Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Extraction
March 13, 2024 4:11 PM - Season 3, Episode 7 - Subscribe
As enemies close in, the Batch must evacuate a stronghold.
I feel like I need a clear statement about the chips. In TCW, we are shown clones like Tup who, when the chips activate, pretty much go into a fugue state, like the clones who shot down Depa Billaba, and who tried to kill Ahsoka and Rex. They had no ability to resist or think beyond their orders, other than that short period during which Rex fought with his orders before Ahsoka got his chip out.
So now we have Crosshair, who had his chip taken out at some point (maybe after Order 66?), but stayed with the Empire until he realized he had no value to them. Cody, who shot down Kenobi, stayed with the Empire for a while, and then just walked away. And then we have Howzer, who chose to defy orders in order to protect Cham Syndulla; and Wolffe, who lets Rex & the Bad Batch get away.
So what's the deal? Do the chips only trigger when in the presence of Jedi? Do any of the clones who are still with the Empire remember killing Jedi? Are they still in a fugue state? How much free will do they have?
Are the chips degrading or is their power only sometimes activated? What's the difference between the chips and this brainwashing that the Tantiss Operatives are subject to?
I'm so confused...
posted by suelac at 9:47 PM on March 13 [1 favorite]
So now we have Crosshair, who had his chip taken out at some point (maybe after Order 66?), but stayed with the Empire until he realized he had no value to them. Cody, who shot down Kenobi, stayed with the Empire for a while, and then just walked away. And then we have Howzer, who chose to defy orders in order to protect Cham Syndulla; and Wolffe, who lets Rex & the Bad Batch get away.
So what's the deal? Do the chips only trigger when in the presence of Jedi? Do any of the clones who are still with the Empire remember killing Jedi? Are they still in a fugue state? How much free will do they have?
Are the chips degrading or is their power only sometimes activated? What's the difference between the chips and this brainwashing that the Tantiss Operatives are subject to?
I'm so confused...
posted by suelac at 9:47 PM on March 13 [1 favorite]
I really cannot guess at how they end this series. Except that it won't be the "everybody dies" ending because it's animated.
clones like Tup
Pretty sure Tup's case was a malfunction, so we can rule out "permanent fugue state."
Are the chips degrading
This is my best guess—or at least, the degrading may be more likely/faster in clones who have been dealing with cognitive dissonance (to put it gently) over Order 66.
In fact, my hope for the probably-not-happening 2nd Kenobi season was that Cody would track down Obi-Wan, not to put him down but to try to atone.
Consider too that Homeless Joe Clone from Kenobi looked right at one of the most famous Jedi from the war and didn't immediately Reggie-Jackson-in-Naked-Gun out on him.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 12:47 PM on March 14 [4 favorites]
clones like Tup
Pretty sure Tup's case was a malfunction, so we can rule out "permanent fugue state."
Are the chips degrading
This is my best guess—or at least, the degrading may be more likely/faster in clones who have been dealing with cognitive dissonance (to put it gently) over Order 66.
In fact, my hope for the probably-not-happening 2nd Kenobi season was that Cody would track down Obi-Wan, not to put him down but to try to atone.
Consider too that Homeless Joe Clone from Kenobi looked right at one of the most famous Jedi from the war and didn't immediately Reggie-Jackson-in-Naked-Gun out on him.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 12:47 PM on March 14 [4 favorites]
Consider too that Homeless Joe Clone from Kenobi looked right at one of the most famous Jedi from the war and didn't immediately Reggie-Jackson-in-Naked-Gun out on him
And that particularly clone was from the 501st, Anakin's battalion, so he absolutely should have recognized Kenobi. Even if the holonet has been purged and the average person-on-the-street wouldn't recognize him.
Anyway, I'm on a slow rewatch of Rebels (with A More Civilized Age, the podcast), and we just hit the eps with Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor; it's interesting to watch Filoni try to pave over the space between the finale of TCW and Season 2 of Rebels. There's a long way to go between the Rex of S3 of TBB and S2 of Rebels.
