The Empire - Tumblr Posts

The good doing evil, or the good in the evil..?

Forgotten

Whump: The Musical Day 7: The Last Five Years (I will not lose because you can not win.")

Fandom: The Batch Batch

Warning: Cannon typical violence

Summary: When Hemlock invades Pabu, the batch has to fight for their lives as well as the lives of the citizens of the peaceful Island.

Ao3 link

  Today was supposed to be an ordinary day. When Hunter had woken up, he was dragged down to the beach by Omega and Deke. They wanted to show him that they had learned how to surf. Even if he wouldn't admit it, Hunter was proud of the clones for learning how to be children.

    Wrecker had forced Crosshair down to the beach as well. The warm sand and pleasant smell should help him to relax the man thought. So the three brothers sat on a red towel and started to talk. It wasn't much, but it was somewhere to start.

    Mox and Stak joined them shortly and started to work on a sand castle. Some clouds covered the sunny sky. But when Hunter looked up, they weren't clouds. Imperial vessels blocked the sun.

    This couldn't be happening. Pabu was supposed to be safe. It wasn't meant for invasions. So many of the people spent too long running just to have to up their whole lives again. Hunter looked back down.

    Looking at Crosshair, he spoke. "Get Omega and the boys to the ship. Be ready to leave. Call Echo and tell him we need help, immediately."

    In truth, Hunter knew why he chose Crosshair. With his hand, even if he hadn't told them yet, he knew that he'd be the one whose help they need the least. Now if he could still hit any mark, that could have been a different story.

    But there was more to that. Wrecker had a history with Pabu. He would protect it fiercely. The island was his home, the people were his family.

    As Deke rode a wave in, Hunter stood. The father ran out to two of his youngest that were in the water. "Go over to Crosshair" he told them. They nodded before Hunter went to Mox and Stak and pulled them up from the sand.

    "What's going on?" Mox asked. Nervousness was written all over his face.

    "The empire-"

    "We could tell" Stak interrupted.

    "Go with your siblings." It was the first time he had outright called their siblings to their faces. If it had been any other time, Hunter would have said more. For now, it would have to wait."

    As Hunter walked the other two over with the rest of the group, Omega started to talk. "We can help!"

    "I know, but it's you they want and the boys haven't finished their training. It's safer this way."

    "And someone needs to watch Cross." Wrecker tried to add some humor to the situation.

    Phee joined them on the beach, knowing that it was Clone Force 99 who had unfortunately brought the Empire to Pabu. Hunter walked over to her before she met the rest of the group. "Make sure Omega gets out of here. They want her and we wouldn't let her get taken again."

    "Okay." She looked past the Sargent, "come on kids, let's get you to safety!"

    Sighing, Crosshair grabbed Omega and picked her up. "Come on."

    "Put me down!" Omega fought Crosshair all the way up the beach.

    "Now what?" Wrecker asked.

    "We fight."

    At the Mauradur, Crosshair was quick to make the decision to leave. Batcher awoke from her nap and laid with Omega to help keep her calm. The boys mostly sat with her or talked to Crosshair as they left the atmosphere and headed to Coruscant to meet with Echo.

    As the days passed, the battle of Pabu seemed to be more and more helpless. Civilians were dying, some who had fought and some who had not.    

    When the bad batch had settled on Pabu, they taught Shep how to shoot. The mayor had agreed to ease their minds, never thinking he would need to use this new skill. Unfortunately it was only a matter of time. Lyana stayed near her father when she could. Mostly she was hidden with other children.

    When the invasion began, Hunter had suddenly become a Sargent again. It had been a long time since he played that role. Civilians who had fought in wars, civil or intergalactical, had taken up their old military rank. It was strange.

    The invasion had lasted days. Hemlock wouldn't give up until he found Omega, unaware she had been taken off world. Pabu was being torn apart, lives crumbled to the ground and while some knew why the empire had attacked, most didn't. For the people who did, they couldn't and wouldn't be mad at Clone Force 99 for trying to live peaceful lives and for trying to protect their daughter and little girl.

    It had been four days into the fighting when Hemlock showed his face. When Hunter met Hemlock for the second time, injured and tired, he knew meeting the scientist twice was three times too many.

