Tear Jerker / Star Wars: The Bad Batch

All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

General / Teasers:

• The show is inherently this, taking place immediately after the tragedy that was the end of the Clone Wars. There are no more Jedi to save the day (the ones who survived have to keep a low profile) and the once great Republic begins its transition into the tyrannical Empire, and we watch as the Bad Batch and the rest of the Clone Troopers struggle to find their place in the Galaxy now that they've been used as tools.
• The sizzle reel has shown that there will be clone-on-clone violence in the series, and not the accidental Friendly Fire incidents or the one-off traitors to the Republic, but the clones earnestly fighting each other with the intent to kill. Everything that made the clones human throughout The Clone Wars has been stripped away and now they truly are just tools to be used and discarded, with the Bad Batch some of the lucky few who have managed to escape this terrible fate. For them? It means they will have end up killing their own brothers.
• The Clones’ accelerated aging is inevitable, and the Bad Batch will be subject to it. The sad truth is, there will be a point where they will be too old to fight, and they’ll end up having the same fate as Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor—wasting away and no longer having any purpose. Omega is the only clone who ages normally, which means inevitably, she’ll outlive the Bad Batch.
• The clones have been subjected to Order 66 and have stripped their armor of all the paint and markings they used to mark themselves as individuals. The Empire destroys everyone's humanity, beginning with the heroes of the Clone Wars.

Episode 1: Aftermath

• The identity quashing transformation the clones go through after Order 66, which we had already seen in The Clone Wars finale. The Bad Batch joke at first that the "regs" don't seem any different, but even they eventually have to accept that the stiff, robotic and fanatical grunts the clones have become since the order is fundamentally wrong and a destruction of clones who were once full of life and identity. Even a partial activation manages to turn Crosshair, once a consummate rebel, into a jackbooted mouthpiece for the Emperor before they eventually destroy his mind entirely. Realizing it's too late for him, Omega can only feel sympathy for what he's about to become.
• Depa’s final, desperate scream as she tells Caleb/Kanan to run. The rendition-hybrid of Anakin's Dark Deeds and Anakin's Betrayal make it worse, as does Caleb's Freak Out moments later, when he draws his lightsaber on people who he looked up to and screams at them to stay away.
  • A subtler tearjerker happens in the same scene as a Freeze-Frame Bonus. A lot of the clones running to her position are shown putting their fingers to their comms, with the implication that they were running to help before being brainwashed. This implication lends some additional horror to Order 66 in general, as this implies that Order 66 operates in an "epicenter" styled manner, being issued to the officers before spreading to the soldiers beneath them, giving the regular clone troopers just enough time to feel confusion and horror at the sight of their commanding officers attacking their Jedi superiors, before no doubt filling them with the drive to rush to the rescue of their Jedi...and then Order 66 takes effect and they join their commanding officer in attempting to kill their Jedi general.
• Caleb not knowing that Hunter is sincerely trying to help, and is just as confused as he is about what’s going on. He would spend the next 17 or so years seeing all clones as a potential threat. (In the comic, this extends to not knowing one of his former captains sacrificed himself to let him escape.)
• When the Bad Batch arrive on Kamino following Order 66, they see a stretcher with a body covered by a sheet being taken away. As it passes them, a hand slips out from beneath it and drops a lightsaber on the floor, revealing that the body beneath is that of a murdered Jedi. Hunter's reaction is one of grim dismay, but he is forced to deny it to a clone who questions him on it.
  • Though the dead Jedi is not Shaak Ti, the sadness is not lessened by the implication that they were on Kamino when Order 66 was issued, being surrounded by clones who likely were on friendly terms with the unknown Jedi only to suddenly turn on and murder them before they could react. Alternatively, since the Jedi's lightsaber is still in their hand after their death, it's possible that the Jedi attempted to defend themselves with it but could not do so in time because they were reluctant to hurt the clones or simply could not react to the betrayal enough to fight back.
    • It's even worse when compared against various scenes of Order 66 in both Canon and Legends. There is precedent for a Jedi happily buddying around with their clone subordinates, only for Order 66 to be given out, giving the shocked Jedi just enough time to realize something has gone horribly wrong before being gunned down by their former friends, all without a chance to defend themselves or even know what's going on.
• After being knocked out in the cafeteria brawl, Echo wakes up in the medbay with AZI-3 hovering over him. He immediately begins to panic until Omega calms him down; the clear implication is that he's having a flashback to his time being tortured and experimented on by the Techno Union.
• When Omega pleads with Crosshair and tells him 'it's not your fault', Crosshair's expression actually seems to soften a little for a moment... then he gets taken away to be fully brainwashed.
• Crosshair's eventual betrayal towards the Bad Batch. Hunter, while clearly conflicted with shooting at not only his regular clone brothers but also his teammate, eventually decides he needs to hold the line if Omega and Wrecker will be rescued and the Bad Batch can escape Kamino.
  • Hunter and Crosshair's talk just before the shooting starts. Especially how cold and detached Crosshair has become. While Crosshair was always a bit distant, even aloof. Thanks to his inhibitor chip, he's become outright cruel.
    Crosshair: Best stand down, Sergeant. Make it easy on yourself.
    Hunter: (outraged) Have you lost your mind?!
    Crosshair: (rather coldly) We should have killed that Jedi, you disobeyed orders.
    Hunter: I did what I thought was right!
    Crosshair: You never could see the bigger picture.
• The sight of Wrecker's plushie and the joy he has while playing with it when off-duty really hammers in the fact that the clones are still just the age of children and they never had a childhood— even if they are in the bodies of fully grown men. Worse, the Bad Batch had to consciously undergo such a traumatic event and complex shift in the only life they knew (or were created to have) before reaching their teens.
  • For that matter, Wrecker himself qualifies. He is essentially a 12-year-old biologically enhanced in a matter akin to a steroid user with a fixation on destruction. This fixation gives him his value to the Kaminoans and Empire. Even that doesn't last when his "programming" can't outweigh his independence.

