#analyzingsw

[robotsandramblings]

noticed this sad little detail from 3x07 "Extraction"

after Rex & co. leave Teth, you can see Rex having a private moment of grieving in the back of the ship

and as soon as Hunter comes over, Rex kinda snaps back into a stoic, 'stand tall and firm' mode. 🥺

[robotsandramblings]

"Umbara was a testing ground for Order 66."

maybe i'm super late to this party lmao but ever since i read about this fan theory, it's really stuck with me. have y'all heard this one before or...???

so i've always believed that Anakin was intentionally called away from Umbara by Palpatine... but only because Palps was trying to get Rex and/or a good chunk of the 501st killed, to push Anakin closer to the dark side.

but what i never considered, until recently, is that Pong Krell was also intentionally chosen by Palpatine as the one to temporairly take over -- primarily as a "test" for Order 66, but also to test Krell himself.

could a large group of clones take down a single Jedi knight/master? how does Palps test that? how about taking the 501st legion away from Anakin "i care a lot about my men" Skywalker and placing them under the authority of Pong "i could not care less about these creatures" Krell in a major battle? who else, except probably the 104th, would be most likely to fight back against an anti-clone general?

simultaneously, it was a test of Krell himself, who openly admits in the end that he was trying to impress Dooku to become his apprentice -- something Palpatine very likely knew about.

in the end, as always, Palpatine comes out on top. either Krell succeeds, proves himself a worthy darkside apprentice, kills a lot of clones and sets off Anakin, OR Krell fails, as he did, and Palpatine loses nothing... and either way, Palps learns how ineffective or effective a group of clones can be against a skilled Jedi.

and idk maybe the whole theory is silly because Palpatine was always going to implement Order 66, regardless of any "test runs" and their results. but it's still interesting and horribly ironic (and heartbreaking) that Umbara, intentionally or not, was a good "test run" of Order 66.

[robotsandramblings]

i'm probably reading into this way too much,, but i always found it horribly ironic that in the S2 premiere, Tech picks up the datapad and it has a V-wing on the screen... and in the S2 finale, it's a bunch of V-wings that damage the railcar which ultimately leads to Tech's death

[robotsandramblings]

The Journey of Clone Force 99 (and Friends)

a fun little research project i've been working on -- mapping out the locations visited by [members of] Clone Force 99, as seen on-screen in their Clone Wars Season 7 arc and The Bad Batch show itself. i really wanted to see where these locations were in relation to each other in the big, wide, Star Wars galaxy.

click on the map images to enlarge them in new tabs/windows; hopefully you can read the planet names better that way!

the full list of locations -- known, and unknown (ie. not on the map) -- are listed below, along with my resources and other notes. enjoy! 😊🗺️📌

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Note #1: Any planet names on the map that I had to add/type in myself are locations that I had to approximate, based on their Wookiepedia entries. They're not 100% accurate but I feel they're pretty darn close!

Note #2: This is NOT the complete map of all locations visited -- there were about 10 places that had planet or moon names in Wookiepedia, but no information on their location within the galaxy, not even a sector name.

Note #3: the pink-purple "misc" locations are ones that were either A) visited by non-CF99 characters, and/or B) mentioned or shown on-screen but no one really 'went' to the planet. They're all mentioned in the big list at the end of these notes.

Resources:

primary map (the one in the images above); from Wookiepedia. I desaturated the colours for better visuals and trimmed the edges a little.

used the links here to access the sector maps for the Outer and Mid Rims. it's an older but legitimate Star Wars source, from a book published in 2009, but I believe it has remained accurate and carried over into the Disney Canon. I used this a lot for the locations that weren't on the primary map -- Wookiepedia gave me the planet's sector name, and I was able to find the sector using these maps.

this map is fan-made and can be zoomed into very closely to see a lot more locations. There are also faint outlines for the sectors. I don't think this map itself is 100% accurate either, but it was still very helpful in confirming some locations I was approximating.

Fun things I noticed:

with it's "cameo" / intro appearance at the very end of Season 1, Wayland/Tantiss is the only location that we see in all three TBB seasons.

(unless there was a Coruscant scene i'm forgetting from S1??? that would be the other most likely candidate. but I think we only visit Coruscant in S2 and S3.)

(Ord Mantell came kinda close, with an indirect reference in S3, re: the imperials finding and questioning Cid.)

~~~~~~~~~

The VERY LONG list of locations, by approximate chronological appearance in TCW and TBB:

The Clone Wars Season 7 -- Bad Batch arc

Anaxes

Skako Minor

The Bad Batch, Season 1

Kaller

Kamino

Onderon

Saleucami

Ordo moon (location on map UNKNOWN)

Idaflor ("misc") -- at the beginning of Ep 4, Hunter says he wants to hide out on uninhabited Idaflor for awhile. Tech says they need supplies and they end up going to...

Pantora

Ord Mantell

Corellia (where they retrieve the tactical droid head)

Bracca

Bora Vio (Kaminoan cloning facility; location on map UNKNOWN, although I'd guess it's relatively close to Kamino)

Raxus

Ryloth

Daro (where they rescued Gregor)

(cameo appearance by Wayland, aka location of Mount Tantiss / Tantiss Base)

Season 2

Serenno

Desix (Crosshair only; with Cody et al.)

Serolonis (Safa Toma riot racing; location on map UNKNOWN)

Skara Nul

Vanguard Axis station/base (location on map UNKNOWN)

Kashyyyk

Coruscant

Ipsidon (ipsium mine; Mokko & kids)

Silla (crashed science vessel & escaped Zillo Beast; location on map UNKNOWN)

Barton IV (outpost w/Mayday)

Tantiss (Crosshair only)

Pabu

Balmorra ("misc") -- where we see an imprisoned Howzer being transferred; he's rescued by Echo & co. in Balmorra's orbit

Eriadu

Ord Mantell

Season 3

Tantiss

Devaron (home of the Isa Durand's council, per Wookiepedia)

Setron (abandoned Hemlock base with the slither vines; where Hunter & Wrecker find the younger clones Mox, Deke, and stak; location on map UNKNOWN)

Lau (where Crosshair & Omega crash their stolen shuttle; location on map UNKNOWN)

nameless Ryloth moon (where everyone reunites)

Pabu

Barton IV

Pantora ("misc") (Rex, Howzer, and co. only; where Riyo Chuchi meets Raxus's Sentor Singh in secret)

Teth

Veelo (where Fennec Shand, Hunter, and Wrecker track down Sylar Saris; location on map UNKNOWN)

random asteroid where Phee gases up her ship & CX-2 sneaks aboard (location completely unknown)

Erebus (labour camp where Rampart is being held; location on map UNKNOWN)

Bora Vio (Kaminoan cloning facility where they meet Echo and his stolen imperial shuttle; location on map UNKNOWN, although I'd guess it's relatively close to Kamino)

Coruscant imperial orbital station (where they latch onto Tantiss shuttle)

Pabu

BONUS -- Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #10, which featured Clone Force 99 (pre-Order66)

Hylanth moon (location on map UNKNOWN)