    "Hello CT-9901, or should I say Hunter?" Hemlock spoke.

    Startled and out of breath, Hunter didn't answer. It had been so long since he heard his CT number, he had almost forgotten it. Still, he knew the malice behind it.

"This can all end, just give me the girl."

"Never." Hunter moved behind a counter. He sank to the floor for a moment.

"I figured as much. I truly am impressed that you are capable of forming such a bond with her. A parental role appears to come so easily to you."

The words made Hunter's skin crawl. Why would he be unable to form a bond with her? Omega was his daughter, nothing could change that. Was it because he was a clone? Was that why he was deemed unable to love a child, to have children he felt were his own?

"The safest option for your men and the civilians of this island, is to stop the fighting. You cannot win this battle, Sargent."

"I will not lose because you can not win."

Silents filled the room. They stood in a ruined kitchen. The checkered floors were stained with blood and glass. The cabinets had been torn open by both the empire and the citizens of Pabu. They needed food and they needed wood. The empire hadn't taken their time to bring out flame throwers to scorch the island and its people.

"You, won't win this." Hunter reinforced the idea. "You can't. I won't let you. " Pulling his knife from its sheath, he tried to find a clear shot at Hemlock.

The scientist couldn't win. In the end, he would round up every single citizen and kill them off. With Wrecker taking part in the fight, he needed his to be okay. With everything Tech had sacrificed to save them, they couldn't die here. Crosshair and his kids would be alone. It hurt knowing that Omega would blame herself for the slaughter of the people of Pabu. Echo would wish he arrived earlier and would blame himself for not being there to save them.

They needed saving. They couldn't do it alone. The Sargent only had one shot at killing Hemlock. Blood pooled under Hunter from his injuries. With broken ribs, multiple deep lacerations on his legs as well as his arms and one close to his neck, a few broken toes, and a large amount of bruising, the man was unsure how he had stayed alive this long. He could feel blood on the side of his face but he wasn't sure if it came from his left ear (since he couldn't hear from it) or from his head.

The vibro-knife shook in his hand. It almost felt foreign. Standing slowly, yet staying out of view, Hunter grabbed a piece of glass from behind the mahogany counter. Looking at it for a moment, he sighed. They couldn't afford to lose. Not anymore. Losing meant dying and for the first time in so long, Hunter had something to live for. His brothers and children and family he had made on Padu and his pets (Gonky included) all meant the world to him. No one else needed to die.

However, If he had to give all of that up to save them, to win the battle of Pabu, the battle for his family, he would.

Throwing the glass, Hunter hoped that it would distract Hemlock and his guards. When it did, the man stood fully and threw his knife. As soon as he saw it plunge deep into his skull, he felt a weight be lifted off of his chest. The weight was replaced with a bullet.

The tile cracked when he fell. There wasn't much Hunter could think about. The sound of ships overhead relieved Hunter. It had to be Echo. If not, the empire would take the island in a matter of hours.

Hunter's entire body hurt. The warm feeling of blood tangled with his hair. The glass had cut any exposed skin. The guards grabbed Hemlock's body and went to leave. Hunter listened to the footsteps as they faded. His mind was so foggy that evening and nothing made his sense. But Hemlock was dead. If that was Echo, which it had to be, Pabu would rebuild. The coppery smell of blood filled Hunter's nose.

Dying, Hunter tried to reach for his comm. Hitting it, the world started to fade. His hand rested on the communication device long enough for Echo to notice the soft noise of fire and gunshots that played over his headset. Then his hand slipped off the button and the comm channel went silent.

The man had never expected to wake up again. But when he saw a white roof, he knew something was different. Everything hurt too damn much for him to be dead. There was a steady, high pitched beeping that hurt his ears; or at least the one he could still hear out of.

Had they won? Was everyone safe? Where was his family, his kids?

"Hunter!" Omega yelled, answering one of his questions. "He's awake" she shook Echo awake.

"Hunter?" Echo grounded as he sat up. Then he pinched himself.

"You actually woke up." Crosshair stood up. "It's been a week."

"Leave him alone. He needed his beauty rest" Wrecker joked. The boys and Batcher sat in the corner of the room, still half asleep.

"Is everyone, okay?" Hunter finally said, struggling to speak.

"We're okay."

