An old friend pays a visit to the Bad Batch.
Tropes:
- Action Prologue: The episode opens with the Bad Batch mid-escape during another animal retrieval mission for Cid.
- And I Must Scream: How being under the control of the chip feels. After he's freed from the influence of the chip, Wrecker reveals that he was fully conscious of the chip's control and what it was making him do, but was completely powerless in fighting it (just like Rex in The Clone Wars episode, "Shattered"). He says he desperately tried to stop himself, but was essentially Forced to Watch himself try to kill his brothers and Omega.
- Arc Words:Brainwashed Wrecker: Good soldiers follow orders!
- Auto Doc: The reason the Bad Batch follows Rex to Bracca is to find an intact med scanner and automated surgical suite on a decommissioned Republic Star Destroyer, just like the one that pulled out his chip aboard the Tribunal.
- Bait-and-Switch: A mysterious cloaked figure is seen in Cid's club, watching the Bad Batch from the shadows. It seems like they're being set up as an antagonist, especially when they draw their blaster on another patron just for complaining that they're "in my chair"... but then they lower their hood to reveal they're none other than Captain Rex.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Big time with Wrecker, once his inhibitor chip finally activates. Wrecker's loud, fun-loving personality makes it easy to forget he's a highly trained commando souped-up with strength enhancing augmentations who could tear a grown man apart with his bare hands.
- Blatant Lies:
- Wrecker claims his after-mission snack ritual with Omega is strictly for her as it "makes her happy". Hunter can clearly tell Wrecker is just as fond of it, if not more so.
- He also tries to claim his head doesn't hurt and he's fine in order to avoid having to climb across the cable in the Venator.
- The Bus Came Back: Captain Rex returns after the events of the The Clone Wars finale.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Rex mentions Order 66, inadvertently activating Wrecker's chip just as they were preparing to remove it. Fortunately, he's subdued and the chip is removed, bringing him back to normal. The others then proceed to have their chips removed as well so they don't run the risk of suddenly falling under its influence.
- Call-Back:
- Cid calls out the Bad Batch for botching the tactical droid job from the previous episode which would have paid enough to offset their debt to her.
- When attempting to help the Bad Batch remove their chips, Rex alludes to the final arc of The Clone Wars, specifically "Shattered" and "Victory and Death".
- It turns out Rex was the person Trace and Rafa contacted at the end of "Decommissioned".
- Rex tells Echo that their old friend Fives discovered the truth about the inhibitor chips and tried to warn him, referencing the "Order 66" arc of the sixth season of The Clone Wars.
- Omega attempts to get Wrecker to see reason when he attacks her, but like Jesse before him, Wrecker is unable to break free of the chip's influence, much less resist it.
- Tech finally gets to use that scanner he's been working on since "Replacements", thanks to Rex providing a comparative brain scan that allows him to isolate the chips.
- Call-Forward: Hunter tells Rex about the group's own dealings with Order 66, specifically mentioning that the General (Billaba) died while the padawan (Caleb Dume) got away. Years later, Rex and that Padawan, now known as Kanan Jarrus, would meet and become Fire-Forged Friends.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The Scrappers' Guild patrols. Rex mentions when they first arrive on Bracca that he and the Bad Batch need to avoid being spotted by them - come the end of the episode, this is exactly what happens.
- Continuity Nod:
- The team ventures to Bracca, the site of the opening missions for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which will take place just a few years later.
- As Rex has likely already parted ways with Ahsoka, the bubble turret on the Y-wing has been removed and the ion cannon appears to have been fixed in a forward facing position so a single pilot could use it. The later Rebellion Y-Wings would be set up like this to compensate for their limited manpower. The engine cowling still appears to be in place, however.
- Rex is determined to help the Rebellion restore the Republic, though evidently something made him give up by the time we see him in Star Wars Rebels...
- The Mantell Mix Wrecker and Omega bond over eating, for eagle-eyed viewers, is a clear shout out to the flavored popcorn mix you can buy and eat yourself at Galaxy’s Edge.
- Description Cut: As Hunter is reviewing the expenses Cid is covering for them, he notes twenty cartons of Mantell Mix at the end. Cut to Omega and Wrecker purchasing the treat and telling the vendor to bill Cid.
- Easily Forgiven: Once Wrecker's chip is removed and he's back to normal, Omega is quick to forgive him for what he did under the chip's influence. Understandable given that he truly had no control over his actions.
