Line #21 Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E1TheBadBatch


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_bad_batch.jpeg]]
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3	->''Embrace others for their differences, for that makes you whole.''
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5	On Anaxes, Republic forces trying to hold the planet's key shipyards are suffering considerable losses. Captain Rex and Commander Cody come forward to Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker with a theory: the Separatists somehow know and are using ''Rex's'' battle plans and strategy algorithm. They propose sending a team behind enemy lines to the Separatists' computer center to figure out how they're doing it. However, Rex obviously has something else on his mind, not that he's willing to admit what that is to General Skywalker.
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7	When Cody comes in to get Rex as they prepare to leave, he finds him staring at an old picture of the two of them with the late ARC troopers Fives and Echo. Rex admits that Cody might think he's crazy, which is why he didn't mention this to the Jedi, but the Separatists are using old battle plans that Echo helped him come up with, so there's a possibility that he might not have died at the Citadel. Cody isn't sure what to think about that.
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9	Cody has called in an unusual force of clone commandos, Clone Force 99, to participate in the mission alongside him, Rex, Jesse and Kix: they're clones with "desirable mutations" that make them more effective in combat, and they don't usually work with "regs", although they have a history with the Commander. But when their gunship is shot down on the way in, leaving Cody too injured to continue, Rex winds up in charge...
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12	Originally released as part of an unfinished story reel, the completed episode premiered on February 21, 2020.
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14	----
15	!!Tropes:
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17	* AlliterativeTitle: "The '''B'''ad '''B'''atch".
18	* AllThereInTheManual: The episode guide confirms that, as in the original unfinished story reel, Fives was the only other person besides Rex and Echo who knew about the algorithm.
19	* ArtEvolution: Beginning with this episode, the art style and animation of ''The Clone Wars'' are more polished this season. For instance, the character models of the main characters are updated to have smaller eyes.
20	* AsideGlance: Hunter, when Tech explains that the Yalbec males that Hunter had said were trying to kill them after Wrecker cut off the queen's stinger were actually trying to mate with them.
21	* AttackPatternAlpha: When the Bad Batchers engage the battle droids after crashing.
22	-->'''Hunter:''' Bad Batch, Plan 82! "Shockwave"!
23	* TheBigGuy: Wrecker serves as this for Clone Force 99. Plus he has SuperStrength, BloodKnight tendencies and a hammy personality to match.
24	* BigWhat: Trench, when informed that the clones who infiltrated the cyber center may have made a connection to Skako Minor.
25	* BriefAccentImitation: During the attack on the cyber center, after Hunter and Wrecker come through the front doors as Rex and Jesse are holding off attacking battle droids, Rex sarcastically asks Wrecker what took him so long. When Wrecker snipes back that he thought this was supposed to be a "delicate operation", he makes an attempt at imitating either Rex or Tech's manner of speaking.
26	* CallBack: Rex recalls the deaths of [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E19Counterattack Echo]], [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E4Orders Fives]], and [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E5Rookies Hevy]]. Then, it's revealed that Echo is still alive.
27	* CallForward: The chatter between two of the battle droids guarding the cyber center is somewhat... [[Film/ANewHope familiar]].
28	-->'''Battle Droid #1:''' Do you know what's going on?\
29	'''Battle Droid #2:''' Maybe it's another drill.
30	* CloneDegeneration: The Bad Batch are defective clones that have beneficial mutations, so they've been arranged into an irregular unit to make use of their skills.
31	* ComingInHot: The ''Havoc Marauder'' comes in for a landing with ''exactly'' this wording used, to the point that various people on the ground have to run out of the ship's way, although it ultimately lands just fine.
32	-->"Coming in hot on Platform TT-397."
33	* ContinuityNod:
34	** The Bad Batch's official name nods to the late defective clone [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E1CloneCadets 9]][[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E2ARCTroopers 9]]. Rex lampshades this by stating "Nice touch", remembering the defective heroic clone and engaging in a bit of LeaningOnTheFourthWall, as if congratulating the writers for including the reference.
35	** [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Fyrnocks]] can be seen in the background on Anaxes.
36	* CuttingTheKnot: Tech tries to hack open the back door of the cyber center, but Wrecker complains that he's taking too long and just brute-forces it open.
37	* DelayedReaction: Rex is too shocked by the discovery that Echo is alive to immediately respond to Hunter telling him they need to leave.
38	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Early in the episode, Wrecker sits on the edge of the gunship troop bay, with his legs hanging off the side. The following episode in this story arc would establish his fear of heights, which would persist into ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheBadBatch''.
39	* EnRouteSumUp: Cody briefs the Bad Batch on the mission while flying to the Separatist base.
40	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange:
41	** Anakin's hair is longer than it was in previous seasons, now lining up with the length it is in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.
42	** Kix has, for no explained reason, grown his hair out from his old nearly-bald style since the last time he was seen.
43	* {{Expy}}: Hunter is designed after Billy Sole from the original ''Predator'' movie. He also resembles Rambo and Solid Snake.
44	* ExpyCoexistence: The titular Bad Batch, who appear for the first time here, were developed as George Lucas's take on [[VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando Delta Squad]], who were [[CanonImmigrant established as canon]] by a [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E14WitchesOfTheMist cameo in an earlier season]].