Episode 2: Cut and Run

• After Omega is nearly killed by a Nexu when she tried to recover a ball, Hunter angrily berates her for her recklessness. It isn't until Cut intervenes does he back down and watches as he demonstrates a more fatherly and gentle method of approaching her.
  Hunter: What were you doing out there!? Do you realize you could've been killed!?
  Cut: Easy. She's not a soldier. *approaches Omega* Are you hurt? Now, let's take a look over here.
  Omega: *quivering, and buries her face in Cut's shoulder* I'm sorry, I was just trying to get the ball... I-I didn't know...
  Cut: You're safe. That's all that matters.
  • While this happens, you can see the immediate regret in Hunter's eyes over what he did. He just berated a child - one who knew absolutely nothing of the galaxy around her, and he berated her as though she was a soldier in a war. Even though his concerns were reasonable, what Omega needed was comfort and care, not further punishment. It was at this moment where Hunter comes to the conclusion that he and the Bad Batch are unable to give the young Clone the adequate care she needs, and initially decides to have the Lawquanes take her with them as they left off-world.
• In an almost humorous way, Echo notes the irony about how Clones during the time of the Republic wanted to be addressed by names instead of numbers, but now in the time of the Empire, people are lining up to be given identification via chain code numbers, showing the sad reality of recent events.
• Once she gives the Lawquanes their chain codes, Omega notes there's an extra among the four given. Hunter then reveals that the last one is for her and that he wants her to leave with Cut so she can be with a real family. Omega does not take this well and is visibly upset. This exchange between them makes it even more heartwrenching:
  Hunter: The extra chain code's for you, so you can leave with Cut and Suu.
  Omega: Why? Did... did I do something wrong?
  Hunter: You need a family, kid. They're good people. They'll give you the life you deserve.
  Omega: *in a saddened tone* But... I want to stay with you.
  Hunter: You have to go, Omega. It's... for your own good.
  • What makes this worse is that when Omega expresses her desire to stay with Hunter, you can see in his expression that he feels saddened to hear this from her, but can't back down for her own good.
  • Even Cut's taken aback that Hunter never disclosed any of the plan to her. By the time he discovers this, his reaction is both of surprise and concern.

Episode 3: Replacements

• Hunter reveals to Omega that ever since escaping Kamino, he's been angry with himself for having to leave Crosshair behind. Though none of what happened was either of their faults, Hunter nonetheless shoulders all of the blame for what happened to him.
• It's implied that even through his brainwashing, Crosshair still feels attachment to his old squad and regrets that they're enemies, as he solemnly looks at the day counter they made while his new squad gets into bed, showing none of the camaraderie they had.
• The juxtaposition of Omega's new room, built for her by Wrecker, and Crosshair sitting alone in the emptied-out, almost clinical room that had been the Bad Batch's.
• Omega unwittingly pulls out Crosshair's old weapons crate, which is met with profound silence and sadness by the whole squad.
• Despite being established as an arrogant jerk in his initial interaction with Crosshair, an Elite Squad trooper proves he has a conscience as he attempts to avert a war crime by taking the more humane approach (namely, taking prisoners rather than killing a bunch of defenseless refugees). Crosshair refuses to have any of it, and the trooper is executed in cold blood by his commander, all because he refused to murder civilians. To make matters worse, his death was completely in vain as the rest of his squad finishes what he refused to partake in, but only out of fear of their commander killing them as well.
  • In a broader sense, this scene - and indeed, the whole series - serves as the origin story for all those Stormtroopers that will serve as the faceless, ruthless enforcers of the Empire/First Order in decades to come; normal, good-hearted people being lured into serving for their nation, only to be trained to view anybody that opposes the Empire as terrorists, with the understanding that they will be put down like dogs if they fail to do so. It's basically If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten! on an industrial scale, and it's both horrifying and tragic.

Episode 4: Cornered

• Hunter, Echo, and Omega's reactions to all the parades going on, "supposedly" to honor the Clone Troopers and their heroics of defeating the Separatists and the Jedi who caused the Clone Wars for their destructive purposes of "changing" the galaxy. It's a very somber atmosphere compared to the parade thrown on Naboo years before.
  Omega: But the war is over. Isn't that good?
  Echo: Depends which side you're on.

Episode 5: Rampage

• With the collapse of the Republic, slavery is now rampant once again in places that were once thought to have outlawed it.
• Remember the rancor that Luke ends up getting killed in self-defense? Given that Bib Fortuna shows up to pick up Muchi under Jabba's orders it's very likely that the Bad Batch unwittingly doomed the poor creature to essentially be a mistreated pet for Jabba. The very fact that Muchi is very gentle and warms up to the Bad Batch (Omega especially) as well as Malakili later down the line only makes seeing Muchi's earlier rampage of the slavers hurt quite a lot.
  • Not quite that bad, as the Aftermath books state that that particular rancor was a male named Pateesa. However, the fact that Muchi was replaced by that point doesn't signal a happy ending for her.
• Word of God is Muchi is the Rancor Luke kills.

