In anticipation for the finale of The Wingfeather Saga season 3, I wanted to attempt drawing the scene in book 2, North! or Be Eaten, where Nia's expression is described as full of "perfect joy and wonder".
We finally get to see fully animated tears in the Bad Batch!
Granted, the tears were shed by the two characters that I mentioned in my earlier post would be expected from. But it was a touching and sweet moment, so deserving of having tears of joy animated.
I still hope to see the other members of the Batch have there moments where a tear is animated. ... Hopefully tears of joy as well.
Leeli and Peet! My two favorite characters in the Wingfeather Saga.
The first trailer for season 2 is finally here, and I can't wait!
(select "keep reading" to see a peek at another fan art that I will post the finished piece to some time in the future. Spoiler warning for book 2: North! or Be Eaten)
Requested by @genericficerblog. "...I would LOVE if you added a 4th panel with Crosshair protectively shielding Omega from whoever tested her to exhaustion while saying 'I'm staying until she wakes up'"
Thanks for the suggestion!
(select "keep reading" to see the whole set together)
She said it for Echo and Wrecker. I'm sure she would have said it for Crosshair as well. ... Even if Hemlock wouldn't have let her stay, she would have tried.
Story hypothesis of how The Bad Batch season 3 could re-canonize Timothy Zahnâs Heir to the Empire
(Spoiler warning for The Bad Batch season 2, and The Mandalorian season 3)
Before the Ahsoka show came out, I figured I would read the Thrawn books to prep for the show. Even though the first several books were de-canonized after Disney bought the franchise, I feel that Dave Filoni has tried to be respectful to Timothy Zahnâs original character of Thrawn and his story. I feel like it could still be possible to bring back a lot from the original book, Heir to the Empire.
First off, I want to just point out that the events in Ahsoka do not necessarily have to replace the original story. In Heir to the Empire, we are not given the âhowâ of Thrawnâs return. In fact, he was a mysterious warlord that the original saga heroes didnât know existed until he just suddenly showed up. The first season of Ahsoka could just be the bridge between Rebels and Heir to the Empire to explain this return.
Even though there are some things in the new canon that has changed, I do think there are other things that could still be revived through the final season of The Bad Batch. Anyone else who has read Heir to the Empire may have thought about this too, but I just wanted to share my hypothesis.
Mount Tantiss, and the Guardian
In Heir to the Empire, Thrawn travels to Waylandâwhere Mount Tantiss is located. While there, Thrawn seeks the Guardian and wants him to take him to the emperorâs storehouse inside the mountain. He encounters a strange, old man who says he could lead him to the Guardian. The old man takes him to the crypt of the Guardian and proudly proclaims that he killed the Guardian.
Mount Tantiss is the secret cloning laboratory of the new empire in The Bad Batchâthe one where Omaga and Crosshair are being held. I suspect that âthe Guardianâ of Mount Tantiss is Dr. Royce Hemlock.
As the story continues, the man claims to be the jedi master Joruus Câbaoth. He actuality turns out to be a clone of the dark jedi Jorus Câbaoth, who disappeared before the Clone Wars. In Ahsoka, perhaps Baylan Skoll could have been the âreplacementâ dark jedi for the new canon. However, I feel like they could still bring Câbaoth back.
Force cloning
I hypostasize that in The Bad Batch the secret project that Hemlock wants Nala Se to work on is the cloning of the dark jediâbut not just the cloning of the man, himself, but also the cloning of the ability to wield the force.
I know some people suspect that Omega is an experiment of this kind of force cloning. Perhaps she is. I actually suspect that all the original members of the Bad Batch might be as well. Perhaps the attempt to clone force sensitivity is what gave each of them their special enhancements. However, the difference is that they cannot wield the force. Force wielding is what Hemlock wants Nala Se to clone, and it actually does work. The clone of Câbaoth can wield the force.