45	* FantasticSlur: "Regs", what the Bad Batch calls the regular, Jango Fett-looking clone troopers.
46	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Trench's warning to the battle droids guarding the cyber center comes just a bit too late.
47	-->'''Trench:''' Put all droids on alert. An attack is coming.\
48	'''Battle Droid Commander:''' An attack is coming? When- ''[BoomHeadshot]''
49	* IncomingHam: Disembarking from the ''Havoc Marauder'', Wrecker removes his helmet and bombastically announces:
50	-->"THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!"
51	* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Discussed. Rex noticed that as the Republic keeps repeating certain strategies that were successful the first time, they become less effective as the Separatists learn from them. Rex's algorithm was made to [[DefiedTrope defy]] this trope so as to make their strategies more unpredictable.
52	* KilledMidSentence: Some of the droids when the clones attack.
53	-->'''Droid:''' Hey, you're not authorized--''(BoomHeadshot)''
54	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Rex says "nice touch" after discovering the unit of defective but desirable commando clones is designated with the number 99, realizing it's referencing the malformed Clone 99 who died heroically on Kamino, which is also something a viewer would say upon noticing the reference to the writers.
55	* NeckLift: Wrecker gives one to Jesse during a disagreement about who is going to be in charge since Cody is too injured to continue.
56	* NeverFoundTheBody: Since Echo and Fives were the only other ones who knew about Rex's strategy algorithm and how it worked, and Fives' death is confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt, Rex theorizes that Echo must not have died immediately on Lola Sayu after he was caught in an explosion, since they never actually saw his body, and the Separatists extracted the algorithm from him. Then, it turns out he's actually still alive...
57	* NoodleIncident:
58	** Commander Cody's history with the Bad Batch (he's clearly worked with them before and they respect him more than they do other "reg" clones) is left unexplained.
59	** The Bad Batch's mission to Yalbec Prime just before they were called to Anaxes is only mentioned and never presented in this episode.
60	* OhCrap: Trench is ''[[BigWhat not]]'' happy when told that the clones who infiltrated the cyber center may have sent a transmission to Skako Minor.
61	* TheOner: The sequence of Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker fighting their way into the cyber center is all done in one shot, from when Wrecker busts the door in to the squad taking out the droids in the control room.
62	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The Separatist droids that discover the aftermath of the Bad Batch's crash site immediately report it to Admiral Trench directly, as the tactics and level of destruction are far different than regular clone troopers, or even Jedi. Trench, for his part, understands the threat and orders the tactical droid in command to track the clone incursion.
63	* OvershadowedByAwesome: Rex and Jesse (who are both veteran soldiers) spend most of this episode playing second fiddle to the Bad Batch.
64	* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: This is the first appearance of the Bad Batch, laying the groundwork for [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheBadBatch their own spinoff]].
65	* PreciousPhoto: Rex has an old group picture of himself and Cody with Fives and Echo, who are both dead. Or both ''thought'' to be dead, at any rate, as Echo is revealed to be alive by the end of the episode.
66	* PutOnABus: Cody is seriously wounded in the gunship crash and has to be evac'd out with Kix, leaving Rex in charge of the mission.
67	* RankUp: Jesse is now an ARC trooper, with new armor and gear to match.
68	* ReactionShot: Rex is completely shocked when the human voice on the transmission Tech's picked up from Skako Minor responds to a request to identify itself with "CT-1409"... because that's the identification number of the thought-dead Echo.
69	* TheReveal: The Separatists have access to Rex's strategies from Echo, who was long believed to have died at the Citadel.
70	* SeriesContinuityError: That PreciousPhoto Rex has of him, Cody, Fives, and Echo in better times depicts Cody and Rex wearing Phase II clone armor... even though that type of armor wasn't introduced for all clones until season four ("[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E7DarknessOnUmbara Darkness on Umbara]]" is the first time we see Cody and Rex in that armor), and the photo ''must'' have been taken during season three (specifically, between "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E2ARCTroopers ARC Troopers]]", where Fives and Echo got promoted to the rank of ARC trooper, and "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E18TheCitadel The Citadel]]", the beginning of the story arc that features Echo's apparent death).
71	* ShockingVoiceIdentityReveal: Looking for the stolen algorithm in the Separatists' computers, Tech discovers that it's actually a live transmission from the planet Skako Minor, and when he digs deeper, he finds a transmission that sounds like a human voice. Rex has him ask the person on the other end for their identity, and they receive the response "CT-1409", as Tech manages to strip away the voice masking to reveal what is unambiguously the voice of a clone trooper.
72	* SuperSoldier: Four of them make up Clone Force 99.
73	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: The Bad Batch doesn't usually work with "reg" clones, and Crosshair and Wrecker especially have trouble with Rex being in charge of the mission after Commander Cody is injured in the gunship crash and thus cannot continue on.
74	* TragicKeepsake: Rex has a photo of himself, Cody, Fives, and Echo.
75	* WeNeedADiversion: During the assault on the cyber center, Rex, Jesse, and Crosshair distract the droids at the front entrance while Hunter, Wrecker and Tech sneak in the back door and secure the facility.
76	* WhamLine: Rex hears a familiar number when he asks for a response from Skako Minor.
77	-->'''Rex:''' "CT-1409"... that was Echo's number. He's alive.
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Context Recap / StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E1TheBadBatch