Post by mrx on Jun 12, 2014 1:09:45 GMT -5
“Brothers in arms are brothers for life.” Self explanatory. Even those of us who have never served are at least aware of the bonds that those who do form with one another. Fiction has numerous examples.
I spent so many episode trying to get the numbers straight. Well, trying to get Cutup and Droidbait straight.
1 – Hevy
2 – Droidbait
3 – Echo
4 – Cutup
5 – Fives (easy one)
Shaak Ti! Gotta love her. Especially with that voice.
And a couple of cantina aliens for your training sergeants.
Hey, 99! Didn't take long for him to find a place in viewers' hearts.
Hevy's kind of the tough guy early on, a persona that Fives adopts later in his arc.
The training sergeants have some tie in to the EU, as in the Republic Commando series Jango Fett hired a number of mercenaries to train the commandos. It seems that the series stretched this into trainers for every clone soldier. Someone has to train recruits, after all.
Lama Su is an even bigger a-hole here than in Episode II, a portrayal of Kaminoans that originated in the EU, especially Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series.
Hammer!!: ARC troopers in the EU were actually specially bred with as little tampering as possible, making them more like Jango, allowing them to think independently, but also sometimes making them a little unpredictable. Here, ARC troopers seem more like real life special ops, where outstanding and elite soldiers can advance from the normal ranks into the special forces.
So, if these units of five fail, they really stay on Kamino for non-combat duty? I wonder how many clones have been relegated to that line of work.
Shaak Ti has nice eyes. Uh, for an animated alien.
I'm glad we got to know Cutup better. He's snarky and I love his accent. The scene between him and Bric is great, though I do wonder why Bric thinks it's Cutup who's the weak link. It seems like it's Droidbait who had the weakest showing in both runs up to this point.
99, bringing some much needed perspective.
In a nice little bit of continuity, this simulation is called the Citadel. The real Citadel makes an appearance at the end of the season, and Fives and Echo are part of the team that infiltrate it.
Bric may be a jerk, but like Alliser Thorne on Game of Thrones, he knows the realities of war mean you can't hold back in training, something I'd imagine is the reason basic training in the real world is so tough.
Ha! Droidbait makes himself actual droid bait! On purpose! I never made that connection.
Come on, they can succeed without the “finest soldiers” and “ingenuity” comments. We can feel happy for them without labeling the best clone troopers ever.
Thanks, episode, for giving us a heartwarming moment while at the same time ripping it out since we already know Hevy will never get his medal back!
Actually, the entire premise of this episode is kind of sad since we already know three of these guys don't survive their next appearance in the timeline.
Next, we go from what might be the earliest episode in the timeline back to the “present” and back to Kamino in “ARC Troopers”!