That brings to question: if force cloning is possible, why does Moff Gideon have trouble with it? In The Mandalorian season 3, he admits that this is why he needed blood from Groguâbecause he needed a force sensitive subject to clone force sensitivity. But why doesnât it work for him? It is well after The Bad Batch, so why did he not have the knowledge to complete it? I suspect that the knowledge was lost when Mount Tantiss fell, and that is something that The Bad Batch may just explain.
The Clone Rebellion and the Fall of Mount Tantiss
There is no question that at the end of The Bad Batch, there will be a final battle at Mount Tantiss to free Omega, Crosshair, and all of their clone brothers.
Before reading the Thawn books, I suspected that during this inevitable infiltration the Zillo beast would play a big part and possibly be the downfall of Hemlock. However, my hypothesis changed when I read Heir to the Empire and clone Câbaoth claimed to have killed the emperorâs guardian. I do think the Zillo beast will still play a big role in the fall of Mount Tantiss, but it will not be the one to end Hemlock. C'baoth will be. It would be poetic irony: the project that Hemlock obsessed so much over would ultimately bring his demise.
Mount Tantiss has returned from de-canonization, so it is possible that the Guardian, force cloning, and Câbaoth may all be brought back as well. They could all be revived in the final season of The Bad Batch, paving the way for the Heir to the Empire movie. Perhaps not everything in the original canon has been lost. On the other hand, perhaps Dave Filoni and the creators are planning to actually take it all in a different direction, but I can see how they could still bring back the original canon if they want. But that is just my hypothesis. If anything, I hope you enjoyed my nerdy ramble.
Why have we not seen it in The Bad Batch? Who will shed it in Season 3?
Emotion plays a big role in storytelling, and tears are a powerful way to express emotion. In an animated show, when time is taken to animate a tear falling from a characterâs eyes, it means something. When those characters are war-hardened soldiers, it means even more. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we are given very few instances where a clone trooper actually cries. I can think of only three occasions where this happens:
Season 4, episode 10: Carnage of Krell: Waxer sheds a tear just before he dies, after the realization that the men he and his men were firing at were their brother clones.
Season 7, episode 11: Shattered: Rex sheds a tear as he tries to hold back the effect of Order 66.
Season 7, episode 12: Victory and Death: Rex sheds a tear at the thought of fighting his brothers to get Ashoka and himself to safety.
(If I missed any, I apologize.)
The scenes that brought about these tears were emotional to begin with: the tragedy that came from Krellâs deceit; the tension of Order 66; the thought of fighting family in order to survive. Adding tears makes the scenes more powerful. To see a clone break the composure of a soldier for a single moment to shed a tear is emotionally impactful to the audience.
So why have we not seen an animated tear in The Bad Batch?
Granted, there are a couple times Omegaâs eyes do waterâs1 e9: when she is rescued by the Batch from Cad Bane; s2 e8: as she says good-bye to Echoâbut we never see a tear actually fall down her cheek. Omega does wipe her hand under her eyes several times, and Wrecker does occasionally, as if wiping away tears, but there has never been a tear animated on their cheeks. One reason for this may be just to have an animation shortcut. They wipe their eyes, so we assume there are tears, but we donât have to see them so they are not animated.
But I would hope there is a deeper reason for not yet animating a tearâsomething other than an animation shortcut. I hope that they have not yet animated a tear because they are waiting for when such a detail in animation would be emotionally impactful to the audience.
We have seen Omegaâs range of emotions throughout the show, which is fine. She is a child, and it is better to express emotions in a healthy way than it is to push them away (go watch Inside Out). Because Wrecker is so childlike, he is easily susceptible to his emotions as well. I believe we have not seen the tears shed from them because it would not make the scene much more emotionally impacting on the audience. Because of this, the animators may not want to animate tears so often that they become common place and expected. When the tear is animated, it has to come as a surprise, and during a scene that is already emotional for the viewers.
So, who in The Bad Batch would be the best candidate to shed this animated tear?
Hunter has been on a big character transformation: going from tough soldier to fatherly figure. It would be nice to see such emotion from him, and a tear would possibly seal this transformation. But I feel that is too obvious and would not be a surprise.
