“Embrace others for their differences, for that makes you whole”
@Dan Witt (Facebook)
My fellow congregates, nerds, geeks, gamers, Star Wars fanatics. What a time to be alive. The future of Star Wars and Lucasfilm alike is bright indeed, and we could be entering a true renaissance. With the launch of Disney+, we were treated to the phenomenon that was Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s The Mandalorian. We also must not forget video game Star Wars – Jedi: Fallen Order by EA.
The momentum sputtered a bit with The Last Jedi, albeit that particular film did not have creative direction of Mando or The Clone Wars. Here, in the final season of the returning beloved series, we are reminded how great quality Star Wars can be…
Episode 1 focuses primarily on the clones, with very brief appearances from only Anakin and Mace Windu. We pick up as the third and final year of the Clone War is coming to a close, and the Republic is getting its head kicked in by the Separatists on the planet of Anaxes.
This particular planet is important because as us lore fiends are aware, it is the home of the Republic’s most utilized shipyards, and losing it would be practically fatal to the Grand Army of the Republic. The familiar faces are there, my man Rex and Cody, but most notably, the titular “Bad Batch” are introduced.
I have been waiting for these clones to be officially made canon for years now, and did they ever fail to disappoint. Sure, they’re blatantly archetypal and likely not to receive too much development aside from the ever ingenious ways they dispatch droids, or as we refer to them, “Clankers”.
The “Bad Batch” is an experimental force of clones with genetic modifications or even mutations that make them more effective in combat, going even further than the modifications that Clone Commandos or even Arc Troopers has. This motley crew is led by Hunter, who is essentially Solid Snake, not Rambo as some have mistakenly assumed. His mutation augmented his senses to Wolverine type levels, and on top of that he’s practically a living GPS, as he can sense and feel electromagnetic fields on a planetary scale– he can track anything, anywhere.
There’s also Tech, the nerd of the group, whose mutation has made him more or less a super computer. Following Tech are Crosshair, the sniper who is literally the aimbot you run into in Call of Duty that pulls off headshots every time from anywhere, and Wrecker, who is immensely strong, gregarious, and large; he picks up a Republic Gunship with ease.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with this first episode. Not only do we have yet again a smash hit from Filoni, but we are going to get a proper end to a series that was probably under appreciated in its time. Since Disney+ was released I have watched the entire series of The Clone Wars up to this point at least three times, and I myself didn’t fully appreciate in the beginning just how good it was, and how it progressed in the later seasons to how great it was.
This final season looks to fill in some blanks as it’s twelve episodes will cover events just before Episode III and even run concurrently with what happened in Revenge of the Sith. Filoni has even implied that there will be tie in’s with The Mandalorian, as well as include other deep lore, thus further connecting the new era in Lucasfilm’s “Expanded Universe”, which as this Disciple has recently heard, will be headed up entirely by the holy trinity of Lucas, Favreau, and Filoni. I can’t freaking wait.
May the Force be with you, Always. 5/5 Bibles.
-Dan Witt