The Bad Batch Archetypes Analysis

Echo's Innate Archetype

This is the third instalment of my Bad Batch analysis. This character analysis has two parts: innate archetypes and anima. I will be referring to "Gods in Everyman" by Jean Shinoda Bolen for this first part analysis.

Echo's innate archetype is Hephaestus, or Vulcan as the Romans called him. He is the God of the Forge and serves as the craftsman and metalsmith of the Olympians. He is the least blessed and probably the least happy of the deities because he is deformed, rejected and unlucky in love. However, he is a creative genius and the only god who works.

Echo already has some Hephaestus like traits back as a Clone Cadet. In the Clone Wars episode "Clone Cadets", Echo is part of the Domino Squad, which consists of Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait and Fives. The squad is trained by hired bounty hunters Bric and El-Les, who also have trained other clone squads like the Bravo Squad. The Domino Squad struggle to complete their training because they are headstrong and unable to work together. Bric sees them as "failures" and suggests that they should be sent to maintenance duty with 99, a deformed clone. Bric also looks down on 99, never giving him credit and seeing him as "wasting his time".

Bric's treatment towards the Domino Squad and 99 resembles Hera's treatment towards Hephaestus. According to Hesiod's version of the myth, a resentful Hera gave birth to Hephaestus asexually in a "I can do it too" retaliation, after Zeus has birthed Athena from his head and is acknowledged as her sole parent. However, Hephaestus is born with a clubfoot, unlike Athena who is perfectly formed. Humiliated, Hera rejects him and throws him off of Olympus. Mothers like Hera are those who want a baby to enhance their self-esteem – as an accomplishment, or a competitive act, or a "look what I can do" feat. If she gives birth to a baby that does not live up to her expectations, she will reject the baby for being imperfect. In "Clone Cadets", Bric only trains the clone cadets for the money and probably to enhance his image since Commander Colt did praise him and El-Les for providing the best training to the Bravo Squad when they pass with flying colours. To Bric, the Domino Squad severely damages his ego and they become a source of humiliation. Like Hera, he rejects them for not living up to his expectations, treats them as "failures" and has already decided to send them to maintenance duty with 99, who resembles Hephaestus due to his deformity. Believing that the Domino Squad has no place to be soldiers, Bric tries to provoke Cutup into attacking him, hoping to use it as an excuse to get the squad kicked out. When that plan is unsuccessful, he goes to steal the ascension cables in hopes that the squad will fail the test.

In "Aftermath", Tech mentions that the Bad Batch, including Echo, never pass their mental evaluation. Many fans believe that Echo never passes the test due to his trauma. Most people will assume that the trauma originates from his experiences on Skako Minor. However, Tech emphasizes the word "never", which makes me believe that Echo's trauma must have gone as far back as his time as a Cadet. Jean Shinoda Bolen mentions that a Hephaestus baby is likely to have his innate personality traits intensified if his early life is difficult, such as being rejected by his mother or being born into an abusive household. Since the Domino Squad is treated horribly by Bric during their cadet training, I believe the trauma is what intensifies Echo's Hephaestus traits, causing psychological damage. This is evident when Bric scolds Echo and Hevy after he breaks up their fight, Echo responses nervously (with his head down and averted eyes) and quickly apologizes for his behaviour.

In conflict-ridden families, the Hephaestus child often takes on the role of the peacekeeper and he is extremely sensitive to the first signs of impending conflict. At the beginning of the Iliad, Hephaestus intervenes an escalating dinner table conflict between Zeus and Hera, reminding not to make Zeus angry because he will take out his anger on all of them. In "Clone Cadets", conflict constantly arises among the members of Domino Squad as they struggle to work together, and Echo takes on the role of the family peacekeeper. He constantly reminds his teammates to follow orders and develops a habit of repeating orders, which is how he gets his name "Echo" (in Greek mythology, there is a mountain nymph named Echo who offends Hera by keeping her in lengthy conversation which gives Zeus the time to evade her. This results in Hera cursing her to only be able to repeat the last words that another person just said). He does all of these in hopes of defusing the conflict between his brothers so they can pass the test, as he does not want to disappoint Bric, who has the power to cast them out if they fail. However, being the family peacekeeper also means paying the high price for peace. To appease the instructors, Echo likely sacrifices parts of himself that may put him in danger. When Bric summons Cutup for a reprimand, he sees the nicknames the clones have given each other as a "joke", which shows that he does not appreciate their individualities (and may actively hate it). This treatment likely causes Echo to repress his individuality as he usually does not want to be called by his nickname in the training grounds, and he is adamant in following orders like other regular clone troopers, which impairs his adaptability.