Episode 7: Battle Scars

• Though he's happy to reconnect with the Bad Batch, Rex is clearly still dealing with the trauma of what happened on the Tribunal at the end of The Clone Wars, and his own brainwashing experience. It's sad that he can't completely trust any clone that isn't free of their control chips, even the Batchers who are (mostly) immune to their Order 66 programming. When he hears they still have the chips in their brains, and that Wrecker is suffering from unusual headaches, Rex actually backs away from them with his hand on his blaster, and Hunter has to talk him down.
  Rex: Those chips make you a threat to everyone around you, even [Omega]. You're all ticking time bombs.
  Hunter: Take it easy, Captain.
  Rex: What's in your head is more dangerous than you can imagine. I've seen what happens when the chip activates, and I don't want to bury any more of our brothers. Trust me, it's not something you can control.
  • And the saddest part? Rex is 100% right to be worried, as events later in the episode will show.
• When brainwashed Wrecker has Omega cornered and is about to shoot her (thankfully averted at the last second):
  Omega: But Wrecker... I'm your friend...
  Wrecker: Good soldiers... follow orders...
  • Made even worse since Wrecker is fully aware of what he's doing and is fighting against it, but the chip is just too powerful.
• Wrecker's remorse over attacking Omega, even though it was beyond his control.

Episode 8: Reunion

• Omega's distress after Cad Bane shoots Hunter in the chest. It turns out he's still alive (if you look closely, you can see him breathing). But Omega likely doesn't have enough time to confirm Hunter's still alive before Bane stuns her.

Episode 9: Bounty Lost

• Poor Omega's reaction when she sees Taun We lying on the floor. Her first reaction is to demand that Cad Bane do something to try and save her. Only for Bane to, rather somberly, reveal that Taun We is already gone.
  • It's unclear if she still cares for Tuan We when Omega learns that she was going to take her back to Kamino to be euthanized.
• If it wasn't bad enough for her already, Omega learns who sent the bounty hunters^note though Lama Su only sent Bane while Fennec Shand was sent by Nala Se to save Omega and why. She now worries that Lama Su will just keep sending more bounty hunters after her.
• There's something melancholic about Bane here, as well. Gone is his past bravado. The Jedi and Republic are gone, and the Empire is reigning. Cad Bane made his name going up against Jedi and clones, and now their time is at an end, and his with it.

Episode 10: Common Ground

• We'd previously seen AT-TE walkers in heroic roles, from the Battle of Geonosis to the Siege of Mandalore. Now, they're being used to keep the population in line. That's a far cry from their previous portrayals, a reminder that the Clone Wars have ended and Foreshadowing for their AT-AT replacements.

Episode 11: Devil's Deal

• From the look of things Howzer has an amicable relationship with Cham, even letting Hera get away with loitering in a restricted area, with the implication that they likely fought beside each other during the Clone Wars. The look on Howzer's face then as he's forced to arrest Hera and later Cham during Rampart's frame-up of the latter seems to indicate a soldier caught between his friends and his duty.
• The fact that Cham was willing to give the Empire a chance and doing everything he could to ease tension between his followers and the Imperials is a tragedy unto itself because it shows that, far from Orn Free Taa's malicious slanders, Cham was an honorable person who was ready to retire from his resistance ways for the sake of his daughter's future. He was only forced back into his old role because Taa would never accept a potential rival to his seat, no matter how many promises Cham made to him.

Episode 12: Rescue on Ryloth

• Hunter not taking the job to rescue Hera's parents. He has legitimate reasons, and any reasonable adult would understand him not willing to throw his life away, but Hera? She's just a teenager who's desperate to want her family back. The one lifeline she has left to save them, and it's saying "No."
• Howzer and his men getting arrested. If we know the Empire, and sadly we do at this point, there's a strong possibility that Howzer might just be facing a firing squad in the future. If he's lucky.

Episode 14: War Mantle

• Gregor's mental deterioration that he shows in Rebels has already started.
  • Even in old age Gregor was scatterbrained, but functional and loving every dang second of it. And that means kriff all to the Imps, if Gregor hadn't had the good sense to leave they would have eventually lost patience and scrapped him as quick as they would Gonky!
• Though the Bad Batch succeeds in recovering Gregor from Daro, Hunter fails to get onto the Havoc Marauder and falls towards the mountain base. On the verge of capture, Hunter orders Tech to fly the ship away, despite the latter's objections about his low odds of survival. Meanwhile, Omega desperately pleads with Hunter to order the squad to come back for him, but Hunter refuses.
  • While this is all happening, you can see Echo and Tech sadly lower their heads as they make the jump to hyperspace at the cost of leaving their friend behind. And Tech is usually quite emotionally restrained, underlining just how painful this moment is for him and, by extension, everyone.
  • Even when directly ordered to leave Hunter, Tech hesitates before pulling the throttle.
  • Made sadder as Omega talked Hunter into this mission, and likely blames herself for his capture.
• While it's a generally established fact that the clones have become Imperial slaves, it's a special kick in the teeth to see Scorch, one of the heroes of Star Wars: Republic Commando, reduced to a mindless villain. Made worse when one remembers that Taun We once described him as the heart and soul of Delta Squad, and he was the closest that game had to a comic relief character.
• Lama Su learning the hard way just how expendable he is to the Empire (and possibly being executed offscreen). Even Nala Se, who covertly attempted to undermine Lama Su's intentions for Omega and in spite of the prime minister attempting to throw her under the bus only moments before Rampart revealed her ongoing usefulness to the Empire as a scientist, looks saddened about this outcome.