What happens to make him and Wolffe so relatively cheery about living in exile on a crappy desert planet full of carnivorous megafauna?
I have to assume they are at least partly successful in their quest, because otherwise they would be far less comfortable under the Empire's oversight (however minimal).
posted by suelac at 12:54 PM on March 14 [4 favorites]
And that particularly clone was from the 501st, Anakin's battalion, so he absolutely should have recognized Kenobi. Even if the holonet has been purged and the average person-on-the-street wouldn't recognize him.
Anyway, I'm on a slow rewatch of Rebels (with A More Civilized Age, the podcast), and we just hit the eps with Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor; it's interesting to watch Filoni try to pave over the space between the finale of TCW and Season 2 of Rebels. There's a long way to go between the Rex of S3 of TBB and S2 of Rebels.
What happens to make him and Wolffe so relatively cheery about living in exile on a crappy desert planet full of carnivorous megafauna?
I have to assume they are at least partly successful in their quest, because otherwise they would be far less comfortable under the Empire's oversight (however minimal).
posted by suelac at 12:54 PM on March 14 [4 favorites]
There was no need for a random Tantiss operative to be given the screen time to survive this episode. I also suspect that's a winter-soldiered Tech.
Like suelac, I'm not sure what this show is doing with the mind-control chips. Both last season and this season, the show has really downplayed them. Maybe the effect dissipates over time, give or take how much 'good soldiers follow orders' resonates with any particular clone? And Palpatine hasn't bothered with issuing more numbered orders because he's phasing out the clones?
But the characters who know about the chips ought to still be concerned, and they're also ignoring the chips. Like with the cadets a few weeks ago, who are apparently somewhere on Pabu? And Crosshair too: someone should have pinned that guy down for a scan, but Howzer doesn't even consider chip removal as a potential reason why he's acting different now.
(My personal headcanon based on no evidence whatsoever is that Nala Se removed the chip while Crosshair was in medical after Bracca, in hopes that he would rejoin his squad and improve Omega's protection. And since Kamino/Nala Se wanted him to defect, Crosshair leaned hard in the opposite direction.)
It did occur to me that Tantiss might be using the 'chip enhancement' that Crosshair got at the top of Season 1 as their reconditioning technique. But if so they wouldn't have bothered trying it on Crosshair, and if Rogue Operative is Tech, it wouldn't have worked on him. So, not sure where this season is going, but it has been fun so far.
posted by mersen at 6:48 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]
Like suelac, I'm not sure what this show is doing with the mind-control chips. Both last season and this season, the show has really downplayed them. Maybe the effect dissipates over time, give or take how much 'good soldiers follow orders' resonates with any particular clone? And Palpatine hasn't bothered with issuing more numbered orders because he's phasing out the clones?
But the characters who know about the chips ought to still be concerned, and they're also ignoring the chips. Like with the cadets a few weeks ago, who are apparently somewhere on Pabu? And Crosshair too: someone should have pinned that guy down for a scan, but Howzer doesn't even consider chip removal as a potential reason why he's acting different now.
(My personal headcanon based on no evidence whatsoever is that Nala Se removed the chip while Crosshair was in medical after Bracca, in hopes that he would rejoin his squad and improve Omega's protection. And since Kamino/Nala Se wanted him to defect, Crosshair leaned hard in the opposite direction.)
It did occur to me that Tantiss might be using the 'chip enhancement' that Crosshair got at the top of Season 1 as their reconditioning technique. But if so they wouldn't have bothered trying it on Crosshair, and if Rogue Operative is Tech, it wouldn't have worked on him. So, not sure where this season is going, but it has been fun so far.
posted by mersen at 6:48 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]
Assuming we’re right about Tech, did he get re-chipped? Or maybe Hemlock cooked up something even more nefarious.
posted by orrnyereg at 2:07 PM on March 17
posted by orrnyereg at 2:07 PM on March 17
I kind of hope it's not Tech, because I don't really like the Star Wars tendency to always bring back characters.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 2:23 PM on March 17
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 2:23 PM on March 17
If Tech comes back, they are absolutely going to kill someone else on the team.