"Pa-Pabu."

"In shambles. We were about to leave to help with the rebuilding and attend a few funerals. We'll send you regards. They people were rooting for you." Echo told him.

"We're lucky you came in when you did. You saved us." Nudging Echo, Wrecker walked over to wake up the boys.

"Where-"

"Alderaan. Rex has some allies here. We couldn't help you on our own, the damage done to you, it was too extensive." Walking beside Hunter, Echo stood next to him.

"Dad!" Deke yelled, excited. He ran over to him and just about toppled Echo.

"You're actually alive" Stak added.

"Hey." Mox was the last to stand as he was trying to not disturb Batcher.

Hemlock's words about his parental instincts ran through Hunter's head. However, that didn't matter. He was their father. Just because he was a clone didn't mean he didn't form bonds with people he cared dearly for.

"We can stay for a little but Hunter needs to rest, we need to get back to Pabu." Walking to the door, Echo went to tell the nurses that Hunter had woken up.

Omega clung to Hunter's arm, determined to never let go. Crosshair and Wrecker sat at the end of the bed. Wrecker looked rough but that was to be expected.

"Tell me everything later" the Sargent whispered.

"We will." After a few hours, Echo decided it was time to go. Omega and Batcher stayed with Hunter while the rest left for Pabu. Knowing that Hemlock couldn't hurt her, made breathing just a little bit easier. So did knowing that most everyone he cared about was safe; though by now someone would have told him if Phee, Shep, or Lyana had died.

Everything would be okay. It had to be. Now that Hemlock was out of the way, maybe the batch could live a peaceful life. Even if Hunter knew they would end up in the fight, it was a nice thought. But the clone knew his place was fighting for peace. After all, if he wanted Omega and his boys to be safe, he needed to make a safer galaxy. And that was okay with him. If he needed to fight he would. For his children.

@whumpthemusical

MY LOVE BARRISS IS ALIVE RAHHHHHHHHHH IM SO HAPPY 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Tales of the Empire | May 4th

If you’d like to read my thoughts about Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Ahsoka show and everything, I’ll put it below :)

So it’s obvious that Thrawn is going to be a major villain in the Ahsoka series. But, will he will be in multiple Star Wars projects?

My dad thinks that Thrawn is going to be a Thanos-type character, appearing in multiple projects across several years, behind everything and in the shadows, leading up to a big finish. This makes a bit of sense, assuming Filoni and Favreau are planning a big collective story with The Mandalorian/ The Book of Boba Fett/ Ahsoka/ Rangers of the New Republic. The last two are perfect places to integrate Thrawn’s character. (If the rumors about Hera Syndulla being a leading character in ROTNR, then this would be REALLY epic)

Based on the fact that Thrawn is the Magistrate’s “master,” I think it’s pretty safe to say that at the time of the Ahsoka series, Thrawn is still a bad guy.

The Ahsoka series will be set after ROTJ, obviously, so the Empire has fallen. But, as we’ve seen, some Imperial officers were keeping the Empire alive. What if Thrawn helps to start the First Order? He’s certainly smart enough to do the whole thing himself and he’d have the respect of the ex-imperials.

But how? If he’s actively giving the Magistrate orders and stuff, then he’s alive and (hopefully) not with Ezra. We know Ezra absolutely cannot be dead because then the show would have no real plot and it would be a disappointment. Yes, Ezra was previously tempted to the Dark Side, but it’s impossible to believe that he went full evil and served the Empire. So what is the goal of Ahsoka asking for Thrawn’s location if the goal is to find Ezra? I don’t know

If Ezra and Thrawn survived, was there a fight? Did they simply part ways? Did they help each other to survive or something? I guess we’ll see

Now I will admit, I have not read the Thrawn books nor have I read any comics, so I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but I think it’s possible for Thrawn to be redeemed.

He is one of the few Star Wars villains that is not evil by nature or anger. Thrawn is a very neutral person that bases his choices on reason. He joined the Empire in a deal with the Emperor. In exchange for his service as a skilled military tactician, the Empire would not harm his people, the Chiss, or invade his planet, Csilla. Prior to this deal, Thrawn was exiled by his people. The fact that he joined the Empire to protect them, despite his differences, could show his selflessness. Or, from a certain point of view, his ability to sense what will benefit him the most. Instead of being a prisoner and an exile, he would become a well-respected officer. In the Rebels finale, he even said “Who deserves what is irrelevant. What matters is who has power” in response to Ezra telling him he didn’t deserve to have the artifacts in his collection. This can possibly be excused with the fact that the Empire indoctrinated everyone, but still.

