The Bad Batch have to effect repairs after crashing on one of the moons of Ordo, while Tarkin and Rampart begin training the Empire's new soldiers.
Tropes:
- Ace Custom: Crosshair's ES armor is slightly different from the rest of the squad, reflecting his roles as sniper and captain.
- All Animals Are Dogs: The Moon Dragon has a number of dog-like gestures, such as when it is happily "chewing" on Omega's flashlight like a happy dog with a bone.
- Ambition Is Evil: ES-01 hints that he'd like to replace Crosshair some day ("Enjoy being captain... for now") only to be the first (and last) of the squad to refuse to kill civilians.
- Bait-and-Switch: ES-01 is initially presented as a staunch believer in the new Empire, being grateful for a decent paycheck and reliable work. However, once his squad is ordered to kill a group of civilians, he objects and tries to convince the rest of the squad to ignore their orders. This unfortunately leads to Crosshair killing him. This shows that the Empire doesn't want soldiers who regard their duties as simply a job. They want those that will follow the Empire without question and without hesitation, and regard it not as something to pay the bills, but as a fundamental aspect of their being.
- Bad Boss: When one of the Elite Squad members objects to killing civilians, Crosshair shoots him in front of his teammates to show what happens when they don't follow orders.Crosshair: Good soldiers follow orders...
- Being Evil Sucks: Crosshair sitting alone in his room is contrasted with the Bad Batch surprising Omega with her own decorated room.
- Bond One-Liner: One of Saw Gerrera's fighters insists she doesn't know where Saw is and wouldn't tell the Imperials even if she did. Crosshair shoots her before she even finishes speaking and quips "I believe you" after her body hits the ground.
- Call-Back: When Nala Se and Lama Su discuss their new super soldier project, the former mentions that Jango Fett's DNA is nearly depleted. The Clone Wars episode "Clone Cadets" specifically mentioned that the Kaminoans were already having to stretch the late bounty hunter's DNA to make more clones.
- Canon Immigrant: Though already recanonized by All There in the Manual, this is the first major appearance of the planet Ordo in both continuities. In Legends, Ordo was mentioned in various Knights of the Old Republic material including the comic, and is a Mandalorian world, home to Clan Ordo.
- Continuity Nod:
- Star Wars Rebels mentioned that some clones continued to serve in the Empire as trainers for the Imperial Army. Here we see Vice Admiral Rampart and Admiral Tarkin lay the groundwork for that program, by having Crosshair oversee the training of a squad of natural-born recruits.
- Rampart's recruitment initiative is codenamed Project War Mantle, which is one of the Imperial development projects Jyn Erso read about in the Scarif data vault in Rogue One.
- The squad finds themselves stranded on a rocky terrain, with two of its members, both wearing life-support masks, walking outside to fix their ship as a mysterious creature who feeds off of energy currents stalks their vessel and attacks it, just like Han and Leia in The Empire Strikes Back.
- ES-01 supports the Empire because unlike his life under the Republic, he's paid well, gets fed, and has a roof over his head. Not an uncommon motive among recruits in the Empire and the First Order — just ask Tam and Agent Tierny.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: The members of the Elite Squad lack the same camaraderie that the Bad Batch had and Crosshair sees them as less competent than clones.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: One of the Elite Squad is wielding a flamethrower while killing the refugees.
- Dark and Troubled Past: ES-01 cites his reason for supporting the Empire being that the Republic let him stay impoverished, cold, and hungry.
- Delicious Distraction: Omega tosses her flashlight so the moon dragon will chase it, allowing her to take the capacitor and leave while it feeds on the battery.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title references both plotlines, with the Bad Batch needing replacement parts for their ship while Tarkin is setting the clones up to be replaced by recruits.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While the recruits are not necessarily evil, ES-01 objects to killing unarmed civilians, preferring to bringing them in for interrogation after the fighters are dealt with. Crosshair executes him and forces the rest to wipe the camp out.
- Faceless Goons: After arriving on Onderon, Crosshair’s recruits become these, much like the stormtroopers who will succeed them; none of them are seen without their helmets again before being killed in the season finale.
- False Reassurance: Wrecker says they're gonna die when the ship is crashing, only to notice he's freaking out Omega and tells her they'll be fine.Wrecker: We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna...(sees Omega) be fine. We're gonna be fine!
- Foregone Conclusion: Tarkin tells Crosshair and his soldiers to hunt down Saw's group on Onderon. Given that Saw will still be around years later to show up in Rebels and die on the eve of the Death Star's destruction in Rogue One, Crosshair cannot succeed in killing him — and, as it turns out, Saw is already in the wind.
- Foreshadowing: After the crash, Wrecker complains of headaches, and keeps touching the side of his head where his inhibitor chip is located, indicating that it might be malfunctioning or causing him pain.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The camera cuts away just as Crosshair's men start killing the refugees they've captured.