My guess is probably Crosshair, for the "redemption" angle, which will piss me off: I would much rather have him redeem himself by actually going forward in his life and doing the work to help people he harmed for the Empire, rather than dying heroically to save someone he already cared about.
If not Crosshair, it'll be Hunter. Wrecker is too sweet to kill off, Echo isn't core enough to the Batch to have the same value, and Rex has to survive at least to ANH. (Possibly RoTJ, although I'm not sure if that is actual canon, or just gray canon.)
If Tech isn't the masked clone (I think it's probably Tech, or maybe someone else we know, like Cody or Kix), I'm still fairly confident someone else is going to die, because this is television and every Star Wars writer is hung up on the idea of the heroic sacrifice.
posted by suelac at 11:53 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]
My guess is probably Crosshair, for the "redemption" angle, which will piss me off: I would much rather have him redeem himself by actually going forward in his life and doing the work to help people he harmed for the Empire, rather than dying heroically to save someone he already cared about.
If not Crosshair, it'll be Hunter. Wrecker is too sweet to kill off, Echo isn't core enough to the Batch to have the same value, and Rex has to survive at least to ANH. (Possibly RoTJ, although I'm not sure if that is actual canon, or just gray canon.)
If Tech isn't the masked clone (I think it's probably Tech, or maybe someone else we know, like Cody or Kix), I'm still fairly confident someone else is going to die, because this is television and every Star Wars writer is hung up on the idea of the heroic sacrifice.
posted by suelac at 11:53 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]
I thought Tech's sacrifice was really well done and I would prefer him to stay gone--particularly as his potential revival would almost exactly mirror Echo's. Death should mean something, even in fiction.
But if he is brought back then I agree that Hunter is the most likely to be permanently killed off. As the most Dad-coded of the group it would be devastating for Omega.
posted by orrnyereg at 1:42 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
But if he is brought back then I agree that Hunter is the most likely to be permanently killed off. As the most Dad-coded of the group it would be devastating for Omega.
posted by orrnyereg at 1:42 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
This operative, who can’t seem to follow orders, makes me nervous that he’s going to turn out to be a Winter-Soldiered Tech.
Wowwwwwww... he even went out like pre-WS Bucky, falling out of sight into an abyss. And this operative did a lot of sapper stuff.
My vote for the "dies for real" choice is Crosshair. If there's going to be a fix for the loss of his sharpshooting skills, we haven't seen it so far.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:45 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]
Wowwwwwww... he even went out like pre-WS Bucky, falling out of sight into an abyss. And this operative did a lot of sapper stuff.
My vote for the "dies for real" choice is Crosshair. If there's going to be a fix for the loss of his sharpshooting skills, we haven't seen it so far.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:45 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]
Man, it's wild to think of what this series came from, and where it is now.
But lord, I need to go look up trooper helmet designs on wookiepedie to keep them straight. The Samus Aran lookin' lite brite visors seem like they'd be trouble.
posted by Kyol at 6:23 PM on March 31
But lord, I need to go look up trooper helmet designs on wookiepedie to keep them straight. The Samus Aran lookin' lite brite visors seem like they'd be trouble.
posted by Kyol at 6:23 PM on March 31
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Wolffe’s commando is called Helo. I wonder what Tamoh Penikett is up to these days?
This operative, who can’t seem to follow orders, makes me nervous that he’s going to turn out to be a Winter-Soldiered Tech. I hope I’m wrong but otherwise why so much focus on him in these 2 episodes? Also he seems to be of smaller stature than the other clones as Tech was.
My theory about how they’re going to find Tantiss: Omega is going to volunteer to be captured so they can somehow track her there.
posted by orrnyereg at 4:23 PM on March 13 [4 favorites]