The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2, Episode 12, “The Outpost,” is now streaming on Disney+.
In season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Crosshair has endured tremendous trials and tribulations. He kills once again in the name of the Empire, and while Palpatine threw Vice Admiral Rampart under the bus, Crosshair knows his time is still limited. The clock is ticking as the Empire has begun replacing the clones with Stormtroopers, leaving Crosshair pensive and hinting that the bad batch will feud with the Empire again.
Despite the blatant disrespect, Crosshair remains loyal and constantly quotes the mantra “good soldiers follow orders.” Unfortunately, just as he awakens from the oppression, Crosshair ends up being captured by his employers. But even if the Imperials think they have Crosshair right where they need him, this could be a big mistake, undoing the latest secret initiative Palpatine ordered.
The Bad Batch imprisons the crosshairs at Mount Tantiss
Crosshair loses control after a snowy mission kills Mayday and other clones on the icy planet, Barton-4. Angry at how Lt. Nolan deemed them useless, insulted Mayday and wouldn’t even get medical attention for his ally, a damaged Crosshair killed Nolan. He wakes up on Tantiss to find the sinister scientist, Emerie Karr, working on him, leaving fans wondering if it’s to study his clone defect, help augment monsters like the Zillo Beast, or use him as bait.
The head of this Tantiss outpost, Doctor Royce Hemlock, wants Omega, so they may have knowledge that encourages them to use Crosshair to lure Clone Force 99. They know that his former team would not give up Crosshair and leave him alone. Plus, with the team running missions across the galaxy with Omega, and perhaps Cid being a traitor out to earn credits, it stands to reason that the Imperials believe Crosshair is the brother who will capture the Clone Force 99.
The Bad Batch’s Team Tantiss underestimates crosshairs
On paper, it’s a good strategy, since catching Omega and Co. would encourage Nala Se to work on the new mystical experiments in the wake of Kamino being destroyed. But with Crosshair now enlightened to the Empire’s sinister ways, he’s a beast waiting to be unleashed. Unless they brainwash him again, sedation – as previous episodes have proven – cannot contain such a skilled soldier. He’s a one-man army when it comes to being a marksman, not to mention an expert in stealth and explosives.
Crosshair still has a bond with his old team. That’s why he covered for them in the first place, meaning he can wreak havoc on his own should he escape or team up with the 99 to destroy the place. And he would have a reason because he knows how the Empire’s science creates victims like the clones, robbing them of agency and turning them on with duty. The fact that Mayday’s men never got the equipment, yet unwittingly guarded new tools for the new soldiers, says it all. Not only would Palpatine’s valuable Mount Tantiss facility be threatened, but so would the scientists, with Crosshair as the perfect weapon to ensure Project Kamino 2.0 never happens.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch debuts new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.