While Star Wars: The Clone Wars is known for its interrogation of the role of Clones in the war and its arguments for their rights, the series also tackled droids' rights on multiple occasions. In a Season 5 arc, Colonel Meebur Gascon, a Zilkin military strategist, commanded a group of droids called the D-Squad, including R2-D2, WAC-47, M5-BZ, QT-KT, and U9-C4. As the team’s only organic member, Gascon lorded his status over the droids, refusing at first to even acknowledge their actual names, but he eventually came to respect his team members and earned their respect in turn. Gascon’s evolving views on the droids can be seen in his reactions to the multiple deaths of team member M5-BZ, also known as “BZ."
BZ's first two deaths occurred in "Secret Weapons," the first episode of the arc. Before the mission, Dr. Gubacher outfitted the droids with upgrades for the mission, but BZ was a different case. Gubacher removed BZ's memory banks to make room for a mobile command center for Gascon to use. When Gubacher explained the procedure, Gascon interrupted, declaring that there was "no need to baby him. He's just a droid." For a droid, removing their memory banks effectively removes their personality, which could be seen as killing them. Gascon did not care that BZ was being altered for his convenience because he did not see BZ as a person.
BZ’s second death happened during the mission, when Gascon inadvertently put his tools in a socket, disabling BZ with an electric shock. While Gascon angrily shifted the blame to BZ at first, WAC interjected with the truth: BZ's termination was Gascon's fault. In the aftermath, Gascon revealed that he was a strategist that had no field experience, and he may only have been chosen for the mission because of his small size. Once the droids realized this truth, they demanded that Gascon treat them with more respect and use their actual names.
Thus, BZ's second death became a turning point for the team. They completed their objective and obtained a Separatist encryption module that gave the Republic an advantage in the war. During their escape, R2-D2 insisted upon taking BZ with them, and Gascon agreed, especially since they could repair BZ on the ship. This moment showed that Gascon now saw that the droids were not expendable and deserved the same respect as organic life forms.
This understanding did ebb and flow during the team's misadventures in the Void on their way back to the Republic Army, but BZ's final death solidified Gascon's change of heart. In "Point of No Return," the arc’s final episode, the team found themselves on a Star Destroyer that the Separtist Army had hijacked and planned to use as a bomb against the Republic. While the D-Squad worked to stop them, they were attacked by overwhelming Separatist forces. BZ opened the airlock to shoot these forces into space, and in the process, he sacrificed himself to save the other members of the team. When BZ died, Gascon was visibly upset. Upon the droids' insistence, Gascon paused the mission to give a moving speech, giving BZ the respect he deserved for his sacrifice.
By this point, Gascon came full circle and now viewed his droid teammates as people and important members of the Republic’s war effort. Gascon's evolving responses to BZ's deaths showed the growth of his understanding and respect of the droids who served with him on the team. The arc also showed that the droids were just as deserving of respect and rights as their organic counterparts, despite the prejudice they faced in a galaxy far, far away.