The Bad Batch Spoiler Review: The Solitary Clone

This review contains spoilers for The Bad Batch episode “The Solitary Clone”

Here at The Geeky Waffle, while we are fans of The Bad Batch, we are also in support of the Unwhitewash TBB movement.

This movement is from the Twitter user @unwhitewashtbb and is being led by “fans of color, disabled fans, neurodivergent fans, and Jewish fans.” It’s to bring awareness of the racial discrimination that is baked into the very fabric of this show. The Batch is designed to be “elite clones” and yet their skin tones are very white. All clones are designed after Temuera Morrison, who is a man of color. If the only clones that are perceived as white are considered “elite” and “the best” while regular clones who still appear as people of color are seen as “lesser,” these kinds of design choices have very real consequences on young audiences. @UnwhitewashTBB cites in their title card the hurtful implications this has on minority groups. The card, linked here, goes into great detail about how and why this is a problem. Go read it thoroughly.

It’s important that the creators hear the concerns of fans and work to rectify them. To be clear, whitewashing characters of color should never happen in the first place. It’s a choice that begins in the design phase, which makes it faulty and wrong from the start. We will continue to help hold the creators accountable so mistakes like this don’t happen if we get a season three as well as for future Star Wars projects.

Please follow @UnwhitewashTBB for more information.

Episodes like The Bad Batch’s “The Solitary Clone” are the ones I tend to have the most trouble reviewing. When something is this good from start to finish, it’s difficult to sum it all up quickly without writing a twenty-page essay on the matter. Because “the Solitary Clone” is an excellent episode not only checking in with Crosshair but also giving us the return of Commander Cody.

Something that The Bad Batch has done well is continuing to build on the backs of Tales of the Jedi and Andor. Originally, I was pretty upset with the season getting delayed last year. Now, I’m so glad about it. Andor laid much of the groundwork for the themes being touched on in this little clone show. Tales of the Jedi set up the beginning of the Separatist movement through Count Dooku’s story. The Bad Batch is taking these ideas and running with them by exploring the same things through the lens of the clones and characters like Tawni Ames.

Tawni is very much in the same vein as any Andor character. While she is the antagonist to Crosshair and Cody, she’s not a bad person and simply wants to protect her people. I really loved how “The Solitary Clone” highlighted the struggles of the Separatists in a post-Clone Wars era as they did with Romar last week. We did get some of that in season one, but this takes it to a new level when it’s not the capital planet surrendering. Desix is one of the thousands of planets that left the Republic. It probably wasn’t a prized piece to conquer like Raxus, so there was some time of peace before the Empire arrived. Tawni is correct when she tells Grotton that he is not the rightful governor. They are an independent planet. They were not a part of the Republic which means the Empire has no jurisdiction there.

It does remind me of the scene in Solo when Han points out that the Empire are the invaders. That’s exactly what they are in “The Solitary Clone.” They truly have no right to come to Desix and claim it as their own. But this episode also builds well on past Clone Wars episodes like “Heroes on Both Sides.” Padme specifically goes out of her way to talk with Separatist senators like Mina Bonteri, who got an amazing shoutout in this episode. When Ahsoka balks at the idea of it, Padme points out that just a couple of years prior, Mina was her colleague working on the same side. Tawni raises very Andor points as well noting how there is no peace when it comes to fascism. It’s a total takeover or bust for them. This is part of why her death is Cody’s breaking point. He so desperately wanted to believe in the peace and order he supported, only to see a woman who trusted him in one instant get shot down. It’s the same story with Tam in Star Wars Resistance too. It’s Star Wars; it rhymes.

As we talked about in our official Geeky Waffle ranking of the clones, Commander Cody was never the most interesting character to me. He was fine and I could never downplay his narrative importance to the whole of Star Wars. Just for me personally, he never hit my favorite clone buttons like Rex, Fives, Echo, and Tech did. But just as we called it in our clone ranking, our boy Cody got a stellar episode of character development! I know my Cody Stan friends were super excited about this week!

In my mind, Cody was always the paragon clone. He was the big clone shown in the Prequels and the first clone we see acting on Order 66. Throughout Clone Wars, he is the steady rule follower taking after Obi-Wan while Rex was more unconventional taking after Anakin. All things considered, he should be the one who is vehemently following the Empire. It’s part of the reason why it’s so impactful that he’s the one that leaves at the end of “The Solitary Clone.” The unshakable foundation that he so firmly believed in was cracked and washed away with Tawni’s death. Everything he thought was right was a lie. The final scenes with him watching the Imperial invasion of Desix were a gorgeous display of visual storytelling. We saw through Cody’s eyes that he and his fellow clones were being phased out. Their time is ending which was a crushing moment for Cody.

