#you got us this far/we're not done yet/did they teach you plan 72/executing plan 72 still has Poe's brain in free-fall

[faceofpoe]

Let's talk about that scene in the brig after they go back for Omega in the pilot. Crosshair's been getting more and more worked up - he's just finished blaming Hunter for ignoring orders and getting them locked up when Omega comes to sit with him.

To this point he's criticized Hunter's leadership but hasn't yet broken with the squad. He's not happy but there's still a general "in it together" vibe he's grudgingly following along for.

And then his "you can't help it" conversation with Omega is cut off by the guards ordering him out of the cell. He doesn't move - Hunter puts himself in the middle and, "We stay together." Once they show they're willing to use force, he gets up and cooperates.

Is he demonstrating that he's still a good soldier, unlike the rest of them?

Or is he falling on something of a proverbial sword (what ends up being his own sort of protracted torture version of Plan 99?) to stop this moment from escalating, and counting on the whole 'they'll come back for me' thing when he gets up and walks out?

Faced with only the few blasters left in the room vs when they're first intercepted in the hangar, would they have normally taken their chances fighting their way out this time once the barrier is dropped?

Except now Hunter has thrown this curveball priority in with this damned kid?

If Bracca "aim at the kid" ruthless weaponizing of what he's seen is Hunter's first priority/ 'fire the engine they're hiding in' Crosshair is peak 'hyperactive inhibitor chip' Crosshair, then this post-chip (??) Crosshair is a reversion to his baseline attitude of Omega - which is simply that she has no business being in this fight/in this squad at all.

Part of what makes the whole "you weren't loyal to me" thing so delightful is how sticky it is. You've got a skilled sniper willing to kill gunning for you, what are you going to do?

But what would they have risked for him upon grasping the full implications of the inhibitor chip, upon seeing what it does to Wrecker, if Omega weren't adding this whole new dimension and dynamic to their decisions?

Anyway, my musing is that this scene in the brig is when Crosshair actually went along with Hunter in prioritizing Omega over leaping into action that would put her at risk, and this is at the root of all of his episode 1.15 bitterness/1.16 sticking with the Empire/having stuck with the Empire after having the chip removed(after Bracca??) more so than just a vague 'you should have found a way to save me from the chip/from myself/reunite us once more.'

Making the progression in season 3 from "there is no we" to "did they teach you Plan 72?" the key to unlocking Crosshair's side of reconciliation. When Crosshair opted to stay behind on Kamino, he was still in full "just because you're a clone doesn't make you one of them," mode with Omega in their second side-by-side scene that mirrors the brig.

They chose her, who isn't even one of them, over him, after he fleetingly chose her too for Hunter's sake.

When they cross paths for the first time on Tantiss, "there is no we/I'm not them" - he's still viewing her as this foolish sidekick his one-time brothers saddled themselves with. But he's also trying to optimize what he views as her chances for success, at the cost of his own hope for freedom. Her safety matters to him, Plan 88 - for her own sake, or perhaps more likely, for Hunter & co's sake (hearkening back to their first stuck-in-prison/averting the fight theory).

But then we get their third side-by-side scene once her plan has dead-ended.

Acknowledging "we," neither of them could have done this alone; acknowledging her finally as one of them; perhaps even acknowledging that he still could be, too (see: their flawless execution of Plan 72; the continued cooperation in the next ep; continuing to prioritize getting her to safety over what he views as their best shot after she tosses the credits at him).

(We don't leave our own behind, even when your squad is now a dog you didn't want and a girl you've been noisy-sighing at for the past several hours).

Anyway all of that to say BOY am I looking forward to episode 5 and the messy messy situation they're all in now and the messy messy conversations they need to have.

#look is any of this beating a dead horse? idk I just crashed into this fandom last week #bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #tbb #bad batch #the bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #you got us this far/we're not done yet/did they teach you plan 72/executing plan 72 still has Poe's brain in free-fall #if you can't tell