#i say as i’m actively writing just about the exact opposite BSHKSSJKSK i’m so sorry

[saturn-sends-hugs]

OHOHOHO YOU BET I WILL!!! The hurt/comfort will happen wether it’s in the show or not.

And back to the Echo and Cross parallels…

I feel like a huge overarching storyline for both of these characters has been survival.

With Echo, that point is pretty obvious. In Clone Cadets, they set up the idea of him struggling to adapt, which later is used in the opening quote of one of the Citadel episodes, “Adaptation is the key to survival.” At this point in the series, it seems like a grim reminder, saying that Echo failed to survive because he just couldn’t adapt.

But he did! He adapts, he survives, and the quote for his rescue episode is, “Survival is just one step on the path to living.” (yes i have these memorized bshjshsjsjk) He survives, he’s back with his brothers, but what does he do now? This is the same arc we get Cody’s quote from, which Rex directly relates to Echo. Cody says “Sometimes in war, it’s hard to be the one that survives.” but Rex responds with “That’s what I’m worried about.” Because it’s true, and now Echo has to deal with that fact. His whole story is one of survival, of beating the odds, and he has to relearn how to live with the batch.

And especially after The Outpost, Crosshairs character parallels this. We all know the parallel between Cross and the vultures, and Maydays line regarding them is: “Vicious creatures. But you have to admire them. They find a way to survive.”

And that’s the difference, isn’t it? Kinda like @the-bi-space-ace said earlier, Crosshair’s reaction, how he deals with trauma, how he goes about that survival, it’s just different. Where Echo has this sort of righteous survival, not particularly by anything he did, just due to how he’s rescued, Crosshair’s survival is much messier. He gets his hands dirty, he snaps, and it almost goes against that survival instinct.

Initially, Crosshair kept his head down with the empire. He stuck with them, he didn’t complain, even when the Lieutenant was AWFUL AND DISGUSTING OMG STRANGLE HIM ahem Crosshair just sat back and took it, because what else could he do? He’s saving his skin by not speaking up.

And by the end, he snaps. His sheer pain wins out, and he doesn’t care what’ll happen to him anymore, he just wants that Lieutenant dead. (SLAYYYY CROSSHAIR GET IT YOU DID SO WELL <333)

The motif of survival is so prevalent in both of their character arcs, and I think despite the differences there, Echo really would be the best one to deal with the fallout with Crosshair. He understands, he knows how it feels to survive almost against his will and to have his entire life changed around him.

Crosshair is now in an extremely similar situation. The batch might not think he’s dead, but he’s not expecting them to ever come back for him. He’s alone, logically the empire should’ve probably killed him, and now he’s someone’s twisted science experiment. And I’m so curious to see where this goes; will they parallel Echo’s story again with the batch rescuing Crosshair when he never thought they would? Will Crosshair escape on his own and have to fight for survival again? Or will he just… not escape? Become whatever the scientists are aiming for, or (pls pls omg nO) end up not making it? I do not know and my GOD I AM TERRIFIED 😭😭

But yeah, parallels weeeeeeee 🫠🫠🫠

Let's Talk About Echo & Crosshair

This is going to be long winded so I will put my thoughts under the cut <3

Echo and Crosshair have a lot of similarities and I think a lot of that has to do with their experiences with trauma. They have reacted differently to that trauma but still, those similarities are there.

Let's start with the lightest of this discussion: their wit and personalities. Crosshair has a dry delivery, borderline or outwardly mean at times, and he tends to never beat around the bush. He's forward and stubborn and he will call you out if he thinks you're wrong (immediately his treatment of Rex comes to mind). Echo is similar in this dryness. He rolls his eyes a lot and he strikes me as the person to call out his loved ones when they're being absolutely obtuse. He speaks his mind and doesn't hide when he's upset. They are both on the blunter side of things but the way people react to Echo's bluntness versus Crosshair's definitely varies. I think this is because Crosshair can be cruel while Echo tends to hold his tongue and go for a, still forward, but more diplomatic way.

I also think they both lead with emotion. Crosshair we see be angry a lot more than any other emotion (but that doesn't mean he doesn't have other emotions). We see Echo have a lot of fire within him - usually pointed towards an injustice. He's willing to stand up for his family, testify for Riyo, and fight with Rex to save their brothers from the empire. We see Crosshair do this too when he fights so hard for Mayday. He sees a person who is so deserving of saving that he puts his all into doing just that. They are both willing to let their emotions guide them, it just manifests a little differently. Crosshair's is more passion and surges of protectiveness and loyalty while Echo's is more sustained and dialed in. They both have this loyalty towards their loved ones and their brothers but Echo's is more doing the right thing to keep people safe and Crosshair's is more: whatever it takes to get the best end result is the path I will take. Same idea different approach.

This plays into a trait that both of them have: a strong sense of loyalty. Loyalty is extremely important to both of them but Echo tends to let this loyalty drive him towards the greater good, a willingness and need to protect everyone not just those closest to him. Crosshair, on the other hand, lets this guide him to do just about anything to stay true to it. He'd willingly kill and die for those he is loyal to. Again we see their paths line up in a way that is just so similar and yet their reactions and how they use it is very different.

Now, for the biggest part of this: their trauma. We are well acquainted with Echo's trauma. He was left behind, captured, tortured, and mind controlled before his rescue. He suffered immense pain and has massive guilt over what he did when he did not have control. We see him struggle with PTSD, anger, and probably a lot of survivors guilt. His story is one soaked in tragedy but ultimately it is about overcoming odds and staying true to who you are even as the world caves in around you. We can see this struggle with Crosshair too. He was left behind which led to his continual torture and mind control. He was forced to do horrible things and endure a lot of pain and suffering along the way. But then we see him continue down a path with the empire and instead of overcoming and staying true to himself he latches onto the empire and starts to build his life around that instead. (We definitely got a lot of development in this area with episode 12 with seeing him save Mayday and shoot Nolan.) What I want to focus on here is why their responses to this are so different.

Echo, upon being rescued, had a massive support system to help him. He had Rex, this new squad, and an environment that was familiar to him despite how much he himself had changed. He had to adjust and adapt to this new reality of his but he still had so much of what he was used to that he was able to take that pain and start to cope with it. I definitely think he's got a lot left to work through but my point is that he was able to start the process in a healthier way. There was a stability built into it and it allowed him to grow and mature and hold onto his kind heart.

Crosshair on the other hand... He finally starts to wake up from the mind control. The brain washing wears off. And he's alone. There is zero support system for him to feel safe enough to be vulnerable. His family is gone. There is no one around who loves or supports him. He has done horrible things and hunted down the only people in the galaxy that care about him. And instead of coming out of the ordeal with a greater sense of self and an ability to overcome the anger and resentment inside of him it leaves him hollow and burrowing into himself to keep himself safe. He has no support system to help him emotionally so it festers and ends up hurting him even more.

They have such different reactions to coming out of the other side because they came to in much different circumstances. But in the end they would understand each other better than almost anyone else. They’ve been through very similar things and have made it to the other side. (and I think if anyone would understand Crosshair's anger it would be Echo, even if he doesn't agree with Crosshair's choices.)

I think it would be fantastic when Crosshair is reunited with his family that we see a moment where the two of them get to acknowledge that they have something even greater in common now. Even if it's silent or short. These two could draw so much healing from each other.

If you have things to add please please please feel free! I’m so interested to see what everyone else sees.