~~~~~

if I've missed anything, or something seems incorrect, please let me know!! again, it's not 100% accurate or complete, but I've tried my best :)

[robotsandramblings]

it's actually thematically genius how Omega & Crosshair's bonding revolves around a prison breakout. how Omega is the one to break him out. how she's the one who "removes" the barriers between them, both physical and mental. she opens his prison cell door and his heart. poetic cinema.

[robotsandramblings]

we're just over halfway through Maul: Shadow Lord, a show that:

takes place only about a year(?) after Order 66;

has not one but two Jedi who are Order 66 survivors;

was created and developed by Dave Filoni;

and we haven't had an Order 66 flashback yet?!?!?!?!?

Dave? Dave?! are you feeling ok?? what's wrong??? this isn't like you!! 🤣

...ok so jokes aside, ironically this is actually the one post-Order66 show when i feel like i need Devon & Daki's flashback, since it's the first time we've seen a padawan + master duo that's survived together and managed to escape & stay together.

[robotsandramblings]

i was just thinking about how The Bad Batch ends with just Omega & Hunter (& Batcher🐶). yes, a part of me wanted the whole gang there to wave her off too. but in the end, i do think it having just the two of them was the most fitting.

i can't help but compare it to The Clone Wars and its ending. how it was a show about lots of different people, but in the end, it was Ahsoka & Rex who closed out the show after seven whole seasons. and - arguably - they too were the most fitting for TCW's final goodbye.

now of course, there are some logical arguments for this. 1) Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme's fates were already depicted in ROTS. along with most of the main Jedi. (rip😭.) they literally created Season 7 to finally show us what happened to Ahsoka and Rex specifically leading up to, and during, Order 66. 2) both Ahsoka and Rex were Dave Filoni's babies. he created them for TCW, of course he'd want them to feature prominently in its finale.

and that logic applies to Omega and Hunter as well. Omega was created for TBB. Hunter was created during TCW, but once that spinoff show was a reality, as the leader of the Bad Batch, of course he was going to be one of the show's biggest focuses. of course they'd logically be the ones to close it out.

But! logic aside, like i said, it's genuinely fitting that these pairs close out their respective shows, for other reasons. they each act as our guides throughout their shows. we meet them in the very beginning, and we see what they've become at the very end.

Ahsoka and Omega provide the points-of-view of the growing, learning, maturing [pre]teen, covering the before and after of Order 66. they both have to grow up faster than normal, and try to survive a chaotic, fast-paced, dangerous lifestyle, where their 'family' primarily consists of soldiers.

Rex and Hunter provide the leader and clone points-of-view. they also, in their respective shows, do their own growing and learning, but from the solider perspectives. Rex has to learn about what loyalty and obedience really mean, while Hunter has to grapple with his squad falling apart, a rapidly changing galaxy, self-reliance, etc.

and the most beautiful thing to me is that none of these characters do it alone. that's the heart of why i love TCW ending with Rex & Ahsoka, and TBB ending with Omega & Hunter. every bit of growth, all the lessons learned, every hardship endured - they did it together. they made it to the end together. they started out as unlikely duos, with not much depth to their relationship, and look at where they ended up, and how important they ended up to each other.

[robotsandramblings]

in all seriousness, i do think (besides their similar character arcs) Crosshair and Howzer are quite similar people by Season 3, if you look at them closely.

i think each of them provide that extra "edge" or "push" to their more cautious counterparts. whereas leaders like Hunter and Rex are more conservative decision-makers and have lines they prefer not to cross, i feel like both Crosshair and Howzer [by S3] are willing to tiptoe and cross those lines if the situation calls for it. (remember Howzer pushing Rex to up his interrogation on the captured CX clone? then also pushing Rex to bring Crosshair in for further questioning?)

i also think both of them have tight inner circles of trust and hold their trust close to their chests; they don't just take people at their word, they absolutely need to see proof for themselves. (we see this with Crosshair's realization/acceptance about the clones' fate during 2x12 and Howzer's realization that Crosshair has changed in 3x07.)

unfortunately, Howzer doesn't have a lot of screentime, so don't know him that well. hopefully, a new "clone rebellion" show post-TBB will fix that, and we might see even more similarites between these two.

in any case, and i half-joked in another post, i think these two could could actually grow a tight-knit friendship if they hung out and got to know each other more.