I Keep Thinking About How There Is A Delicate Balance Of The Emotional Behaviors Of The Batch And You

I keep thinking about how there is a delicate balance of the emotional behaviors of the Batch and you can see it best in what a lot of people complained was a filler episode, that being The Crossing, and to an extent also Aftermath.

In Aftermath we have the infamous food fight scene, which is preceded by Tech and Wrecker's continuing argument about programmed behavior. This will not be the first time Tech and Wrecker argue if they're left to freely interact; it comes up numerous times in the series, and (IMO anyways) stems from the fact that Wrecker is outwardly emotional and Tech is almost 100% inwardly emotional. Tech doesn't process externally like Wrecker does, and has a certain amount of trouble communicating with Wrecker, and Wrecker with him, as a result. So who steps in most of the time?

Crosshair and Echo, and by The Crossing, both of them are gone.

Crosshair is the one who tries to diffuse their argument in the mess hall, placating Wrecker while giving Tech a blatant look of 'stop antagonizing him and eat goddamnit'. He also serves as an added focus for Wrecker's Wreckerness, which means he's less likely to collide with Tech and have an argument ensue. We can see Wrecker variously joshing with the two of them in the TCW episodes and in Aftermath.

Once Cross is missing from the group, it's Echo who acts as the buffer, standing firm against Tech's chaotic nature and Wrecker's emotional reactions. Hunter wrangles them, but Echo actually manages them. It's a very different approach and we see first hand how necessary it was the second Echo is gone. Wrecker and Tech are bickering nonstop and Hunter barely has a handle on them. For the most part he seems prepared to let them sort it out, and I don't know he can be blamed for that.

This is almost the entire point of The Crossing as an episode: to demonstrate how important the group was as a complete team. Not in the sense of 'omg everyone brings one important thing/skill to the table' way but in an emotional, supportive way. Echo was the co-lead Hunter probably needed the entire time, gelled with him perfectly in that roll and tempered Hunter's hesitation with decisiveness while keeping the other three from setting the Galaxy on fire. Cross, Tech, and Wrecker formed a sort of balanced triangle between themselves which kept things at an even keel. With Cross gone, Echo fell into this role, somewhat naturally. This is all on display in The Crossing when we finally see what happens when that triangle is broken and Tech and Wrecker have to directly interact on a consistent basis. It gets messy.

And yet people complain about it being 'filler' and not advancing the plot.

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

Jedi!Reader: *giggling during a battle*

Hunter: what could possibly be funny right now?

Jedi!Reader: I’m pushing half of Cross’s targets in Wrecker’s line of fire.

Hunter: …why?

Jedi!Reader: Because I have a bet with Crosshair that if Wrecker beats his score, he can’t be a sarcastic for one whole rotation.

Hunter: …how can I help?

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ughhhhfoff

2 years ago

Anakin: I promised Master Obi-wan and Commander Cody we wouldn´t do anything stupid or reckless.

Rex: Why would you lie to them like that?

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

Disaster Lineage™

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ughhhhfoff

2 years ago

rex doing his dramatic little identity reveal every time he meets someone. the way he flips the hood of his cloak back just screams "i used to work alongside a number of sassy jedi and boy did they loooove being all mysterious behind their droopy fucking robes"

he definitely picked that shit up from ahsoka who learned it from anakin who learned it from the one and only obi-wan kenobi. they're a lineage of drama queens.

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ughhhhfoff

2 years ago

You Are Now Din Grogu, Mandalorian Apprentice.

You are now Din Grogu, Mandalorian apprentice.

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

Rex: *standing in a gunship with the 501st* does it feel too quiet in here to anyone else?

501st:

Rex:

501st:

Rex:

Rex: WE FORGOT FIVES-

Back on the cruiser

Fives: where'd everybody go???

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

I just know if I scratch that sweet spot behind his ears he’ll start to kick his legs like a dog

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

Thinking about how in The Outpost, the avalanche is a literal, external event that represents Crosshair’s internal struggle, and his world crumbling around him. Then in The Return, the ice wyrm is a literal creature, but it also represents the animosity between Hunter and Crosshair. The wyrm is literally under the surface, and it races towards Hunter and Crosshair as their argument escalates. Then, inside the bunker, Hunter says they have to get the wyrm outside the perimeter “before it tears this place apart”. If Hunter and Crosshair don’t reconcile, it will tear their squad apart from the inside just as surely as the worm will destroy the bunker from the inside.

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

One of my favorite moments in all of TBB remains that part of Cut and Run where Tech comes up with a wild idea and then just,

proceeds with it. No checking in before, no 'hey anyone need anything off the ship before I impound it'. Presumably because Echo is there with him, and it seems like Tech considers Echo to be the Reasonablish One (lol). Since Echo didn't attempt to stop him it must be fine!

Spoilers, it's not fine. Hunter's reaction says 'this is not the first time this has happened, will not be the last, he is going to age ten years from this incident alone'.

But Tech is like it's fine, Hunter! I thought it through, Echo was right here listening to me think it through and he had no objections, so this is a fool proof idea.

Also I love that he TOTALLY IGNORES Hunter's objection.

I like to think this scene has played itself out in at least ten variations over the course of their lives.

Also Cut watching all of this like 'hahaha never change y'all are so insane' and Wrecker like 'oh boy here we go again'.

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ughhhhfoff

1 year ago

Cody: WHOEVER CAUSED THIS MESS IS GOING TO- Rex: It was me Cody: be forgiven because everyone deserves a second chance Rex, to Anakin: If he knew it was you rather than me, you'd be dead

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