The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2, Episode 4, "Faster," now streaming on Disney+.

The Bad Batch just brought a deadly new sport to the Star Wars galaxy in the form of riot racing. Reminiscent of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace's podracing, this new form of high-speed racing adds even more danger to the mix with the use of speeders equipped with blasters and other weapons. As well as having to outpace their competitors and navigate a treacherous track, racers must avoid each other's potentially deadly attacks. The racers themselves also differ from those seen podracing on Tatooine. Notably, several droids are included in the racing lineup and not all of them are droids fans might expect to see partaking in such a violent sport.

Given riot racing's obvious risk to life, it's not too surprising to see that the gamblers of the planet Safa Toma would put droids up to race for them. However, outside of astromech droids like R2-D2 and BB-8, it's rare to see droids taking command of a ship in the Star Wars galaxy and even rarer to see them flying a speeder solo. While competitors such as TAY-0, a new model of droid, appeared to be perfectly designed for racing, other robotic competitors were less obviously suited to a career on Safa Toma's deadly tracks.

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Riot Racing Droids on The Bad Batch

"Faster" sees Omega, Tech and Wrecker traveling to Safa Toma as Cid's bodyguards. She has a ringer in the riot races, her own droid, TAY-0. Tech is surprised to learn that Cid's ringer is a droid, but it turns out TAY-0 isn't the only droid taking part in the races, as Tech later discovers firsthand. When TAY-0 is struck by another racer's speeder, Tech takes the droid's place in the race. Among his fellow racers are four other droids. Haxxon "The War Gnome" Trajanix is a BX-series commando droid from the Clone Wars, "Quick-draw" Quasar has the head of a B1-series battle droid but the body of a protocol droid, and both "The Trickster" Flash Raktor and "Hyper" Rod are protocol droids, of the same model as C-3PO.

Haxxon Trajanix is the least surprising of these droids. While BX-series droids were commandos in the Clone Wars, it's easy to see how their aggression may carry over to riot racing. "Quick-draw" Quasar appears to be a nod to Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, which saw C-3PO accidentally switch heads with a B1 battle droid. Given that battle droid's complaints about C-3PO's inelegant joints, it's surprising to see that Quasar has the reflexes to not only race but earn the nickname "Quick-draw." "The Trickster" and "Hyper" Rod are the most unexpected additions to the lineup. Protocol droids have always been seen to have prim and proper personalities. The raucous, risky world of riot racing feels entirely at odds with everything that's been seen of these droids in the past.

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A New Form of Droid Modification in Star Wars

Jet Venim and TAY-0 race in a tunnel in Star Wars The Bad Batch

Also noteworthy is the fact that all these droid competitors have regular names -- by Star Wars standards, at least -- rather than typical droid designations, which are normally just strings of letters and numbers. While Star Wars Rebels introduced Chopper, his name was actually a play on his designation, C1-10P. No droids seen previously have had first and last names, like Haxxon Trajanix or Flash Raktor. Bestowing full names such as these onto droids certainly makes them sound more like racers, but also appears to suggest more individuality than droids have traditionally been allowed in the Star Wars galaxy. This stronger sense of independence is certainly on full display in the overconfident TAY-0.

Like the speeders they race in, it appears these droids have been heavily modified. However, the modifications appear to extend beyond sticking a battle droid's head on a protocol droid's body. Their personalities, mechanical makeup and even their names have all been adjusted to make them more suited to racing careers. This brings to light a whole new world of droid capabilities in the Star Wars universe. In the past, droids have simply been servants to fully sentient masters, confined to the purpose designated by their design. The modified riot racing droids show that even timid protocol droids can be reprogrammed to embrace the thrill of a high-octane, high-risk sport.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch streams Wednesdays on Disney+.