So, having watched the latest Bad Batch episode, I’m super pleased that I produced my Tales of the Lost Clones anthology episode the way I did. I don’t think people should have to churn through the awful Droids in the Void episodes (88 minutes!) just to get context for Gregor.

I watched through most of my season 2 again last night with fresh eyes, and found a few more trims and tucks to make.

In terms of its structure and broader context, the way I’d like to theme this period of time is that in season one the Separatists made a lot of very tactical, surgical strikes to key locations, and the Republic fought back well to establish a foothold. At the end of season one, the Separatists fail to ally with the Mandalorians, and then the Republic, having established itself, draws back many troops to restrategise for what they now see will be a long war. As the Republic do this, the Separatists do the same, going relatively quiet as they expand out across the galaxy to resource-efficiently secure more resources. And due to all of this, the Scum and Villainy get bolder and begin to rise. The big reveal at the end of the season will be that the Geonosis factories are productive again.

I’m just not quite sure about the middle of the season’s ordering.

With slight reordering, season two then feels like:

SEVEN WARRIORS (was ‘Bounty Hunters’) - (Re)introduces our big three, with the abandoned Felucia plot letting us contextualise that ‘breathing period’ and the introduction of Hondo. It also gives us the first hint at uprisings which will eventually form the Rebellion, and lets us see the oppression of the ‘little guy’.
MASSACRE - (Re)introduces our main villains, and shows one of the reasons they’ve withdrawn from the forefront of the war: The new Dathomir wildcards, which they swiftly remove from play. But it is light on main characters.
CORRUPTION ON MANDALORE - Gives us a bit more early Ahsoka and Padmé, and leaving Padmé on the planet implicitly keeps it in focus for longer until her return in the finale. Shows the longer-term Republic investment in keeping Mandalore neutral (i.e. not aligned with the Separatists).
TALES OF THE LOST CLONES - Is light on main characters too, but has a little Anakin and Obi-Wan in the one episode to balance out the previous episode a bit better. Isn’t necessarily set at this point in time (except maybe the Christophsis bit, another long term reinvestment by the Republic), but highlights more key clones and especially Rex.
SINS OF THE FATHER (Boba Fett trilogy) - Again shows a Republic at relative calm, as it’s letting the clone youths tour the capital ships. Having Anakin (early) and Ahsoka (later) in this episode balances a bit better with Monsters, which features Obi-Wan. Though I can’t pretend these two episodes are simultaneous as Mace is in both. I think this also works better a little later as it also features Hondo, like the premiere.
MONSTERS - Puts Maul on the board, and closes out the Nightsisters/Ventress plotline for now. So by now, we’ve had this period of essentially a lot of chess moves on both sides, but no major conflict. Leading us to-
(8,9) GEONOSIS TRILOGY - Brings all the main characters together to show that - oh shit - the Separatists have been churning out way more droids all this time. Good growth and highlights for all of our main characters.

The only weakness of this ordering that I can see is that maybe it gives us a slightly too mature Ahsoka by giving her the Corruption episode before she gets that extra Plo Koon ‘slow down’ lesson in the Boba Fett episode.

In addition, I was thinking about potentially putting a little of Savage’s hunt for Maul (originally chopped out of the episode where he finds Maul) into the Massacre episode - though I’m not sure if that’s actually added value. I might also do something with the moment where Anakin and Ahsoka sit in the diner and go “I’ve got a feeling that a familiar enemy is on the loose”. That could go anywhere and give an episode a bit more A&A flavour.