the insight into the function of the galaxy and its politics at this point in the timeline. Moreover, the tragedy of the clones has been especially highlighted here and it really cements their place in the galaxy. 10/10.

Guys, I think we've seen all the trailer clips, which means we'll be going in blind now. I'm feeling like it'll be rough from here on out. Buckle up, It's about to get traumatizing 🤕😷

Edit: Most, not all trailer clips

This is my first time ever posting some of my art publicly, and I'm quite nervous to say the least. Please don't roast me, I will spontaneously combust.

Anyways, here is just a quick Sketch of Tech, enjoy :) Let me know if anyone is interested in seeing more of my art 👉👈

P.S. please do not repost without permission or credit; reblog's are okay though :)

Zuko Crosshair Alone

Spoiler Warning: TBB season 2 episode 3

Content Warning: discussion of depression

Im not going to lie, Crosshair sitting by himself was a bit too real for me. Like, I'll be in a lecture and no one wants to sit with me (to be fair though, everyone avoids everyone).

I also just wanted to say that, regardless of whether or not you like him, you have to feel for Crosshair because he is so alone. Sure, you can say that these are the consequences of his actions and yes, I agree. But it doesn't negate the fact that it is a very sad state to see someone be in. He is turning out to be quite the tragic character and it reminds me of a few other characters from other series; specifically Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sasuke from Naruto, and Red Hood from DC Comics. Moreover, this episode (at least to me) really embodied what depression can look like. He's a shell of who he once was, he doesn't know what he wants, what/who he cares about or what to do with himself. The days seem to blur together and most importantly, he's completely and utterly alone. No one to rely on, no one to fall back onto. And that really just spoke to me on a personal level.

I go into a lot more detail about this episode and how I personally think it's a masterpiece so if you're interested, go check that out. It's divided into two parts:

Part 1

Part 2

So anyways, yeah. Me too bro, me too.

The Bad Batch s2ep 15 & 16 - Season Finale

I will not be reviewing these two episodes, at least not for a while. I apologize to those who cared to read this week's review and discussion.

I have not felt this much emotional distress and pain in such a long time. Frankly, I am not okay. In order to preserve my mental health, I will be stepping away from this platform for an undisclosed amount of time.I encourage all folks to take care of themselves as well. Please reach out to family/friends/health providers if you need support. 🫶

these two episodes were rough. This was the very last thing I ever expected to happen, but honestly, I should've known better. The foreshadow was right in my face, and I was foolish to ever be hopeful.

My Thoughts on The Bad Batch

Hey guys. So, with the announcement of the third season being the last as well as the interview with Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang, It breaks my heart to say that Tech is probably dead. Despite all of our very plausible theories of his survival, it is apparent that the writers/creators have ended his story. At this point, I think I've kind of accepted it in the same way I learned to accept Fives' death. It still hurts to watch, but I know it's a reality I cannot change. It's just really disappointing to see his story never be finished.

If I'm being completely honest here, while I love Star Wars deeply and I wholeheartedly applaud all the people who have poured their blood, sweat and tears into each project, I feel like the writers have lost a bit of their mojo. This is just my take on this, but The Bad Batch has always felt like it lacked in some way, storywise (in comparison to TCW), like it wasn't ever truly reaching its full potential. The same can be said with The Mandalorian; I love it, but I don't know where the story is going or what the end goal is. Sorry if that was a hot take. It's just how I've felt for a while, and I wanted to express that.

I am (mostly) at peace with Tech's death. I hope the remainder of the batch will be reunited by the end of the series, but I'm not holding out too much hope; I don't want to set myself up for failure.