Episode 15: Return to Kamino

• When Omega speaks about how she and the rest of the Batch were created in Nala Se's secret lab, she almost sounds kind of lost, as if something is missing from her life. It's a subtle yet sad reminder that no matter how much the clones may grow to become real and independent people, they were still originally bred as mere weapons of warfare, without birth parents to love them or any happy familial experiences to shape them, with the only thing molding each of them into the individuals they become are their experiences in war, the brotherhood they share being literally all they have.
• Justifiedly, Crosshair shows clear resentment towards Hunter for leaving him behind. He genuinely believes the Bad Batch betrayed everything they stood for, all for a Republic that no longer exists, but above all, they betrayed him and their brotherhood, truly believing he was one of them. Seeing Crosshair express this much emotion just hurts.
  • It also makes this cut line from the "A Distant Echo" story Harsher in Hindsight:
    Crosshair: If I was left for dead, I would not be so loyal.
  • What's worse is that, given Hunter's reaction to these accusations, he's somewhat right. Though none of what happened was of their faults, it clearly affected both of them in negative ways, with Hunter believing it really was his fault, while Crosshair believing he was abandoned by his own brothers, and the fact that they never came back to recover him clearly did not help in the matter.
• Crosshair wants to reunite with his brothers and tries to convince them to join the Empire, believing they will have a better purpose than being fugitives. Realizing his attempts to appeal to them are failing, Crosshair pleads to Hunter not to become his enemy, only for the latter to state simply: "We never were".
• As Hunter tries to reason with Crosshair about the Empire's shady dealings and that the inhibitor chip is what turned him against them, Crosshair clarifies one thing: He had his chip removed some time ago. Though it may have been responsible for his initial betrayal, he's not serving the Empire because he's programmed to, he's serving because he actually believes he's doing something right.
  Hunter: Crosshair, forget the Empire. This isn't you. It's your inhibitor chip. We can help you.
  Crosshair: Wrong. I had my chip removed, a long time ago.
  Hunter: ...Since when?
  Crosshair: Does it matter?
  Hunter: Yes!
  Crosshair: This is who I am.
  • Once Crosshair gets stunned, Hunter checks to see if he truly did remove his chip, and sure enough, the scarring on the latter's head confirmed his suspicions.
• With all essential personnel evacuated, Admiral Rampart orders Tipoca City to be bombarded and sunk. To make it even more emotional, we also get some final shots of places viewers got to see since Kamino's first debut to now, from the Growth Chambers to the white hallways, as well as the cafeteria and the Bad Batch's former barracks. All of which were once teeming with life are now completely emptied and barren before going up in flames and being unceremoniously sent into the ocean below.
  • The use of the Kamino leitmotif throughout the episode serves as a bookend from the planet's first appearance in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, subtly underscoring that this is likely the last time in chronological canon that viewers will be seeing an inhabited, intact version of Tipoca City and the cloning facilities onscreen.
  • It becomes even worse when one harkens back to The Clone Wars, where Rex and Cody both show how much they, as well as all the clones, valued Kamino. Not just as a point of strategic importance for the Republic, but as a home for them and their brothers. Episodes like "Rookies" and "ARC Troopers" demonstrated their dedication, enough to get entire episodes dedicated to troopers, and even non-combatants such as 99 putting their lives on the line defending their home when it's under threat. To see it getting ruthlessly decimated in a matter of seconds is truly heartwrenching.
    • Another thing to add to this already tragic scene, is that the officer Rampart gives the bombardment order to was a clone, who executes it with no hesitation or further thought. That's right - the very clones who dedicated their lives to protect their home were the ones who pulled the trigger on it.
  • It truly is official: the Clones will never be able to go home ever again. Not now, not ever.
• Crosshair made it clear he is deadset on serving the Empire, and the fact that Admiral Rampart executed Tarkin's order to bombard the settlement and won't come back for him makes it clear his Empire doesn't care about their people. The cliffhanger only leaves one to guess if whether or not Crosshair will still continue trying to serve the Empire.

