WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 16, “Kamino Lost,” streaming now on Disney+.
For the majority of The Bad Batch Season 1, Crosshair served as a major antagonist against Omega and the rest of Clone Force 99. He repeatedly vowed to hunt the group down on behalf of the Empire and used what he knew about his former companions and their tactics to his advantage when pursuing them across the Star Wars galaxy.
There were hints throughout the season that Crosshair wasn’t actually trying to harm the Bad Batch. For example, many pointed out that he attempted to fire on their ship earlier in the season but missed, even though he’s an enhanced, elite sharpshooter who never misses a shot. However, in “Kamino Lost,” he finally revealed that even though his inhibitor chip had been removed, he still cared about his former team and wanted them to join his cause. He still had plenty of opportunities to eliminate them while escaping Kamino but didn’t. This led to many online discussions about Crosshair’s redemption, even though he’s far from deserving of such a character arc — at least right now.
Despite the evidence that he doesn’t want harm to come to Clone Force 99, there’s even more proof that he’s still capable of betraying them. Early on in The Bad Batch, he ruthlessly killed a trainee who tried standing up to his orders to eliminate innocent refugees. In “Return to Kamino,” Crosshair eliminated the members of his squadron seemingly without remorse. He did this in an attempt to prove to the remnants of Clone Force 99 that they could trust him and should join the Empire to fight alongside him. However, Hunter has one major priority: keeping his squad safe. Any potential threat to their safety can’t be trusted, and even though he saved Crosshair’s life in the training room, Hunter still doesn’t trust him. If Hunter finds someone untrustworthy, it’s likely his crew will follow suit.
They trusted Crosshair enough to offer him a spot on their ship off Kamino, even if he ended up declining. That doesn’t change another major obstacle preventing his redemption: the fact that he believes he’s on the right side of a brewing galaxy-wide conflict. His attempt to coax Clone Force 99 onto his path — of free will, not due to a chip forcing him to do so — wasn’t about saving his brothers as much as it was about convincing them he was right, and they were wrong. Just before the Empire destroyed the infrastructure of an entire planet, he told them he believed the government was acting in the galaxy’s best interest.
Knowing the lengths the Empire will continue to go to assert its dominance over everything standing in its way, it’s impossible to grant Crosshair the right to be redeemed when he doesn’t yet seem to see the devastation the regime will cause innocent beings. Crosshair must do more to earn back the trust of his brothers if he wants to rank among them again.
Omega may believe there’s still good in him, but she tends to see the good in everyone regardless of motive or affiliation. He may harbor the desire to do good for the greater galaxy, as he believes the Empire is helping rather than hurting society as a whole and does seem to want the best for the universe. However, he has yet to prove that he can decipher the difference between what’s good according to the Empire’s predatory ideals and what’s good for the people left with no choice but to survive beneath them. Until he can make that distinction and do the right things for the right reasons to make the galaxy a better place, redemption is still a far-off target he’ll have to work to hit.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch episodes are now available to stream on Disney+.
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