It’s hard to deny thatStar Warshas given characters some brutal fates over the years, but teasing them long before they even happen is pretty crazy - as was the case for Tech inStar Wars: The Bad Batch. Arguably the hardest character deaths to swallow are the ones that don’t just happen unexpectedly, as was the case for the entire maincast ofRogue One: A Star Wars Story, but also have been hinted at before - without anyone noticing. I’ve since realized this was the case for Tech.
It would have been devastating to lose any member ofClone Force 99, but there was something about Tech’s death in particular that has made it exceptionally hard forStar Warsfans like myself, particularly those who considerThe Bad Batcha favorite, to accept. Something even Tech himself would likely appreciate, though, is the fact thatStar Warstried to tell us how it would happen back during Tech’s initial introduction to the franchise. There were signs, and we surely missed them, for better or for worse.
Tech Directly Addresses Falling With Wrecker In The Clone Wars
“That’s Fine, But If You Fall, Don’t Take Me With You!”
During the Bad Batch’s 4-episode arc inStar Wars: The Clone Warsseason 7, Wrecker’s fear of heights is well-established - which makes it exceptionally unnerving for him, and us in turn as the audience, to see that the group’s best chance of escape from the Techno Union’s facility on Skako Minor is legitimately a balancing act. Wrecker, in an attempt to calm himself, urges Tech, who’s just ahead of him, to keep walking. After offering the eye-roll of the century,Tech offers his response: “That’s fine, but if you fall, don’t take me with you.”
This exchange occurs early on inThe Clone Warsseason 7, episode 3 “On the Wings of Keeradaks.”
Little did we all know that, 3 real-world years later,Tech and Wrecker would be in the same situation again - but the roles would be reversed, and Tech wouldn’t stand for taking Wrecker nor the rest of his squad down with him. This, of course, leads to the fateful yet heroicPlan 99that saves the rest of the Batch, but ultimately sacrifices Tech in the process. I still can’t help gasping every time I rewatch thisepisode ofThe Clone Warsand hear this line, if only because of how cruel a reminder it is of Tech’s fate.
Falling Seems To Be A Strange Pattern…
Hilariously enough (though not entirely in the comedic sense), Tech’s death via falling goes on to be foreshadowed two more times inThe Bad Batch, both in season 1. The first has to do withTech himself nearly falling from the ion engine of the Jedi cruiser on Bracca in episode 8, when a shot from Crosshair’s rifle knocks him off balance - though he’s thankfully steadied and protected by Hunter. The other instance has little to do with Tech himself, actually, but it does show another character falling from a great height, and surviving.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Clone Force 99’s Complete Timeline Explained, From Order 66 To The Rebel Alliance
Clone Force 99, also known as the Bad Batch, played a pivotal role in both the Clone Wars and the Empire’s earliest days. This is their full timeline.
Hunter’s capture on Daro is only possible because he tries to jump onto theMarauderand he misses, leading to a long fall down a mountain and into a forest. He walks away from it practically unscathed, not revealing so much as a single injury between this fall and the events of the very next episode. While Tech’s fall on Eriadu was no doubt much longer and thus more perilous,it’s still jarring to see that one of them could survive such a fall and the other couldn’t. Still, I’m shocked thatThe Bad Batchtried to prepare us.