However, Thrawn was never one to be unnecessarily cruel to Rebels or subordinates within the Empire. He never used slurs or offensive adjectives commonly used by Star Wars characters (ex: “Rebel scum”), simply letting his words and intelligence do the intimidating.

He also doesn’t tolerate the disrespect of art or culture (including race/species), as we saw when Slavin called Hera’s kalikori a “piece of Twi’lek trash” and Thrawn kinda lost his sh*t and growled in his face (as he should). I imagine this is partially because he was one of the only non-human officers within the Imperial ranks and he knows how it feels to feel inferior because he wasn’t human. This might be motive to leave the Empire, but his will is probably stronger than that.

From everything I’ve seen, I believe that Ezra might be able to convince Thrawn to leave the Empire. Thrawn failed Palpatine when his TIE project was ruined by Pryce, Ezra refused to be seduced to the dark side, and the RebeI’s took victory on Lothal. With the Chimera being sent to the unknown regions, wouldn‘t the Emperor think Thrawn was killed and Ezra sacrificed himself to do so? He has a perfect opportunity to do whatever he wants, free of regulations and orders. Why would Thrawn go back? The Emperor wouldn’t be happy with him even if he did prove his loyalty.

Based on Thrawn’s characteristics, I can see 3 possible explanations for Thrawn leaving the Empire:

Palpatine didn’t follow through on his end of the deal

Thrawn/Palpatine died

He saw no logical reason to continue to serve or he was convinced it was illogical to serve (like Wanda’s Vision vs Hayward’s Vision in the Wandavision finale)

I just think it’d be neat to see Thrawn turn his back on the Empire, even if it’s unlikely.

Yes, I spent too long writing this and it’s still not that comprehensible because I’m scatter-brained

SPOILERS FOR Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)!!!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, YES THIS IS REAL

Here are some memes I made about Crosshair‘s defection to the Empire😭

Enjoy...

You’re free to use, but please give credit!

Apparently Kathleen Kennedy (ew) stated that The Mandalorian and its sister series (Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic, and The Book of Boba Fett) are going to “intersect and culminate into a climactic story event.”

You know what that sounds like to me?

Din Djarin, Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kryze and Koska Reeves (maybe), Fennec Shand, Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, and Hera Syndulla (and Chopper, obviously) all fighting together to end Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Empire‘s remnants once and for all.

Obviously the ending won’t last for very long before the First Order is created, but still, can you just imagine so many powerful characters in one place.

The Mandalorian has already introduced several of these characters. Ahsoka will probably introduce live-action Sabine, Ezra, and Thrawn. Rangers of the New Republic will probably introduce live-action New Republic officer Hera and Chopper.

I’d predict that the final showdown will take place in either The Mandalorian or Rangers of the New Republic, but the latter makes the most sense. I have a feeling Rangers of the New Republic will be last in the release order and completely eradicating the Empire should be the New Republic’s task.

I’m worried about Echo. I just...have a bad feeling about this...

This is Echo with his new head-gear thingy:

It looks eerily similar to these:

And those were used for this purpose, as stated by the Star Wars official website:

Guys, can’t the Empire just mind-control Echo if they wanted to? I know a lot of people HC that Tech makes their armor and technology, but what if he doesn’t...

Scary bro...

Possible The Bad Batch 1x07 and 1x08 spoilers!

Braccan scrappers: “Intruders confirmed on the Jedi cruiser. Notify the Empire.”

~12 y/o Cal Kestis, having just escaped Order 66 and still grieving the death of his master, trying to survive and make a living:

How are they going to have TBB go to Bracca and get caught by the scrapping guild if they’re not gonna show us young Cal in the next episode?? I know there are way too many cameos in TBB already, but honestly, what’s one more?

AYO WHATS WITH THE DEATH STAR BEHIND HIM???