- Fighting from the Inside: Wrecker tries. But the chip's influence is so powerful he's helpless to do anything. The only detectable hint of his efforts is when he struggles a bit to deliver the words "Good soldiers follow orders"; his voice is a shaky stammer when he gets to the word "follow".
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Wrecker grabs Echo and pitches him at Rex, both blocking Rex's stun blast and disabling Rex when Echo's now-unconscious body hits him.
- Hero of Another Story: Rex is apparently out there working with the nascent Rebel Alliance, or at least some form of a resistance movement against the Empire.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Attempted on Wrecker to no avail. The chip is just that strong, as Rex warned and knows from personal experience.
- In the Hood: Rex wears a cloak and hood when he first appears in Cid's cantina.
- The Juggernaut: Once Wrecker falls under the chip's influence, he becomes almost unstoppable.
- Just in Time: Wrecker nearly kills Omega while under the influence of his chip, but is stunned by Rex just before he can pull the trigger.
- Landfill Beyond the Stars: Bracca is a dumping ground for decommissioned Republic starships. Fitting for such a place, some of the wreck sites have dianogas living in them.
- Leonine Contract: Cid gets the lion's share of the latest bounty despite telling the Batch that it would pay three times as much. As she points out, their cut also pays for all the supplies she provides for them to complete their jobs, as well as the protection she provides by employing them and all the cartons of Mantell Mix that Wrecker keeps buying for himself and Omega. She's not unreasonable, however, noting that they'd be square had the Batch not botched the tactical droid retrieval.
- Money Dumb: Since they've spent their whole lives having the Republic provide for them, the Bad Batch don't realize how much money their missions eat up until Cid shows them her expenses.
- Mythology Gag: Bracca, the junkyard planet where former Padawan Cal Kestis starts his story in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is the primary setting of this episode.
- Oh, Crap!: Rex immediately recognizes Wrecker's headaches as a sign of the biochip functioning and goes for his gun.Rex: What's in your head is more dangerous than you can imagine.
- Everyone freaks out when the chip activates and Wrecker goes on a rampage trying to carry out Order 66.
- Old Soldier: Rex may be a reg, but experience talks, and he demonstrates why he's a captain and the Bad Batch, however elite they are, take orders from him.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Listen to Wrecker talk while under the effects of Order 66. Words like "violation" and "terminated" might be things a clone like Rex might say, but coming from the childish Wrecker they just sound completely wrong, emphasizing the horror of the chip's influence.
- Properly Paranoid: Once he learns that the Batch hasn't removed their inhibitor chips and Wrecker is experiencing suspicious headaches, Rex is instantly cautious and arranges for all four (Omega was never given one) to undergo the procedure as soon as possible, warning them that their genetics won't resist the chips for long. If he hadn't shown up when he did, the team would have been blindsided by Wrecker's eventual turn.
- The Reveal: Rex is Trace and Rafa's contact. This explains where they got R7 from.
- Scenery Porn: You might not expect a scrap planet to have stunning scenery, but, as anyone who loves to explore and photograph abandoned buildings can tell you, they can provide gorgeous landscapes.
- Sequel Hook: The Scrappers' Guild spot the Bad Batch and report them to the Empire at the end of the episode.
- Sherlock Scan: Omega is able to determine that Rex is a first-generation clone simply by examining the lines in his face.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Batch 99 may be elite soldiers more than capable of working as mercenaries, but they have no experience with the real world and the costs associated with not living on a Republic military budget. Jedi and Clone Troopers never really had to deal with things like that during the 7 seasons of The Clone Wars.
- Sweet Tooth: Wrecker and Omega have a tradition of going out for Mantell Mix after every mission.
- Tentacled Terror: The Venator wreck the Batch explores has a dianoga (the same creature that was living in the Death Star's trash compactor) living in it, which tries to eat Wrecker. We get to see a shot of it from above, and it's much larger than you might have suspected from the trash compactor scene.
- This Is My Chair: The two barflies in Cid's cantina try to pull this on a disguised Rex, but he whips out a blaster and sends them packing.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rex mentions Order 66 as the squad was preparing to remove Wrecker's chip, causing the already semi-active chip to activate fully.
- Work Off the Debt: Cid withholds most of the payment from the animal retrieval job for herself to pay off what the Bad Batch owe her for fuel, ammo, docking fees, and Mantell Mix.
- Would Hurt a Child: Under the effects of his inhibitor chip, Wrecker has no problem attacking and trying to shoot Omega, since she's a "rogue clone" like the rest of the Bad Batch.
