Plan 99: Tech's Sacrifice - a reflection

Note: I wrote this immediately after I finished watching Episode 16 of The Bad Batch after clearing my eyes.  

I don't know what I expected would become of Clone Force 99.  Did I think they would find themselves retiring on a tropical island on Scarif or opening a hunting lodge on Endor?  I don't know.  After Episode 13, Pabu, I actually thought the tropical island might become a reality.  Heck, in episode 16, Plan 99, it was a dream just steps away.  

The final two episodes of The Bad Batch season two, The Summit and Plan 99, left me emotionally drained and feeling quite miserable.  I suppose this is just good storytelling.  This truly feels like that moment when we finish the last page of a book and immediately miss the characters.  

I found a connection to all the characters in the Bad Batch, but Tech is a character I seem to have the strongest connection.  Season two has strengthened those connections as many of the episodes seem to place a focus on him and his difficulties understanding human behavior and emotional connection.  This is shown in his growing relationship with Phee Genoa.  She challenges him to see things through different eyes, and it seems to be catching on when we see him pause to look after Phee before they leave on their final mission.  We can almost see the gears turning in his head as he wrestles with the logical and emotional side of relationships.  Tech has also become more connected with Omega in season two as well.  He is seen teaching her the art of flying the Maurader with so much patience and understanding.  He seems to also be taking on the role of the teacher in other areas as well allowing Hunter to become more the father.  In the final, heart-wrenching episode when Tech, in his dire situation, declares Plan 99, it holds much weight because of the growth and relationships we see Tech build.   

This dire situation is when Tech hangs by a single cable as the Imperial forces hammer the cable runner Clone Force 99 is in hanging over the deep, foggy chasm.  Tech finds himself in this position as he goes to restore power to the cable car by running along the cable cog back to the last tower where the power was shorted out by Saw Guerrera's terrorist bombing of  Tarkin's Imperial Base.  There is a lot going on here that adds to the tension of the scene.  As Tech hangs, it becomes clear that if he doesn't release the crumbling cable car that is holding back the rest of the car Clone Force 99 is on, everyone will perish.   They don't have time as Imperial fighters are coming around for another run to blast the car off the cables.  Tech declares a code they apparently were given, Plan 99.  When that becomes clear to Wrecker and Omega, they yell desperately for him not to follow through.  In fact, Wrecker orders Tech not to follow Plan 99.  Tech says, "When have we ever followed orders?"  He fires his pistol to break the final cable holding the damaged section of the car, including himself, away causing him to fall to his end.  

Source: The Bad Batch Episode 16 Disney Plus

This image and moment are frozen in my mind.  

I couldn't believe that someone or something wouldn't swoop in to save Tech and the Bad Batch.  How could this happen?  I honestly thought somehow that Saw  Guerrera's team might be the ones to come to the rescue. No one came, no solutions were presented, Tech made his sacrifice to save his friends.

I.was.stunned.  

How is it that animation can have such an impact?  These are characters drawn in a fictional story played out on a screen!  Isn't animation storytelling just stories that are presented like Saturday morning cartoons of my childhood?  When and how did animation start to hit me so hard emotionally?  Not just in Tech's instance, but over and over again: Ahsoka walking away from the Jedi Order, Maul's final ending at the blade of Obi-wan Kenobi on Tattooine, and Kanan's sacrifice.  

It seems that the format isn't as important to the message as the message itself.  Sure, the animation draws and colors the pictures and that has a visual impact on us, but the story is the key.  Whether it is animation, live action, pictures on a page, words in a book, or orally shared, what makes the emotional connections and draws the reader or viewer is simply the story.  An amazingly well-written story with compelling characters and meaningful conflict can make the listener, reader, or viewer sink into and buy into the story.  

Understandingly, everything falls apart for the Bad Batch after this event.  One might ask was Tech's sacrifice in vain?  The Bad Batch is eventually captured after betrayal from Sid. Right before this betrayal, Hunter and Omega talk about life on Pabu.  They talk about hanging up the weapons and adventure, so Omega can be a child and Hunter can rest and be a father.  The season ends with Omega in the hands of the Empire, and the remaining Bad Batch members (Hunter, Wrecker, Echo) fiercely resolved to fight to get Omega back.  

Happily ever after?  Probably not for Clone Force 99. I don't know what I expected of the Bad Batch. 

Update: We learned at the Star Wars Celebration Europe Bad Batch panel, that there will be a third and final season of the Bad Batch. Stay Tuned! 
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