Five ‘The Clone Wars’ Scenes Prove Captain Rex Is One of Star Wars’ Best Characters
Captain Rex was one of the most hotly anticipated characters to pop up in The Bad Batch. Now that he’s back let’s take a look at what makes him so great.
Season Seven’s Siege of Mandalore
The seventh and final season of The Clone Wars had some of the undeniably best animated Star Wars episodes to date, and the multi-part Siege of Mandalore bringing it all to a close was exactly the heartstring tugging finale many of us had been waiting for. It’s also an opportunity for Captain Rex to shine. He resists Order 66 just enough to warn Ahsoka and kickstart his own inhibiter chip removal, reflects on the war while giving us as the audience a chance to truly understand the importance of it to the characters, and made us understand the impossible situation that was being a chip-less clone up against his still chipped brothers. These episodes were heavy and heartbreaking, but they drove home once more how human and inimitable Captain Rex is. Which brings us to…
Learning to Make His Own Decisions
Rex is one of the clones we follow through Star Wars: The Clone Wars most consistently, and through his various story arcs we watch him grow from a clone who did believe that “good soldiers follow orders” into someone who chose to ignore his clone engineering and started making his own decision, even if they made his path more difficult. In season four’s episode ‘Carnage of Krell’ Rex says:
“I Used To Believe That Being A Good Soldier Meant Doing Everything They Told You. That’s How They Engineered Us. But We’re Not Droids. We’re Not Programmed. You Have To Learn To Make Your Own Decisions.”
The character arc was steep, but he got there, and that is incredibly hopeful because the nature of clones means that if Rex was able to see himself as an individual who deserved free will, any other clone could get there as well. Speaking of ‘Carnage of Krell…’
Always First
So many episodes show that Captain Rex is a consummate, caring, and thoughtful leader who always has the wellbeing of his men in mind. Season four’s ‘Carnage of Krell’ and the entire Umbara arc is one such example with Rex standing up for his men against General Krell in the face of cruel treatment of clones and just general disrespect. Unfortunately, this ends up being one of those story arcs that make you feel a lot of feelings about various clones as worse and worse things happen around and to them. But Rex is always right there with his troops, and comments in an earlier episode that not only is he always with his men, he is always right up front accepting the most risk and leading by example.
“I’m No Jedi”
This line may make you think of Ahsoka (and it should, it was one of her most bad-ass moments) but in this case we’re focusing on the time Captain Rex said it. Notably when a bunch of slavers captured himself and Obi-Wan and mocked that a Jedi wouldn’t kill them shortly before Rex did that very thing. Because he’s no Jedi. Does this scene’s inclusion need more explanation? The refusal to take any guff? The lack of patience for slavers? Rex is a hero.
Rescuing Echo And Encouraging Him To Join The Bad Batch
Finally, Rex is instrumental in rescuing Echo alongside the Bad Batch in season seven’s opening story arc. He’s never given up on finding his friend and brother, and once Echo is back it’s clear that he doesn’t feel at home with the “the regs” so Rex encourages him to stay with Clone Force 99. He’s everyone’s big brother, always there with support and good advice.
What’s your favorite Captain Rex moment? Were you as excited as we were to see his appearance in The Bad Batch? What would you like to see Rex get up to next? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