Episode 16: Kamino Lost

• The clone that reports to Admiral Rampart about the destruction hesitates slightly as he explains all the major structures are in ruins, clearly affected by the sight even though he's trying to hide it.
• As they flee through the city, the group winds up on a catwalk above the gestation pods for new clones, slowly being shorted out by the rising water. All Hunter can say is that they have to keep moving.
• Wrecker solemnly pointing out that for all of Crosshair’s anger that the Batch didn’t come back for him, he never tried finding a way back to them.
  Wrecker: You done complaining? You know if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
  Crosshair: Something on your tiny mind, Wrecker?
  Wrecker: All that time, you didn’t even try to come back. [sigh]… we still would have taken ya…
  • Tech, on the other hand, has already given up on Crosshair. When Crosshair refuses to rejoin with his brothers, Tech immediately walks to the ship before everyone else. You’re somewhat able to hear through his Spock-like voice that he’s actually angry at him when he says this.
    Tech: Let it go Wrecker. Crosshair has always been severe and unyielding. It is his nature. You cannot change that. (Looking at Crosshair) He cannot change that.
  • When Crosshair asks Tech why Tech's defending him, Tech matter-of-factly replies: 'I am not. Understanding you does not mean that I agree with you.' Coming from the Batch's resident Nice Guy, this somehow manages to be even more cutting than Wrecker's straightforward anger.
• After Crosshair fires his rifle's grappling hook to rescue Omega and AZI-3, he sees Tech, Echo, and Wrecker pointing their blasters at him. Even though he just saved their little sister and droid friend, his brothers still don't trust him.
• The final view of the remainder of Tipoca City, as all that is left of the Clones' former home is little more than a smoke trail from the debris. It truly is the end of an era. Omega's solemn look as she is seeing the remains of the first home she's ever known says it all.
• Despite the Empire knowingly nearly killing him and his brothers, once again showing blatant callousness for its own personnel, Crosshair is still loyal to it and ultimately refuses to come back to the group.
  • That said, he isn’t happy about it. His eyes roll back towards the sound of the Marauder taking off. And then they turn back to the ground as though he’s regretting his choice.
  • Crosshair’s initial betrayal has nonetheless left a void in the Bad Batch, and even more so now. The team just isn’t the same without him, and they all have to accept that the person they all thought they knew is just gone.
• For all of the praise that the Empire lavishes on her scientific expertise, Nala Se is simply another slave momentarily living in a Gilded Cage, potentially awaiting the moment when she has outlived her usefulness to them, just as Lama Su and (quite possibly) Crosshair have. Her sad, resigned expression while being escorted by the clone commandos to Weyland conveys that she understands this, but there is little she can do about it.
  • What makes it sad is that Lama Su told her before his arrest that they brought their newfound slavery to the Empire upon themselves. For all their work and effort in providing a high-quality army on their behalf and doing all they could to help them, the Empire didn't hesitate to turn on them and imprison them as personal and disposable tools. One can't help but wonder if Nala Se now regrets her own part in enabling these circumstances (e.g., designing and implanting the inhibitor chips, and then sabotaging the efforts of Fives to expose this) that has lead to her own essential slavery and grim future.

Season 2

Episode 2: Ruins of War

• The team arrives at Serrano to find that the capital city in ruins, bombarded by the Empire, who are now looting Dooku's palace.
• Omega tells Echo why she's so desperate to get Dooku's treasure: she overheard his conversation with Hunter and took it to mean that the Batch doesn't have a normal life because of her.
• Despite being a primary antagonist in this episode and the last, it’s tough to see Captain Wilco get murdered by Admiral Rampart just for doing his duty and refusing to falsify an official report, one which would expose Rampart’s failure to destroy the Bad Batch at the end of the previous season.
• Omega once again has to be taught what toys and fun are. Her childhood was another victim of the war and the Kaminoan inhumanity.

Episode 3: The Solitary Clone

• We meet up with Crosshair, more alone than ever due to his actions. Other regs actively avoid him, and his efforts to prove himself to the Empire are proving to be for nothing. And by the time he's finally called to report to Rampart after being cleared for duty, he's been demoted.
  • It turns out, Crosshair spent 32 rotations (days) stranded on the landing platform on Kamino, waiting to be picked up. Either no one thought to search for survivors after Tipoca City sank. Or, more likely, no one in the Empire cared enough to look.
• The scene at the canteen - gone is the friendly atmosphere of the Kamino mess hall. Now it's a quiet, dingy hall that is sparsely populated, another sign of the Empire's growing disinterest in the army that won them their dominance.
• When Commander Cody sees Crosshair again, he mentions how his former teammates went rogue after Order 66 went live. That's old news at this point, and while Cody isn't surprised, he's not over their absence and is disappointed that they left.
• A quick moment that's easy to miss: One of clone troopers' is shot whilst trying to throw a grenade. Just before it goes off, Cody shouts his name and reaches to help, having to be pulled into cover by Crosshair. Even after the Clone Wars have ended, Cody is still losing brothers.
• Governor Ames' death. All she wanted was to protect her people from the Empire's oppression, something that even Cody sympathizes with. Yet she's ruthlessly shot down by Crosshair at Grotton's orders, who spitefully orders her body to be displayed in the town square to Make an Example of Them.
  • What's more, is that she dies believing a lie. The only reason the man she looked up to, Count Dooku, saw the Empire coming at all was because he knowingly played a part in building it. She and so many others gave everything they had to the Separatist cause, and all they accomplished was telling Palpatine exactly who he needed to get rid of.
• After the clones once again successfully put down a Separatist uprising, Cody mournfully watches as a group of "Conscription" soldiers disembark to occupy the planet. Another sad reminder that the Clone Troopers are swiftly being replaced by the far more ruthless Stormtroopers that have no sense of honor and integrity, just blind loyalty to a fascist regime.
• Cody's desertion. During his conversation with Crosshair, we see a heavy implication of guilt Cody is going through, presumably still upset over causing Obi-Wan's "death." Ames' execution was the straw that broke the camel's back, and ultimately made Cody come to a grave realization the Empire was all about bloodshed and tyranny, not peace and compromise.
  • His character arc in this episode is that of a man trying desperately to believe that the new regime he helped put into power (albeit unwillingly) will make the galaxy safer, which will make the losses and suffering him and his brothers experienced during the Clone Wars mean something. But, sadly he goes through a gradual Heel Realization, ultimately realizing that everything the clones have gone through is worth nothing, and that the Empire represents all the evil and oppression he thought he was fighting against.
  • His last words to Crosshair serve both as a subtle "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and a warning that his "Just Following Orders" mentality will only last so long, before Crosshair has to face his conscience for all the terrible things he's done in service to the Empire;
    Cody: You know what makes us different from battle droids? We make our own decisions, our own choices. And...we have to live with them too.
• The reveal that Admiral Rampart never bothered to learn the names of the clones under his command, just their CT numbers. While certainly not surprising given his disdain for the clones, it goes to prove what Hunter said to Crosshair in the season 1 finale is sadly accurate;
  Hunter: All you'll ever be to [The Empire] is a number.