13 episode don't let me down 🕯️

The Bad Batch 1x13 spoilers⚠️

(concerning that Roland guy)

The nerve

The absolute nerve of them

Not only was this episode actually useless but they couldn’t even give us a cameo. Not only was there no cameo but they teased one and gave us this knockoff Vizago

Like???

Vizago or Hondo or literally any other crime boss turned soft guy would have made me less angry than this Roland guy.

So what? TBB cares about Cid? Omega is able to convince Hunter to help people because he has a thick skull and hasn’t realized that Omega helping people is trying to make him realize they need to rescue Crosshair? Even that is reaching. There’s not even any character development…

What was the purpose of this episode?? There’s only 3 episodes left of this season (and other seasons haven’t been confirmed) and they spiked the rising action and suspense down drastically for what?? Honestly, the last couple episodes should all be rising to the climax of the story (rescuing Crosshair/ sacrificial deaths/ fighting the empire or killing Rampart/ etc.), not slowing down like this.

For example, in the Mandalorian season 2, the last 3 episodes of the 8 episode season were spent in continuous rising action with little to no filler moments leading up to Grogu being handed over to Luke Skywalker. Thats almost half the season, 3/8 episodes. In episode 2x06, Grogu reaches out to find a Jedi on the seeing stone, Din gets in a scuffle with Boba and Fennec over the armor that was carried around since 2x01, Grogu gets kidnapped, the dark troopers are introduced as serious threats, the Razorcrest is blown to bits, and Din formed an alliance with Boba and Fennec. In 2x07, Din breaks Mayfield out of prison because he’s desperate, goes undercover to find Grogu, Din has to wear storm trooper armor and show his face for the first time in his life which broke his creed, Mayfield compromises the mission (while building his character development), and Din directly threatened Moff Gideon. All of these highlights are suspenseful and action-packed meant to build up to the season finale, which I’m not going to go into detail about because obviously it’s the climax of the story and there isn’t a filler moment to spare.

My point is that there should be more focus on the conflict of the story and the antagonists at this point in the series since we’ve seen very little of Imperial Clone Troopers (other than Crosshair), Crosshair’s character development and struggle, Tarkin’s role in the Empire’s early stages, who Rampart even is, the Emperor (you know…the one that created the Empire….and the guy that should be ordering Tarkin and Rampart around???), and the early Rebellion. Saw Gererra was in 1x01 for a minute and we never saw him again? Cham is starting a rebellion on behalf of Ryloth, which we’ll probably never see? Rex wants to fight against the Empire with Trace and Rafa, who we instantly forgot about because the story was focused on Wrecker’s chip, but we probably won’t see that anyway?

I thought the whole point of this show was to bridge the gap between the fall of the Republic and the Rise of the Empire and how it impacted the Clone Army, so why aren’t we seeing a focus on the Empire or the Rebellion‘s beginnings? Why aren’t we seeing more episodes focused on Imperial clones (like Howzer and his squad defecting)? Why aren’t TBB helping at least someone within the Rebel Alliance to show its beginnings? I get that the show is about TBB, but I feel like there are ways to better incorporate these ideas and portray them with a stronger impact on the audience.

I was pretty disappointed with this episode…

It’s the same…

The master antagonist, the apprentice antagonist, the antagonist kiss-ass, and the main protagonist…

I agree, but I think for storytelling purposes, it was meant to be that way. It was meant to show the audience that the republic was failing and becoming corrupt, which lead to its demise.

Everything from Palpatine’s extended term limit, corrupt senators, the creation and use of the clone army, countless war crimes, the death of innocent civilians and creatures, and the Jedi order losing their way and choosing to fight in the Clone War was to help aid this narrative.

It was genius on Palpatine’s part. When you think about it, Pong Krell, Maul, the Zygerrian Queen, Barriss Offee, Trace and Rafa, Ventress, Slick, and Fives were absolutely right about the Republic’s corruptness and it’s imminent downfall. The Republic was evil, and that’s why it became the Empire. The Empire had to rise from something, and this was what George Lucas chose.

I am so frustrated rn with the people that try and make it seem like Jedi loved the clones, with maybe the exception of Plo, and maybe Shaak. The Jedi cared about the WAR, NOT their MEN. Men that trusted them, had feelings, emotions. Men that, like slick, even ended up betraying the order because hey! This life is fucked and why should we be slaves??? They may be programmed and a clone of another man, but that doesn't make them less of a person! Less of a breathing creature that deserves to make their own decisions.

