IDGAF if the women in my fiction are empowering or aspirational, I'm an adult, I don't need role models, I want the women in my fiction to be interesting, and if that involves being pathetic, hypocritical, amoral, or trapped in a delightfully dysfunctional relationship so be it
Analyzing the Clone Assassin, part 2: YES, HE HAS ORGANIC LEGS
This is a PSA that CX-2 does not have prosthetic legs, but does have a bunch of accessories and very fancy gadgets the other don't that, and he will not stop playing with them.
The Bad Batch is not a Christopher Nolan film requiring intense scrutiny I'm giving it, but I needed art references and then twitter and reddit started posting nonsense screenshots, so pull out your little red strings and pin boards, because we're going full Pepe Silva here. :readmore:
The other assassins must be taking public transit, because neither of them sported an extravagantly modified comm they can't stop fiddling with, programmed to spin their chair around with as much drama as Obi-wan dropping his cloak.
Unlike the other assassins, who are both snipers, CX-2 is using a rangefinder along with his scope when studying Omega and collecting data intelligence, but not in battle with Crosshair.
These scenes are very darkly lit, so here's a better look at CX-2's very unique yet familiar glass-looking rangefinder.
In contrast, CX-1 from season three, a proper minimalist after Cody's heart does not use a rangefinder despite the distance, nor did his predecessor on Coruscant.
And then our mystery clone who can't leave any of the gadgets at home because he ends up using all of them:
If the idea of bringing Tech back bothers you or sounds like nonsense, I beg you to remember that this is Star Wars, a franchise that brought us "somehow Palpatine returned."
Consider Emerie's big reveal in season two. She spent multiple episodes speaking with a New Zealand accent, wearing a clone insignia patch, and has the same nose, brows, and mouth region that is signature to the clones, and they were hiding it behind a pair of glasses.
Our boy Rex is eating sad chili in a cave instead of having amassed significant numbers or a real plan in the last year and soon he'll be eating sad chili in a motorhome because this show really isn't that complicated.
Which brings us back to our very resourceful and well-funded assassin.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, and you're watching Star Wars, it's probably a duck.
And whether or not it's good writing, this authority-averse little duck is wearing his pre-reprogramming personality on his sleeve.
Cody is out there somewhere shuddering over what he did to give anybody the impression that any amount of brainwashing could turn him into this while the other assassins still have good manners and posture. Check out Part 1 for a comparison of CX from season 2's voice and attitude vs. CX-2.
A little comparison between the season 2 clone assassin vs. Tech the assassin who is so laughably not Cody, and how they interact with their superior officers. Their voices and cadence are completely different.
The original CX patiently waiting for orders, arms crossed, but he holds himself tall and professional like a classic clone.
Tech CX-2 does not wait to be spoken to before questioning why his time is being wasted. He is petulantly hunched in on himself and does not verbally acknowledge the request of his superior officer. He stares blankly at Wolffe when getting chewed out. (he is also covered in gadgets and is probably upset about being interrupted while modifying his gear)
It's almost like the brainwashing didn't fully take and this clone has a problem with being ordered around by 'regs.'
Stay tuned for part 2, a gif filled infodump inspired by the person who tried to tell the internet that CX-2 has prosthetic legs
Oh to be a fly on the wall when somebody from the creative team suggested giving Howzer a pair of saucy little thigh holsters and the answer was "great thinking, let's have him smoulder with enough heat to make Palpatine blush while we're at it"
Me and my sister having the "does Captain Rex have a genetic defect that affects his coloring or is he just a bottle blond" conversation and that let us to the wonderful idea that bc he's constantly deployed, he asks Ahsoka to stop by Coruscant Sally Beauty/CVS when she's back at the temple to pick up his hair dye, and she buys fun new beads while she's at it and when she gets back into the field they have quiet cute spa mornings together, redecorating her padawan braid and redoing his roots before they have to march back out to the war front.