Episode 7: The Clone Conspiracy

• Slip admitting to being a first-hand witness to Rampart's destruction of Kamino. You can clearly see the horror and grief in his voice when disclosing the news to Senator Chuchi. Come to think of it, it is heavily implied that he was the very clone that shakily confirmed the destruction to Rampart in "Kamino Lost."
  • It's also confirmed in this episode that Rampart's bombardment was not merely the demolition of an empty city; all of the cities across the planet were destroyed, resulting in the deaths of countless people and adding the Kaminoans to the list of species brought to the brink of extinction by the Empire's genocidal actions.
• And speaking of Slip, despite only getting a few minutes of screen time, it's tough to see him being fatally shot later on.
• The reveal that the assassin Rampart hired to kill Slip and silence any other clones who knew the truth about the destruction of Tipoca City was a fellow clone himself. It's shocking that at a time when more and more clones have been questioning their actions, there are still some willing to believe in the Empire's deception, and are willing to silence even their own brothers for it.
  • Based on the clone's young face and venomous tone, it's likely that he was one of the last generation of clones (the children we saw being evacuated last season), having been conscripted as part of the fledgling Purge Trooper program. It's a tragedy that this is a look at what the last of the Jango Clones will end up being - vicious Elite Mooks who can give even a Jedi a fight, brainwashed beyond the point of no return with no love for anyone and loyal to the point of suicide to the Empire.

Episode 8: Truth or Consequences

• The revelation that the combined efforts of The Bad Batch, Rex, and Senators Chuchi and Organa was a Pyrrhic Victory at best; while they may have succeeded in Rampart's removal from power, they unwittingly caused the fate of all remaining clones to be sealed once Palpatine twisted the narrative of the evidence to his own advantage. They had really lost and were fully outplayed before the battle even started.
  • Palpatine makes no mention of carrying on ahead with the Clone's pension plans as part of the act when he says he's going to push it through despite it costing nothing to him to leave it in. This is likely his retaliation against Chuchi for nearly derailing one of his major plans for the Empire, setting the issue of Clone rights back to square one.
• Echo parting ways with The Bad Batch to go with Rex. Omega is very teary-eyed upon hearing this news, and the nostalgia clone theme in the background makes it even more of a Tearjerker. But simultaneously, he knows first-hand how it feels to be silenced and brutally mistreated, so it could be argued that him leaving to help out his remaining brothers in need is a good thing to prevent them from meeting a gruesome fate.
  • And with both Crosshair and Echo now gone, that only leaves Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Omega left as part of The Bad Batch.

Episode 9: The Crossing

• The crew has been destabilized by the loss of Echo. They are a man down and it leaves them spread too thin to prevent their own ship from being stolen. Wrecker and Tech are in closer proximity and their contrasting personalities are causing them to bicker more. The former is generally a Gentle Giant and the latter is polite to a fault, yet their frustrations are boiling over now that Echo is gone. And Hunter is mostly unable to keep the squad from fighting within themselves.
  • And it all has a negative effect on young Omega, already reeling from Echo's departure and now has to watch the worst in her family come out onto each other. Even she is starting to mouth off to Hunter and Tech, eventually just wanting to be left alone. The Batch is the only true family Omega has ever known and it's falling apart before her eyes.
• Tech is stung when Omega accuses him of not caring about the Batch as a family. He simply processes things in a different way, and admits he's still upset about Crosshair and Echo's departures, but sees no other way to proceed than his own way. He gently tells Omega as much, realizing how much his contrasting personality is hurting her.
• The end of the episode has Cid taunting the crew with how she's too busy to help them out, and even when she's guilted into finding help, it's not going to be for a while and she still coldly cuts them off when Hunter points out they don't have enough food to last that long. Even though Cid will presumably come through, it's cold comfort considering how much she has to be prodded to have the crew's back, and suggests Millegi was right that the loyalty between her and the crew does not go both ways. The crew are stuck even if they get off-world.

Episode 11: Metamorphosis

• The cloned Zillo Beast is recaptured by the Empire and is no doubt going to be experimented on much like the original went through.

