I Think It’s Also Very Important To Consider The Other Side Of This Scene:

I think it’s also very important to consider the other side of this scene:

For us, as the audience, it’s very hard to extricate ourselves from the context we have of Crosshair’s actions. We know that Crosshair’s being torn between his loyalty to the Empire and his loyalty to his brothers. We know that Crosshair is having to make a choice for himself without considering how it will affect his squad. And we know that this is likely the first time in a long time that Crosshair has had to act on his own.

Hunter doesn’t know these things. What Hunter does know is that he needs to do what is best for the squad: a squad that now has a child with a high-value target painted on her head. A squad who Crosshair has very recently been doggedly hunting down. Hunter has seen Crosshair attempt to kill Jedi, civilians, and has actually seen him kill his own men when they refused his orders.

What Hunter knows is that Crosshair has no qualms killing, and has been after the squad for at least a month if not more. His and the Batch’s reaction to Crosshair raising his rifle towards Hunter is entirely understandable.

And I think that’s the part that hurts most.

Scene analysis

There's something that struck me about this scene – I’ve always had one single interpretation for it, ever since I watched it for the first time but I haven’t seen many people interpret it that way.

The thing is, I don’t think Crosshair was thinking about saving Omega here. At least I don’t think that was at the forefront of his mind. In fact, I don’t think it occurred to him that he was repaying her for saving him until she brought it up on the platform.

What I believe Crosshair was doing in that scene was protecting Hunter. Because Hunter would have jumped after Omega and Crosshair knew it and he had to stop him from doing it. We know the water is crawling with sea monsters and littered with debris, not to mention that Hunter may well drown in his frantic urge to save Omega. He can’t see into the water as well as Crosshair after all.

And I think that’s the case because throughout those two episodes we see numerous instances of Crosshair protecting or attempting to protect his brothers, from trying to convince them that the Empire is safer to killing his own squad and helping them fight the simulation droids (in that scene he sends a bolt flying above Hunter’s shoulder to dispatch the droid he’s fighting, proving that he’s not just fighting in self-defense).

That’s why I think his brothers’ rejection hurts so much afterwards. Why he huddles down in the pod looking hurt and he’s definitely hurt there. This isn’t about the Empire anymore this is about them. They’re telling him they don’t trust him anymore even after he’s repeatedly proven he won’t hurt them now that he hasn’t got his chip. Where they once let him use their shoulders as a rifle rest without a second thought (in TCW with Tech), they now turn their weapons on him just because the barrel of his gun got near Hunter.

(To be clear the angle makes it hard to tell just how close he was to aiming at him but I if you look closely you’ll see that he’s aiming over Hunter’s shoulder and Hunter only gets in the way once he turns around.)

I also think that’s the moment it starts to click - when Hunter turns to glare at him with suspicion we see Crosshair hesitate:

The camera lingers and something in his expression shifts, as if he's finally realizing what's going on.

So yeah, to me that’s what this scene is about. Hunter goes to jump and Crosshair’s knee jerk response is to stop him somehow. It’s not about Omega, it’s not about a life debt, it’s a simple response that’s been ingrained into him over the years.

Only now it's being rejected.