You can say what you want, but they were enslaved. You saw from jedi as bad as Pong Krell, to as mild as Yoda, Anakin, or even Obi-Wan that they didn't care. Ping-Pong-Dong turned them against each other, ignoring the mission on umbara just to destroy the clones.

Anakin, as @nibeul mentioned in an absolute stellar post, fucking let a whole group of men die for a fucking R2 unit. Who tf does that? I get it, he's had R2 forever, but he killed those men! And people still stand up for him.

Obi-Wan and Yoda?? Fucking JOKES. They didn't even try to spare them. They slaughtered those men with zero remorse even if they couldn't control themselves! They were in a trance, they had a fucking chip for gods sake! How are they going to fight that? I know some could, like Rex, but not all can.

Plo was the only one that actually just let it all go .down and happen, sparing his men, his bros, even if they were in "the wrong." (Because is there really a right and a wrong in this war?? both sides suck ass in their own ways.) He was said to be the best pilot ever, right below anakin even, I think. And he didn't even attempt to fly off or fight back. He didn't want to be the reason his men died, blood on his hands. Or at least that’s how I see it.

I know this is random but FUCK, Jedi puss me off. They aren't right at all, the clones deserved better tbfh. Like honestly, if it weren't for the fact slick got some of his brothers killed, I wouldn't have blamed the guy. I would have tried to leave the order and free my brothers if I was in that situation. I would have left, because you know what, with all those men you could overthrow them. Get new fucking soldiers, not men that don't even know what happiness outside of the war is.

The Bad Batch 1x14 major spoilers!!!

AHHHHHHHHH

There was so much this episode between Gregor, the storm troopers, and Hunger getting captured😭

anywayssss, this is me formally begging Dave Filoni to do the classic imperial deserter rescues enemy trope with Crosshair and Hunter

Said trope^

No, because why doesn’t Crosshair have backup?? Exactly—

Can we just,.,.accept that both Crosshair and Hunter had their reasons for doing what they did?? And honestly neither of them really did anything wrong??

Hunter left Crosshair because he tried to kill them. He didn’t understand anything about the chip, he really thought Crosshair had just lost his mind. And as soon as he learned about it and how to fix it, we immediately jumped to episode 8 where Crosshair tried to incinerate them with a jet engine. He tried to communicate that the chip was affecting him, and Crosshair didn’t care. Hunter couldn’t even get himself or Omega out of that situation unharmed. He had no way to snag Crosshair from his squadron of stormtroopers out for murder. After Bracca, Hunter was focused on getting Omega back because she’s just a kid; she isn’t with the empire, she hasn’t been chasing them down and almost killing them. From Hunter’s POV, the possibility of getting Crosshair to come with them willingly or even at all is looking bleak and even though he knows it’s not Crosshair’s fault, he’s been so overwhelmed with trying to keep the people relying on him safe and right now he doesn’t think Crosshair is relying on him. And honestly, how were they even supposed to know where Crosshair was half the time? He wasn’t on Kamino 24/7 and the Batch isn’t exactly swimming in imperial informants. But that aside, of course he was thinking about Crosshair; Hunter is loyal to a fault and you can just see the emotional pain that flashes across his face whenever Crosshair is mentioned because that’s his little brother and he couldn’t save him and he feels like he failed. Hunter never was and I don’t think ever can be indifferent when it comes to the people he loves. Whether you like it or not, Hunter was trying his best to keep everyone safe and stop running suicide missions because the galaxy was changing and he was trying to change too. He did nothing wrong.

Now Crosshair.

To all of you calling him a Nazi and saying that the animators and writers intentionally lightened his skin just to make a racist show of dominance, stop it. He was referring to their genetic enhancements being superior. That’s it. He’s always hated regs because let’s be fair the regs were never exactly good to him either (AFTERMATH). Now let’s just take a look at how the chip works shall we!! We know from Rex and Wrecker that clones know what they’re doing while under control of the chip and they’re powerless to stop themselves. So we know in Aftermath that the chip was strengthened to an insane degree, and Crosshair could still see himself taking head shots on his brothers and trying to murder them and he couldn’t stop no matter how badly he wanted to. He was powerless. And then the Batch left; at this point he probably understands that his brothers had to go. They’d regroup. They’d know this wasn’t his fault and they’d come back.