Episode 12: The Outpost

• The scenery at the military base Crosshair was assigned to, now being swarmed with the Empire's newly recruited stormtroopers. This change in scenery truly reflects how the era of the clones is coming to a tragic end. What hits even harder is when a group of clones are overheard talking about their retirement plans/pensions to ensure that they are at the very least, allowed to live out the rest of their lives in peace. But unfortunately, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Rebels would later prove, that would not be the case, as most simply became homeless on the streets or lived in outright exile respectively.
• Crosshair and Mayday find the crates have spilled open in the melee. What was so important to the Empire that they risked their lives to retrieve a couple stolen crates? Uniforms for the new TK Troopers. Mayday drops to his knees in despair. "Good soldiers follow orders," the saying goes, and what did it get them? An ignoble death on an icy rock guarding stuff for their replacements. Even Crosshair can't deny the pointlessness of it.
• It's sad to see Commander Mayday succumb to his injuries and pass away after he and Crosshair risked their lives (and consequently failed) to retrieve the cargo. Even worse is when Lieutenant Nolan outright refuses to give him any sort of medical attention, discarding him as simply an expendable asset who served his purpose.
• Crosshair's Heel Realization that comes just after, in which he finally realizes what Hunter said to him in the finale: all he ever was to the Empire was just a number. What's worse is that we see him outright begging Nolan to save Mayday's life, to which Nolan responds by reprimanding him for failing his orders, dismissing him as being expendable, and threatening to execute him should he object like that in the future. That being said, Nolan definitely deserved to get shot by Crosshair immediately afterward.
  • Worth mentioning is how Crosshair has always hated "regs" (save for Cody). Come this episode, it seems for the first time in his life, the death of Mayday, a reg, has affected him deeply.
• Think the clones have it bad? The new stormtroopers won't have it any better either. If anything, the replacement of clones with natural humans only further emphasizes the Empire's We Have Reserves mentality towards its soldiers; the idea of recruiting human soldiers is that while they may less costly and are not of the same quality as clone troopers, the only thing that matters is that they can be readily available in large numbers. For that reason, every soldier is expendable and they wouldn't care what happens as long as they can be readily replaced.
  • Special mention of course goes to the relationship between Lieutenant Nolan and his subordinates. Even if Nolan's fragging was rightfully deserved for treating the clones like crap, the Dramatic Irony behind this mindset is that he doesn't realize even he's expendable in the Empire's eyes. Between his willingness to murder a subordinate, and the fact that even the troopers that captured Crosshair didn't so much as really care that a low ranking Imperial Officer was slain, it goes to show just how commonplace it is for Imperial soldiers and officers to backstab each other, and no one's gonna miss a dead imperial.

Episode 16: Plan 99

• Tech’s death. After restoring power to the tram car, Tech is left dangling on a wire from a tram hanging off the rail. Seeing that his squad could not move due to the weight, Tech cuts himself and his loose car off, where he falls to his death.
  Tech: When have we ever followed orders?
  • The worst part? The tram car was falling behind Tech. Meaning that even if the impact from the fall did not kill him, he was crushed from the rail car.
  • His death also ensures that his blossoming romance with Phee will never develop.
  • It's bad enough they lost Crosshair, but Tech's death is a very serious blow to the team. The team has now lost two of their most valuable members.
• After everything the squad has done for her, it turns out that Millegi's warning about Cid was not unfounded, as when the situation becomes too heated she doesn't hesitate to sell them out to the Empire for money. While she does appear to feel guilty about it, her selfish actions result in Omega being captured by the Imperials.
  • And this is just after they've lost Tech. While still grieving over the death of one friend, they're then betrayed by someone who they also believed to be a friend.
• It's brief, but the devastating look on Hunter's face once he sees Omega captured and leaving on Hemlock's ship signals how heartbroken and defeated he was to lose the very person who was like a daughter to him (right after losing Tech).
• This is truly The Darkest Hour for The Bad Batch. Tech is dead, Omega is captured, and Crosshair while still alive is being experimented on. Hunter, Wrecker and Echo have no idea where Omega could be as they have been sold out by Cid as Season 2 comes to a close.

Season 3

Episode 1: Confined

• The episode starts off very somberly. Omega has been imprisoned for months, away from her brothers. While she's doing her routine tasks as Nala Se's assistant, she has to deal with seeing all these clone prisoners, once proud soldiers of the Republic, now repurposed to serve as lab rats until the day the die.
  • The treatment of the clones is beyond despicable. They aren’t even given the dignity of cells, they’re kept like animals in cages, given no bedding even while they are audibly shivering. The clone Omega watches get a blood sample taken from looks like he might keel over at any given second.
• Crosshair, after months, has become even more withdrawn and despondent than usual. When Omega talks to him about escape, Crosshair tells her to forget it. At this point, Crosshair has just given up any hope of escape. There's nothing left for him to lose now, he's pretty much ready to die on Tantiss.
• The treatment of the hounds in captivity is beyond cruel. Omega got attached to one, LH-201, whom she decided to name Batcher. Omega secretly made sure she was well fed, and it took her time to trust the girl.
  • And then when Omega sees her sustain a large wound from her last patrol, she reports it to K-9X1, who tells her that Batcher was scheduled for termination. This is how the Empire treats their captive animals—they sustain injuries, they're not fit for service. Even though Omega treated her wound, Batcher was still kept for termination because she was considered too domesticated.
• Nala Se looks utterly crushed in the Empire's service. Just her voice alone has gone from sounding normally Kaminoan and ethereal to dull and beaten down.

Episode 2: Paths Unknown

• The story of the three young clones is rather tragic. They were taken off Kamino and experimented on, and then abandoned after an experiment went out of control. Since then, they've been so isolated that they feel like they can't trust anybody anymore.

Episode 3: Shadows of Tantiss

• Nala Se has gone out of her way during Omega's imprisonment to protect her from harm as much as possible. She's been destroying Omega's blood sample and can't explain why, but knows Omega is in danger.
• After Omega and Crosshair escape, Dr. Hemlock implicates Nala Se. Even though she was with him the whole time during the Emperor's visit, she gets thrown in a cell.

