BB S2E9 SPOILER ALERT

BB S2E9 SPOILER ALERT

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My thoughts on the latest installment of the Bad Batch:

Did anyone else's heart seize up during the "Lion King"-style stampede? Filoni, don't make me panic like that. We can't be losing more characters right after Echo left.

I am 100% here for Tech's character development across the entire season to date.

WHERE IS CODY?!?

plugging my ears ignoring the “jedi don’t have attachments” part of luke’s ultimatum in boba fett and choosing instead to focus on luke mentioning how grogu’s training will take long enough that din will be dead by the time he’s ready to go out in the world.  that wasn’t luke telling grogu he couldn’t be a jedi because of his attachment to din.  that was luke, mr “i lost 3 father figures prematurely and saved the galaxy with the power of love for my dad” going “there will be other jedi. you age slowly enough you can complete your training later.  there’s only going to be one din djarin.”

yesterdays and tomorrows

“You told me I was like him.”

Blue and flickering, Obi-Wan paused. Apparently, death didn’t immunize you to being tongue-tied. Leia acerbically thought that she could only hope to die in better clothing than Obi-Wan had, if she would be stuck wearing it for an eternity. Ratty desert robes didn’t suit her. 

Obi-Wan had yet to respond, now scrutinizing Leia as she gazed at him. A whistlewill twittered in the distance – the black, dewy night of the planet had fallen, and creatures were rustling about now, scurrying in the dark around them as the air cooled from the heat of day.

“Yes.”

With that, Obi-Wan deposited himself on a log on the edge of the clearing they were in. Leia supposed death also didn’t heal age-weakened knees, if Force ghosts felt the need to sit down for conversations that promised – more than promised, demanded – to be long and emotionally-wrenching. At least his robes were free from further abuse. Obi-Wan could perch to his transparent heart’s content on the moist, muddy wood without so much a breezing worry about silly problems like stains and oozebugs.

The wind rustled in the trees, fluttering Leia’s cloak around her. Leia thought she could almost make out words from its whispering, rushing through the leaves and occasionally swelling to blustering gusts.

“Passionate, fearless, and forthright. Gifts from my father.”

Her voice shot out, tightly wound as she watched Obi-Wan, still silent. “You knew, the entire time. I told you I pictured my birth father, and you let me. You almost encouraged it.”

She laughed, and the sound echoed through the clearing, ricocheting off the side of trees in bitter resonation. Bitter resonation that nearly ended with a quiet sob, but Leia had yet to shed a single tear over the man she had once daydreamed about as a child, and she would not start now.

“I didn’t expect you.”  

Leia glanced up sharply. Obi-Wan’s voice had been so soft she had barely heard it, nearly blending into the wind.

He soundlessly met her gaze.

“I had spent a decade on Tatooine. Watching Luke. Absorbed in my failings.”

Drowning went unsaid.

“Then,” he smiled wryly, “Then, I met a ten-year-old girl who had the face of my dead friend and the indomitable will of my lost brother.”

Leia’s jaw clenched, but she waited for him to finish.

“One with integrity of her father, Bail Organa, and the kindness of her mother, Breha.” He looked at her steadily.

“Above all, Leia—” He stood up and made his way to her, resting his hand on hers, much like she had so many years ago on that transport. “I met someone who was absolutely herself. All her own.”

A silence fell at that. Bugs began chirping as the night grew deeper, a humming cacophony blanketing the forest.

“You are not your father, Leia.”

Leia remained silent. She brushed her hand over her leggings, damp from the hike into the forest.

When she spoke, it was quietly. “I’m so angry.”

Obi-Wan watched her.

“At Vader. At everything. Sometimes that was all that kept me moving forward, after Alderaan. How angry I was.”

Like Vader. 

She felt him squeeze her palm. 

“And yet you rose above it,” Obi-Wan said gently. “And I know you will continue to.” Deep grief weighed down the Force, a heavy stone in its light cloak. “Anakin’s path was a choice. Not a destiny. And so is yours - and your brother’s.” 

A few more minutes passed. The humming surged, wind blowing through and disturbing the buzzing insects to a pitch. Off in the distance, something began howling. Then, the wind settled back down, the humming falling back into its steady rhythm, and the forest grew still once more.

Obi-Wan was still holding her hand. 

“You are the best of us, Princess. Don’t let yourself think otherwise.” 

Softly, “Thank you, Obi-Wan.

“Always, Leia.”

Nobody:

Grogu:

"...For me personally, 'May the Force be with You', just 'cause I love what it represents and, you know, getting to hear that from people and say that to people, it's a good one. " -Hayden Christensen, SWCE 2023

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY! ✨🪐