Personally, I want to see Echo shed this tear. We have seen some emotion from Echo, but not such deep emotion. He is the most soldier-like of them all. He will forever be a soldier. I feel that a scene where Echo lets go of his soldier composure to express such strength of emotion to cryâwhether out of sorrow or joyâwould be very powerful. However, as much as I want to see this emotion from Echo, if we only get one shed tear animated in the whole show, there is someone else who this tear would be most impactful from.
Of course, it is Crosshair. Crosshair is the hardest and most closed-off of them all. He hardly expresses any emotion other than anger or annoyance. We have seen a little bit more from Crosshair slowly leaking out throughout season 2, but he is still very stoic. A scene where Crosshair would break down far enough to display any emotionâother than angerâwould be powerful. To see him shed a tear would be heartbreaking! So, if the animators wait to animate a single tear from only one clone, Crosshair would be the best choice. It would be the most emotionally impacting coming from Crosshair.
However, whenever the tear is animated, and from whomever it is shed, it must be done properly. They could animate a tear from Crosshair, but if done in the wrong way, at the wrong time, it would not be as impactful. It has to be during a scene that is already emotionally striking to the audience (such as with order 66 in Clone Wars s7 e11). Take this emotional scene, and add in an animated tear, it will be so much more poignant, especially if it comes from Crosshair.
I found another Tech/Pixar, Kevin Kiner/Michael Giacchino parallel.
Bing Bong's sacrifice in Inside Out is very similar to Tech's in The Bad Batch s2 e16: Plan 99. While many stories have similar sacrifices, Bing Bong's is what I thought about when Tech made his sacrifice.
The music scores are similar to each other as well: a still, gentle rhythm swelling to an emotional crescendo! This act of selflessness being expressed in music is powerful.
(The Sacrifice by Kevin Kiner in The Bad Batch, and Rainbow Flyer by Michael Giacchino in Inside Out)
Character Analysis: TechâThe Bad Batch, Season 2 (continued):
Plan 99
Spoilers for The Bad Batch: season 2 (after season finale)
Just before the finale of the second season of The Bad Batch, I posted a character analysis of Tech up to that point: https://tikkisfanart.tumblr.com/post/712999818567548928/character-analysis-techthe-bad-batch-season-2
Now that the finale is past (yes, very past, sorry this is delayed), I have a few things to add.
I just have to say, I was so pleased with Tech when he stood up to Hunter in behalf of Crosshair. When he mentioned that he was still their brother and âwe do not leave our own behindâ, I was so happy! He was aware of the emotions of others around himânot just dataâand he expressed his own emotions in his own little way. He addressed Hunterâs concern, understanding why he did not trust Crosshair, but then stood up for Crosshair, despite what he has done in the past. It was a shining moment for Tech.
As the events of the episodes unfolded, I grew more and more anxious about the upcoming sacrifice. I knew it was going to happen, but I was hoping it would have been at least in an event to save Crosshair. In a way, I suppose it was because it happened on a mission to find Crosshairâs location, but the mission ultimately failed. Despite this, his sacrifice was still noble because it saved the rest of the squad. The moment was so heartbreaking! When Wrecker looked at Tech just before it happened, you can just see his pleading expression through his helmet. Oh, the beauty in the animation of that moment! The stillness of the music for that brief second then climaxed as Techâs sacrifice unfolded! And the fact that they named such a sacrifice after the clone 99! Oh, that was tear-jerking! But something that strikes me so much, is the look of peace on Techâs face as he fell. Despite his fate, he was at peace knowing that he offered his family a chance to escape and survive. âGreater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.â (John 15:13, New Testament, KJV)
But is this truly the end for Tech? Well, in a way, I would say, "no." His act must live on in the rest of the squad. He must be remembered and honored through them.
Whether or not Tech survived, however they address it in season 3 needs to be respectful of his sacrificeânot diminishing it in any wayâand needs to show growth in the other characters. If it is presented properly, either way will be satisfactoryâjoy in his survival, or closure to his sacrifice.
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