Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 7, Episode 2: Echoes of intrigue and regret

In this week’s episode of The Clone Wars, things get personal for Rex. This puts him at odds with the Bad Batch and serves up some compelling drama long the way.

Now, we’re cooking with gas! Hot on the heels of last week’s big reveal, The Clone Wars now sees Rex embarking on a covert rescue mission, determined to find his captured brother, Echo. Joining him is Anakin Skywalker and last week’s “Bad Batch” of clones. Not only do they have prevent the Separatists from using Echo’s tactical knowledge against the Republic, but Rex himself hopes to make amends for leaving his ally behind in the first place.

Obviously, everything great from a technical standpoint in the first episode remains great here. An aerial chase with a pack of flying reptilian creatures was particularly impressive, showcasing a palpable sense of speed and altitude.

It also goes to show how far the animation has come since the show started when you look at Anakin, whose hair and clothing ripple accordingly when he moves or stands in the wind. In the beginning, his hair was still as a statue, and the Jedi all wore gloves and armor so that the creators wouldn’t have to animate sleeves and robes.

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Despite the technical prowess, it is the story that continues to be the draw here. The decision to bring Echo back may seem like contrived fan service, especially since he was supposedly blown up the last time we saw him, but you can easily overlook this when you watch the drama unfold.

Seeing how deeply this turn of events affects Rex is as poignant as it is tragic. He’s lost his fair share of brothers throughout the war, but the idea of one of his closest comrades being tortured and turned against his allies shakes him to his core. He feels responsible for failing to rescue Echo, and you can definitely see the loss start to weigh heavily on him at this point in the conflict.

Rex’s gnawing need to rescue his friend made it all the more appropriate for Anakin to join him this time around. We’ve seen the other Jedi generals put themselves on the line for their troops throughout the show, but that was always for the sake of the mission.

Being inherently more driven by his own morals and emotions, Skywalker is probably the only one who’d be willing to go out of his way like this to help with a personal matter. As we see in his securing a clandestine meeting with Padmé, Rex has always been there for Anakin as a friend more than an officer. So, seeing the favor returned feels earned.

This scenario also demonstrated an effective contrast with Bad Batch. Not only do they repeatedly go off on their own and shoot up a storm, but their arguments with Rex and lack of concern for Echo make it clear that they don’t place nearly as high a value on teamwork or brotherhood. Whether or not they come out of this experience as changed men remains to be seen, but the script ultimately makes better use of them this week in regards to the narrative and character dynamic.

All of this makes the makes the journey more personally investing than it would have been had it just been about assaulting a base or blasting some droids, and it looks like that trend will continue as this arc moves forward. Now that Echo has been recovered, it’s anyone’s guess how his trauma will shake things up. How will it affect Rex and the others? We’ll just have to wait and see.

What did you think of this week’s Clone Wars episode? Do you think things are looking up for Echo? How do you like the Bad Batch?

You can stream episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney Plus.