On May 4 (May the 4th) Disney released the first episode of Star Wars- The Bad Batch.
Summary
The bad batch is a group of clones that have genetic enhancements. Hunter has increased awareness. Crosshair can hit shots from miles away with perfection. Tech is a super genius. Wrecker can break almost everything. Those four were the original members until Echo was added in season 7 of Star Wars- the Clone Wars. Echo was a normal clone before he was part of an explosion. He was presumed dead but his brain was being used to create an algorithm to defeat the republic army. After being saved by the bad batch in season 7 he decided to join them as the explosion and experiments left him feeling different from the rest of the clones.
In the first episode of the show, the audience sees the bad batch helping Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume defeat the seperatist army. Everything is normal until one of the clones gets a message to execute order 66. Order 66 is the order to eliminate all jedi for treason. A chip was implanted in the clones at birth to make them fulfill orders like this without question. However, due to their genetic enhancements none of the bad batch members except crosshair are effected by the chip. Afterwards the bad batch returns to Kamino (clones home world) to try and figure out what’s happening. In kamino they meet Omega, the only female clone who is just a child.
pros and cons
There are many good things you can say about the first episode of the show. All the members of the bad batch were really built on. In clone wars season 7 they felt a bit one dimensional but now they feel like complete characters. It feels like a bit of a mix of the Clone Wars and the Mandalorian. The animation style is in the clone wars style and we several characters from the clone wars. However, viewers also see Omega and the bad batch (Hunter in particular) develop a father child relationship. Mandalorian was famous for the father child relationship between Mando and Grogu.
One con that many people have seen in the first episode is the retconning of previous stories. There was a comic book series released in 2015 called Kanan- the last padawan. This comic book tells the story of Caleb Dume (who eventually changed his name to Kanan Jarrus in hiding). We see what happens to Jarrus during order 66. However, due to him being in the bad batch episode during order 66 this comic effectively means nothing anymore. The events that play out in the comic are different than in the bad batch episode, most notably the bad batch weren’t in the comics. When you start retconning work from just 6 years ago it makes your canon look very untidy.
Overview
Some fans may not be able to overlook a retcon. However, if you are willing to overlook it this is a really good show. If you want to watch subscribe to Disney plus.
