The latest installment of Star Wars: The Bad Batch might bring on déjà vu for those who remember Maul's Star Wars: The Clone Wars adventures. In The Bad Batch season 1's "War Mantle," Rex contacts Clone Force 99 with their weekly mission - rescue a former clone commando by the name of Gregor, who's stationed on Daro's imperial base training the very Stormtroopers who'll soon replace his own kind. Hunter, Tech and Echo successfully locate Gregor in the base's cell block (following a botched escape attempt), but making their way back to the Havoc Marauder proves more difficult, as Stormtroopers descend upon the fleeing clone misfits. Ultimately, Hunter is forced to stay behind so that his teammates get away safely.
While Clone Force 99 have been taking missions across the galaxy, the threat of the Empire lingers in the background. Tarkin and Rampart want the team killed, and former Bad Batch member Crosshair has been in dogged pursuit of the Havoc Marauder since episode 1. After 13 episodes of being thwarted, "War Mantle" ends with Crosshair visiting a captured Hunter in his cell on Daro, and the villain ominously utters, "I was hoping for the whole squad."
This moment is eerily similar to a scene from Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7's "Old Friends Not Forgotten." Ex-Jedi Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze work together with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in an attempt to capture rogue former Sith, Maul. Unfortunately for our collection of heroes, Maul is the one springing a trap, but when Ahsoka walks into it, the Zabrak warrior is disappointed with his quarry, remarking, "I was hoping for Kenobi." The two scenes share a similar feel, especially since each comes as the final sting of its respective episode, and with Dave Filoni involved in both The Bad Batch and The Clone Wars, the correlation probably isn't intentional.
On one hand, the two lines reveal how Crosshair and Maul both view their targets. After losing to Kenobi (and losing his legs) on Naboo, Maul developed a near-obsession with defeating the Jedi, almost as if beating Obi-Wan would finally bring meaning to his existence after being cast aside by Palpatine. Crosshair's position isn't too different, but rather than any one member of Clone Force 99, he needs to kill them all before he's satisfied. As the only Bad Batch member (for now) who succumbed to Order 66, Crosshair is a good soldier following orders, while the team he used to fight alongside are, in his mind, traitorous defects who give clone-kind a bad name. Like Maul, Crosshair perhaps sees conquering Clone Force 99 as his path toward self-worth.
However, there's a deeper comparison to be made between Maul and Crosshair. Both are villains, certainly, but not without an element of tragedy. Maul was just a pawn in the machinations of Palpatine, and though he didn't exactly redeem himself after leaving the Sith fold, Star Wars creates the impression that Maul's badness was the product of a difficult upbringing and an evil master. This is arguably confirmed in his final moments, as when Maul dies in Obi-Wan Kenobi's arms, he expresses his hope that Luke Skywalker can become the chosen one and defeat Palpatine. Crosshair's circumstances are eerily similar, from a certain point of view. Though he's currently hunting down The Bad Batch's heroes, Crosshair is a victim of his creation - just like Maul. The sniper was merely unlucky enough to be affected by Order 66, while his friends avoided the brainwashing. Two matching villains. Two matching quotes. Two victims of the Empire.
Taking The Bad Batch's Maul/Crosshair connection to its logical conclusion, could Dave Filoni be teasing a similar fate for Clone Force 99's former sharpshooter? Maul eventually got his wish of an Obi-Wan Kenobi rematch, lost spectacularly, and died relatively content in his foe's arms. Maybe Star Wars: The Bad Batch is hinting that Crosshair will face off against Clone Force 99 in full, be defeated by their camaraderie and teamwork, and then die peacefully, freed from the control of his inhibitor chip.
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