The second season of The Bad Batch has been a joy for fans in this beginning of year, but it has been neglecting one of its most interesting assets: Crosshair (Dee Bradley Baker). One of the most interesting characters in the current Star Wars canon, the quiet sibling in Clone Force 99 has perhaps the most compelling arc of the whole series, the kind of that most viewers love to watch. Of course, Season 2 is only in its second week back on Disney+ and there's plenty of time left for him to have the spotlight, but why keep your MVP at the bench throughout the game?
Don't get me wrong, watching the Bad Batch (all of them also played by Baker) in action and figuring out their place in the galaxy has been very nice indeed. Since their first appearance in Season 7 of The Clone Wars, this very particular group of clones has entered our hearts and made it their home, we love all of them equally, like children. It's just that, right now, one of them is missing.
Last week's episode, "The Solitary Clone," saw Crosshair in his first mission this year, but, although it was a meaningful episode for him, who really had the spotlight was Commander Cody (again, Baker), in his first chronological appearance since Revenge of the Sith. Now, the main group is back in focus on "Faster," and Crosshair is once again nowhere to be seen.
Crosshair: The Quiet One
Crosshair is definitely the most instigating member of the Bad Batch. He is part of a highly specialized military unit, the one people call to help win unwinnable scenarios, and he acts like he doesn't care about it. He stays quiet, a toothpick on his lips, and just does his job like it's no big deal. Hunter may be the leader, Wrecker the muscle, Tech the brains, Echo the reason and Omega (Michelle Ang) the heart of the group, but Crosshair is the obedient one. He's no talk, all action, almost like the Republic (or Empire) version of Cad Bane (Corey Burton), a marksman that looks as if he was drawn right out of a spaghetti western.
But swag isn't the only thing that separates Crosshair from his siblings. His very role in the squad sets him apart, literally. As a sniper, he is the one that usually gets left a little further behind in order to find a good spot to settle before all hell breaks loose. He doesn't really take part in close combat with the rest of the group, so it makes sense for him to be the one to feel left out, since his very genetic makeup is designed that way.
Speaking of genetic makeup, Crosshair is also the only member of the Bad Batch whose inhibitor chip activates when Order 66 is issued by Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). He and his brothers were specially designed to be different from the rest of the clone army, so it's no surprise they don't even notice it when it's activated. Perhaps Crosshair's genetics and personality then makes him more prone to the effects of the inhibitor chip.
Only it goes beyond that. In fact, when we put his role in perspective, his single narrative purpose is to be the one who doesn't fit in. It's true that he was under the effect of the inhibitor chip during Order 66, but he's also the only member of the Batch who actually follows all orders, no questions asked. All of his siblings learned to question orders that go against a soldier's role in the battlefield, but even if there were no chips involved, Crosshair would've probably carried Order 66 out anyway.
Good Soldiers Follow Orders
By the end of Season 1 of The Bad Batch, it's clear that there is a general shift in the clones' view of the Empire and the end of the Clone Wars. In the beginning, they all cheered when Palpatine announced the New Order, but, as they realized the orders given were one more absurd than the next and that they were being replaced, it became difficult to support this new regime — Captains Howzer in Season 1 and Wilco in Season 2 are good examples of this. "The Solitary Clone" showed us that even Cody, who didn't hesitate to blast Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) off a sinkhole wall in Utapau, has a limit when it comes to following orders. That's what separates clones from battle droids, he says.
For Crosshair, though, the issue is deeper than that. It's not just about following orders, it's about fitting in, too. We've seen how different he really is from his brothers — all of his brothers — and how much he values order and his work. So when he revealed he had already had his chip removed and was still willing to hunt the rest of the Batch for the Empire, it really doesn't come as a surprise. That's his chance to prove how good of a soldier he can be. Still... It's his family, and that sets him on a sad, lonely, and dangerous trail.
As we said, on a series named after the group of protagonists, it makes sense that we would spend more time following most of the Bad Batch, especially now that their relationship with Cid (Rhea Perlman) is apparently beginning to deteriorate. But Crosshair is as much part of the Bad Batch as any other of his siblings in the squad. They are all on a journey to discover their place in this new galaxy, but he is the only one with wavering loyalties, the one who needs a redemption for his dark deeds to the Jedi, the galaxy and his brothers - and Star Wars has a history with redemption arcs, so it's fitting. His talk with Cody in "The Solitary Clone" was a good start for him in Season 2, and put him in a collision course with the Empire. But there's no way for him to achieve true redemption without confronting his siblings, and that's what we long so much for.