- Internal Reveal: Omega explains to the rest of the crew that the inhibitor chips alter the personalities of the clones, hence Crosshair isn't really responsible for his behavior and there's hope they could rescue him.
- Ironic Echo: ES-01 hits Crosshair with the question of why the Empire would be looking for recruits to replace the clones, in spite of apparently being more effective, not unlike Crosshair questioning Rex's effectiveness if the Bad Batch needed to be called in.
- Irony:
- Rampart believes that ordinary recruits trained by skilled clones will create the greatest army in the galaxy. What they'll end up getting in the not-too distant future are Stormtroopers, infamous for their incompetency and poor marksmanship in general.
- Both Rampart and Tarkin assume that, since the new squad managed to complete the same mission that the Bad Batch refused to, that an army formed by recruits will be a much better army than one made by clones. However, they don't know that the recruits, like the Bad Batch before them, refused to kill civilians and that Crosshair made them do it by killing the ES-01 and prety much threatening the rest. Had Tarkin actually bothered to send a probe droid to check on the mission, like he did when he sent the Bad Batch, then he would have seen that Rampart's idea wasn't as good as it seemed.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: One particular member of Crosshair's new squad is rather mouthy and is openly dismissive of the clones. He's also the only one to stand up to Crosshair when he orders the squad to execute a group of civilians. Sadly, this gets him killed.
- Kick the Dog: Crosshair does this a lot, starting with shooting an unarmed and surrendered enemy, ordering the execution of civilians, shooting the one squad member who refuses, and having the civilians executed anyway.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: The woman whom Crosshair interrogates.Crosshair: Where's Gerrera?
Woman: I don't know, but I wouldn't tell you if I did—(gets shot)
Crosshair: I believe you. - Make an Example of Them: Crosshair not-so-subtly demonstrates to his squad what happens when they disobey orders by shooting ES-01 to get the rest of them to fall in line.
- Mythology Gag: In Legends, the planet Ordo is a Mandalorian world that shares its name with the native Clan Ordo. One of Clan Ordo's most famous members is Canderous Ordo, a Mand'alor, and is the namesake of Ordo Skirata, a clone that also went rogue with his brothers after Order 66.
- Not What I Signed Up For: One of the soldiers put under Crosshair's command balks at executing civilians. Crosshair shoots him and the others do as they're told.ES-01: We signed up to be soldiers, not an execution squad.
- Pet the Dog: Wrecker, normally impulsive and not too thoughtful, sets up a special little nook for Omega as her own bedroom ("I never had my own room before.") and gifts her his plushie.
- Punch-Clock Villain: ES-01 notes that he's happy to serve as long as the Empire provides a decent standard of living, which is better than anything the Republic offered. This foreshadows him lacking the ruthlessness necessary to do the job that will be asked of him.
- Rank Up: Crosshair has been promoted to Clone Commander, and is put in command of a new commando squad made up of natural-born Elite Troopers.
- The Reveal: The Kaminoans are working on a secret project to create a new super soldier they can use to ensure the clones will still have a place in the fledgling Empire, and intend to call back as many clones as they can to gather the necessary DNA they need to carry it out.
- Sheathe Your Sword: Omega retrieves the ship capacitor from the Ordo Moon Dragon by giving it her flashlight as an offering instead of shooting at it with Hunter's blaster. Since the beast feeds off electrical power, it works, and Omega leaves easily with the capacitor without starting a fight.
- Tempting Fate: Tech assures Hunter that nothing critical was damaged during their escape from Saleucami. Moments later, the ship is knocked out of hyperspace by a damaged component. Tech insists that he just meant life support.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: While the Bad Batch is stuck on some moon in the middle of nowhere and has to escape, Crosshair leads a group of new Imperial recruits to finish what they started on Onderon.
- The Unreveal: Once again we are given a hint that there is something special with Omega compared to even the Bad Batch, but nothing remotely solid on what the special thing is.
- We Have Reserves: Rampart dismisses the loss of a soldier as a risk of the job, not even bothering to ask what happened to him.
- Would Not Shoot a Civilian: ES-01 refuses to follow his order to kill the helpless refugees at Saw's camp. Crosshair summarily executes him, forcing the others into compliance.
- You Are Number 6: The Elite Squad members are only ever referred to by number designations.
- You Have Failed Me: ES-01 fails the Empire for the first and last time when he refuses to execute helpless civilians.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Crosshair demands Saw's location from the surviving resistance fighter. She insists she doesn't know and wouldn't tell him anyway, so he kills her. The civilians aren't treated any better.Crosshair: Do any of you have any information you'd like to share?
Civilian: We don't know anything! We were promised transport off world, that's all.
Crosshair: [draws blaster] Then you're of no use to the Empire. - You Keep Using That Word: The Kaminoans keep referring to the replacements for the clones as "conscripts", but they're all volunteers. The word they want is "enlistees" or "enlisted soldiers".
