WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 12, “The Outpost .”
Crosshair was one of the original members of the Bad Batch, but we have hardly seen him in the second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. His arc and story so far have been one of loyalty despite the personal cost of blood and family. But as the empire begins to show its true colors, and makes clones into ‘equipment’ it becomes clear that the clone’s position is untenable. This episode demonstrates the true evil behind the empire and underlines the depravity of no longer treating those who served you with respect.
The Clones as Deadweight
As we saw with Admiral Rampart, and now the new lieutenant the power has shifted entirely away from the clones after their forced retirement. Even with Captain Howzer in season one, he had some degree of agency but now we see commander Mayday was literally left to die alongside the rest of his squad. The clones have cold weather gear, and we have seen them use it. But the empire can’t even bother giving them the gear that no one else will ever use to enable them to protect stormtrooper equipment. The important part of the protection of the stormtrooper equipment was the fact that Mayday and his men have been protecting it for over a year, which means their replacement has been planned all along.
Crosshair’s Betrayal
Crosshair has always been distant, but we see him finally connect to his fellow clones again. So far all of the people he has served with betrayed the empire, but after seeing the complete idiocy and bigotry from the Imperials he finally breaks. Mayday could have easily been saved, and the empire could have easily let the loyal clones serve for years more. But the clone’s sense of loyalty is also accompanied by a sense of loyalty to the Republic and its values. These values are too dangerous so they have to be done away with. This disdain for clones and the view of them as useless tools or ‘used equipment’ pushed Crosshair passed his breaking point and he finally pull the trigger against the Empire.
Final Thoughts
Bad Batch has kicked into new gear for the last couple of episodes. The new villain, Dr. Hemlock, and the sinister evil of the average Imperial idiot encompass the new empire. We now seem to be hurtling at full speed toward a finale that centers around the projects on Mount Tantiss. We know that the Clone Commandos are there, and now Crosshair is there, but the question remains if any more familiar faces are to be found. We still know very little about what happened to Cody, Wolffe, or Gregor so just how many of our favorite clones have become lab rats for the betterment of the empire? Either way, this new approach is breathing life into the series and keeping us coming back every week for more Star Wars history and to see who is on the chopping block.
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