So, there's just something I can't get out of my head. Something that depresses me to no end. An idea.
After the Battle of Umbara and the 501st reunited with the Commander and their General, Ahsoka finds out what happened to them. Anakin finds out what happened to them.
The two Jedi discover that while Anakin was gone and Ahsoka was flying blissfully ignorant above the planet, their men were being slaughtered, manipulated, used to kill each other.
Ahsoka, who has a sibling relationship with a lot of the clones, who cares about them so much, discovers the atrocities they had to endure.
Anakin, who trusts his men with his life, who would do anything for Rex, discovers he left them in the hands of a murderer.
They discover what the men were forced to do, that Fives and Jesse were nearly executed and their brothers were the ones who were forced to do it, they discover what Rex had to do, the calls he was forced to make.
They discover that their men suddenly have an intense distrust of him. He left them, after all. He left them with the General with more casualties than anyone else.
Ahsoka and Anakin discover that the men are trying to hide their anger, their pain, and they discover the clones all together in the barracks, crying and shuddering.
They discover Rex crying.
They try to comfort them, they try to offer their kindness, but even Rex pushes them away. They could swear they even hear one of the men mutter "I fekking hate Jedi..."
They realize that it's likely the 501st won't entirely be the same. They realize that the men have been through one of the most traumatic events of their lives.
They realize nothing is okay.
Someone brought this up, and we need to talk about it.
Rex went DIRECTLY from Umbara to Zygeria (maybe there was some time in between but seriously, these two missions right after one another?). He went from being one type of slave to another, went from mental and physical abuse on one planet to mental and physical abuse on another.
Rex is so strong, but I'd love to see him just finally break down. Like, everyone's looking for him one day, can't find him anywhere, then they finally find him in his quarters, broken down, crying and trying to keep it all together.
After Zygeria, Rex just stays in the training room and doesn't leave the firing range, he stands there for hours, destroying every target, rage completely overtaking him. The last two missions he'd been on were complete nightmares and he can't get the deaths on Umbara out of his head and the sounds of torture on Kadavo fill his dreams.
Rex is painted as having a lot more emotions than other clones, we see that with how he carries himself, how he reacts to things, but we don't really see how he deals with his trauma. I mean, this man has been through Hell and back, he's seen so many brothers die, he's held so many brothers as they died, but he keeps going. Shit, he's still fighting for the Republic 20 years later at the Battle of Yavin!
I want a series based solely on Rex. His journey from cadet to shiny to ARC Lieutenant to Captain to Commander back to Captain to Veteran.
I want to see the behind the scenes of Rex. How he did during training. His bond with Cody. His batchmates and them working together. His experience at the first Battle of Geonosis. Venting about how much Skywalker annoys him but he puts up with him because he's his friend. Seeing him lose his shit and just go feral in some battles like Cody does. Show more of how acrobatic he is and what he could really do in battle. All his emotions.
I want more of Rex. This man has a serious story, and I want to read every page of it.