Months pass. Crosshair doesn’t know about the solemn looks the Batch exchange when he’s mentioned. Crosshair doesn’t know that they can barely get food for themselves. Crosshair doesn’t know that Wrecker has flat out said he misses him. Crosshair doesn’t know how Tech said “it doesn’t appear he’ll be needing it” with a twinge of sadness in his voice while giving Omega his comm. Crosshair doesn’t know how much Hunter hates himself for leaving and that Hunter was always planning on going back to him someday because someday he’d have the perfect plan and he could save everyone this time. How could Crosshair know?

More time passes. Crosshair probably still has his chip on but he’s still in there, watching himself become more and more important to the Empire. No rescue attempts. Not one. How awful does he have to feel?? They went to get Echo out of Skako with no backup and they didn’t even know Echo and they can’t go back for him? And here’s the Empire, giving him power and some semblance of control. Things are changing fast and now he has nobody but himself to adjust with, and besides, he’s always had an egotistical side so maybe being a commander and putting the regs in their place isn’t so bad to him after all. He’s alone. He adapts or he dies, that’s the job and that’s all he has now.

Onto Bracca!! If Crosshair is telling the truth about getting his chip out, I firmly believe it had to have been after the events of Reunion. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise; “if I wanted you dead, you would be” sweetheart giving the order to have them incinerated and starting to walk away really seems like you wanted them dead and then going from ordering Omega to be executed to telling Hunter that if he cares about her he should let her go and be safe away from them??? You can’t tell me that Bracca!Crosshair wouldn’t have dragged Omega back into the training room and killed her right there just to keep them from choosing her over him. So let’s just assume for now that Crosshair wasn’t lied to and his chip is out (I’m still holding onto a scrap of hope to the contrary because A. there’s no scar B. HE’S STILL HOLDING HIS HEAD and C. my boy isn’t making any SENSE he just killed off a bunch of Imperial stormtroopers to convince the Batch to join his Empire that he cares so much about??) it had to have happened after Bracca I said what I said idc. If the chip is out, I’m sure his head is still an absolute foggy mess because lord only knows what cranking those chips up to full strength several times will do to you, but suddenly he’s realizing that he’s still angry with them. He’s still hurt. He’s still very much alone. Maybe they never cared about him at all.

And don’t get me started on any “if he did any of this willingly he is irredeemable” garbage. How many times did Kallus almost kill the Ghost crew?? I’m sorry, was it not Kallus who ordered the Lasat genocide?? Don’t take this the wrong way, I adore Kallus and his redemption arc was one of the most beautiful things about Rebels but the point is if he can do all of those horrible things for the Empire for years and is still allowed a redemption stemming from realizing everything he thought he was fighting for was a fiction, THEN SO IS CROSSHAIR. With that side note out of the way let’s think about how alone and betrayed Crosshair feels by the Batch and let’s realize that after they left Ryloth, after they left him again, what does he want?? He wants them. He doesn’t want to kill them, he doesn’t want them imprisoned and he doesn’t want to make them pay. He wants to fight side by side with them again, he wants his brothers back. And even though he’s so beyond hope that they still care about him, heck he literally said “don’t make the same mistake twice; don’t make me your enemy” he thinks they were enemies and he still cares about them so freaking much that he went through an entire elaborate scheme to get the whole Batch on Kamino and set up the stormtroopers’ deaths to prove his loyalty that they could have if they just gave him some of their loyalty too. “Loyalty means everything to the clones” is starting to get a really bitter taste innit??

The point of this longwinded rant my friends is to beg y’all to stop being so black and white about these two. They’re both human, they both have made mistakes and have regrets, they’re both trying their best to survive in a galaxy flipped upside down. Things played out how they had to and they’re both victims of the real villain of Star Wars, who has always been Palpatine. The fact that there is so much to unpack with these two characters shows how flipping amazing the writers are!! They’re so layered and complex it’s literally like they’re real!! So please. Stop hating on them so freaking loudly. They’re my boys and they both deserve a warm hug and a nap after the season they’ve had

yeah pretty much

i also think the timeline for this stuff was horribly speedrunned, but I do think having a shorter war was better because narratively, I love that Anakin became Vader so young. It adds to the tragedy of it all, you know? Someone who would have been barely out of college had the weight of the world on him, and then he collapsed and became the stuff of nightmares all before the age his master was even knighted.