Cody is more than just a prominent clone too. He’s Crosshair’s friend. It’s Cody that introduces the Batch to Rex in season seven of Clone Wars. All of the members of the Batch seem to have high respect for Cody and the feeling was mutual. After feeling abandoned by the rest of his team, Cody was the only person Crosshair had left. All the other clones shun him. The Empire only refers to him as his number. When Cody goes AWOL, the last person who truly cares about Crosshair is gone.

I think Crosshair is so fascinating at this junction. Being a character of few words, we have to rely on visual storytelling like the quiet moments in his room or his actions like killing Tawni to try and read between the lines. The big question is why is he still with the Empire. They left him for dead in the season one finale where he sat on that platform for like a month. It’s heavily insinuated that he lied and told the Empire the Batch were dead. And yet, he’s still fighting for their cause. He’s had every chance to get on out of there, but he hasn’t. Why?

I don’t think it’s any single reason. I think pride is a huge factor with Crosshair. But for this article, I believe it all comes down to fear. Alex Damon of Star Wars Explain pointed out a specific point in his review that I absolutely agree with. The other Batch members have skills that can be used in different ways other than harming people. Hunter could help with his tracking skills. Tech is smart. Wrecker is strong. Echo is the most well-rounded as a reg with various skills. But Crosshair’s one skill is killing. He is a sniper. That’s his thing. I’m sure there is a real fear that if he can’t do that one thing, then who is he?

I don’t think he’s ready to explore that aspect of himself yet. There’s a saying one of my favorite YouTube channels, Cinema Therapy, uses that applies here: People usually don’t change until the pain of staying the same outweighs the fear of putting in the work to change. That’s all Crosshair here. He’s scared to leave, plain and simple. He’s afraid to face his brothers again. Most of all, though, he’s afraid of not knowing who he is anymore. Right now the pain of staying the same is still okay enough that he’s not ready to make that jump yet.

I also want to mention the big monument where Cody and Crosshair have their emotional scenes together. Not only is it visually beautiful to look at as it’s a nice location, but that particular monument has so much thematic resonance to the episode. That is the First Battle Memorial. It was built by the Republic to remember all the brave clones that died during the First Battle of Geonosis. Its first appearance was back in the Clone Wars season 5 episode “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much.” It’s such a representation of the crossroads all the clones are at at this time.

This monument was built by a government that respected them as people. So much to the point they commemorated the deaths of the fallen clones. The Republic was grateful for their sacrifice. Now under the Empire though, that sentiment is quickly diminishing. Clones are being replaced fast with stormtroopers and will soon fall away into memory. The clones shared history of their creation and relationships with each other are all they have left as the government that once valued them no longer sees them as people. The First Battle Memorial will soon be a relic of a bygone era just as the clones will too. I won’t be surprised if by the end of the season, that monument is leveled.

Some random thoughts to round out The Solitary Clone:

-I’m always here to see my precious battle droids. The two high-fiving each other after making a shot are just the cutest. I love them all so much.

-The battle sequence of this episode was excellent! I loved getting to see Crosshair in action and how he utilizes his skills.

-Cody with a knife was hot. Look, I can’t always be deep on these points. Sometimes I’m just super shallow.

-I love the mention of Mina Bonteri. I hope this might set up a possibility to see Lux Bonteri somewhere down the line. I know he becomes a super interesting character later in the novels. Like that rich kid from Clone Wars becomes a master super-spy kind of awesome. I’d love to see some of that set up in the show.

-Look at that cheeky bit of trailer magic! So the second The Bad Batch trailer has a voiceover of a clone saying the line from this episode “You know what makes us different? …We make our own choices.” The trailer is cut in a way with an image of Hunter who happens to look like he’s the one saying the word “different” to indicate it’s him speaking. But surprise, surprise! It was Cody the entire time! That was a nice little reveal.

-Shoutout to Tawni Ames’ voice actor, Tasia Valenza, who was also the voice of one of the best moms in the galaxy, Venisa Doza, from Star Wars Resistance. I always love seeing Resistance actors back in Star Wars. It gives me a sweet little warm feeling.

“The Solitary Clone” was a fantastic episode of The Bad Batch. I’m so intrigued to see where Crosshair and Cody both go after this. Next week’s episode is titled “Faster.” I’m wondering if this is the racing footage that is featured in the trailer. If so, my baby boy Tech is going to get some fun stuff to do next week! See you next week, and please go check out Unwhitewash TBB until then.