Episode 4: A Different Approach

• Despite their successful escape, Omega realizes they left all the other clones behind. After they crash land, she's so desperate to get the ship fixed so that she can extract the coordinates to Tantiss and share it with the rest of the team. Crosshair tells her they can't risk it because Hemlock is on the hunt. With the ship heavily damaged, all hope of locating Tantiss and rescuing the other clones is lost.
• After Batcher gets captured by Captain Mann, Omega wants to desperately rescue her. She and Crosshair get into an argument, with the latter stating it's not worth it, and it upsets Omega that he doesn't understand how important she is to her. She tells Crosshair to just go while she rescues Batcher and finds her own way back. Crosshair relents.
• As they're flying to a remote location to ditch their getaway shuttle, Crosshair isn't sure his former teammates are still alive due to how long it's been. Of course what he doesn't realize is that Tech is the only one who didn't survive. It's only a matter of time before someone breaks the news to him.
• Just as Hunter and Wrecker have a joyful reunion with Omega after tireless searching, Crosshair comes out, and the mood becomes rather sour. Considering Crosshair chose to cast his brothers aside, it's clear their trust and forgiveness is something he'll have to earn.

Episode 5: The Return

• After Crosshair has returned, Hunter is rather salty towards him to say the least, due to being hurt by Crosshair's betrayal (which he did willingly).
• The state of Barton IV after months. It's completely abandoned—no more raiders and no more Imperials and the depot is buried in layers of snow.
• Crosshair clearly has PTSD returning to Barton IV. It's like returning to an abusive home. The depot is just a grim reminder of the abuse clones have suffered and died from.
• When the team enters the depot, Crosshair sees a pile of helmets (including Mayday's) scattered by the crates. Last time, Mayday laid them up as a small memorial to pay respects for their service. It's heavily implied after Nolan's death, his men took Mayday's helmet and scattered it along with those of his fallen men. Even in death, Nolan still manages to hurt the clones in one final act of disrespect.
• Tech's absence can clearly be felt in this episode. Without him, it's nearly impossible to get a lot of important tasks done, and he's just difficult to replace.
  • When Echo mentions Tech's loss, Crosshair gets a moment of silence and regret, feeling he's somehow responsible for it
  • Crosshair's return to the team is quite a hollow victory. With Tech gone, the squad will never be the same again, and there will never be moment where the original four are together again.
  • It makes the training droid scene in "Return To Kamino" more depressing, as that would be the last time the Bad Batch fought together again.

Episode 7: Extraction

• Seemingly all of the Clones working in Rex's underground, including Fireball and Nemec are all killed by the X Trooper assassin.
• Hozwer still holds Crosshair in low regard. Though the pair due end up reconciling, over their shared disillusionment with how the Empire callously used and disregarded them both.
• Outside of the commandos, Wolffe and his division are the first time all season we've seen Clone Troopers serving under the Empire's banner, a somber reminder that the clones have started being phased out by the Imperial Military.

Episode 8 Bad Territory

• While brief, Phee lamenting the loss of Tech.
• Hunter randomly tasks Crosshair to stay behind for Omega's safety. However, the reason they don't have him go on the mission is because they want him to get his hand checked. Crosshair is a proud clone, and Hunter doesn't have the heart to tell him that he might not perform well if he came with them on the mission. It's implied he and Wrecker didn't tell him just to spare his feelings.
• Crosshair's angry outburst when AZI's asking him to elaborate what happened on Tantiss. First, he shoves the droid away. Then storms off before a sad Beacher can follow after him.
• While teaching Crosshair how to meditate, Omega mentions she learned from Gungi and the Wookiees while on Kashyyyk. Crosshair is clearly surprised she had even been to Kashyyyk, which Omega innocently notes he had "missed a lot". This appears to hit Crosshair pretty hard, judging by the sad look on his face.
  Crosshair: (somberly) I know.

Episode 10: Identity Crisis

• Those children being held for Project Necromancer. They just want to go home...but they can't.

Episode 11: Point of No Return

• Crosshair desperately trying to kill the Imperial forces when they surprise him so he can plant the tracker on the ship that's taking Omega to Tantiss, only to fail by a few seconds. You can tell that, despite the helmet and a simple sigh, he is blaming himself for not being good enough. And it's worse when you realize he's been put in the exact same position Hunter was in, one that he chastised Hunter for in Episode 5: Omega was taken away in front of his eyes.
• Seeing Pabu, a place that was long thought of as a safe haven and sanctuary being occupied by The Empire as the citizens are forced to watch helplessly as their boats are destroyed and their homes burned down. Shep, the Mayor and Leader of the people can only look on as his home is destroyed

Episode 12: Juggernaut

• As horrible a person he was, Ex-Vice Admiral Rampart's situation is so pitiful. As an officer convicted of treason, he should’ve received the mandatory death penalty. The Emperor however, denied him that dignity and instead sentenced him to slave away in the Erebus Facility. Palpatine just felt it was more appropriate to strip him of his rank and let him suffer to be reminded of his failures.

Episode 14: Flash Strike

• When Echo chews out Emerie for helping the Empire experiment on clones, Emerie looks visibly shaken and sounds like she just might cry, half-heartedly replying that 'I was doing my job'. She sounds like she doesn't buy her own argument and feels awful about it. Also, Echo and Crosshair being forced to confront their traumas from being experimented on against their will.