I'm one of the people in the camp of "movie!Anakin was actually not that bad", so characterization in TCW felt a bit flat to me, but to each their own. It just felt more like watching stock action heroes in Star Wars to me, and Star Wars isn't an action series.

However, I think that in the context of what we know about the Senate, a three year war was perfect. There was no depiction of a 'rise' for the Senate, because we aren't seeing the rise of a democracy; we are seeing the fall. From the moment that we see them in the PT, the Senate was always corrupt, self-serving and unable to protect their citizens. What we are seeing is the last days of a dying oligarchy that is hijacked and turned into something so much worse. The horrors that the Senate wreaked upon the galaxy from ignorance and hedonism is nothing compared to the banality and depravity of a regime that relishes in that destruction.

A thing about The Clone Wars (the animated series) is that it is pretty much what I would have wanted the prequels to be before the prequels came out, especially wrt Anakin characterisation. But. I'm not sure that makes it better. It might actually make it worse.

So there is a version of Star Wars canon that exists in my brain that's like: Episode I, Episode II, a hundred and however many episodes of Star The Clone Wars Wars, The Revenge of the Sith novelization, etc. Also, the Clone Wars lasted, like, at least eleven years. Three years? Fuck that shit. There needs to be enough time for a rise and fall. Ahsoka can actually fit, here. But you have to make time.

Clone Wars is also frustrating in that, because of its nature, no character can develop all that much. We can't resolve anything we can only create more problems. And bring Darth Maul back [THE CORRECT DECISION]

I was mad at Star Wars when Clone Wars came out so it was years before I watched it. And I'm mad at Star Wars now and for the foreseeable future so there are shows and ephemera currently being released that I can't stomach just now, so.

Why am I thinking about this? Thinking about Star Wars gifset. Thinking about Clone Wars VAs.

This is probably elaborated on a lot more in detailed meta, but for all of the shit that Lucas has pulled and all of his questionable decisions, Palpatine is probably his greatest triumph as a villain within narrative. Yes, he is absolutely a cartoon with no redeeming qualities, and Anakin definitely has a more dynamic character arc, but it's still incredible.

Star Wars as a franchise is associated with war and wartime: laser sword battles, epic forbidden romance, last stand trench runs against powerful enemies. It's all action, stylized violence and "rule of cool." There is good character writing and plot of course, but the public perception of Star Wars as a whole is about the cool space wizards and laser guns.

So it's absolutely curious that Lucas, in a trilogy that he said was geared towards children, had his villain do none of the things that made Star Wars so famous. Palpatine never fought ever. Except in Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine's horrible crimes all stemmed from his politics, and his cunning. Part of the Jedi's blindness to Sidious was that he was playing them on a field that they didn't expect: politics.

The Jedi are not politicians, nor have any interest in politics; the movies make this painfully clear. (The fact that the Council just goes and attempts to execute Palpatine, a popular leader who was "democratically" elected-I will give the Jedi credit; Palpatine is a monster, and killing him then and there was probably necessary- shows that there aren't the most politically minded) Palpatine literally does more damage to the entire galaxy that has repercussions for a generation- seriously, people like Biggs probably lived and died within the Empire- than Anakin could ever do during Operation: Knightfall or even as his tenure as Vader. And the Jedi can't do anything to stop it because they refused to play the game. In fact, one could make the argument that refusing to play only meant that Palpatine could carry out his agenda even faster.

It's almost like the bad guy won because any damage wreaked by an army of space wizards can be done a thousandfold by one politician. And it's like the lesson is that if you turn a blind eye to the injustices in your government, the corruption festers until it turns into something unspeakably horrid, and by then it'll be too late.

That's something to think about.

Hunter Squared

I’m watching a show where a (possible) clone named Hunter is faced with realizations about his world and an energetic brown-eyed girl makes him realize who his family is/priorities/values are and helps fight/rebel against an empire.

“That’s no moon!”