Based on what, and if she isn’t, who is? The traitorous Sombra? The oblivious Sigma? The deserter Baptiste? Doomfist, who has a track record for killing his Talon superiors for his own goals? Or is it Reaper or Moira who are using Talon for their own objectives as much as Talon is using them?
Even among the villains, everyone has their own goals and objectives. Widowmaker consistently in her appearances and in her interactions is shown to be loyal to Talon and her supreriors. She has never intentionally failed or sabotaged a mission (Killing Gerard, Ana, Mondatta. The failures of Volskaya and the museum were not her sabotage, but Sombra’s/honest failure) and the only time she did turn her rifle against Talon was in accordance to her superior’s direct orders (Doomfist was calling the shots in Masquerade, she was following orders.)
What you view as “knocking down,” I view as discussion. A theory is proposed, and I am replying as to why I do not think that theory makes sense in the context of Overwatch. If disagreement was not permitted, then this wouldn’t be a discussion board. If you disagree, I would like to hear why with support from the lore rather than what seems to be a baseless desire to have Widowmaker “become good”.
Even if we do suppose your “brainwash wearing off” theory holds (which is another disagreement entirely,) she still wouldn’t become good. To summarize that:
And at that point, Widowmaker is dead, whether or not she literally dies.
I feel like Hanzo is too busy being mopey and sad over his past for a romance, and Widow literally cannot feel any emotions (or if she does, they are extremely stifled) except for when she is murdering someone… not exactly the best two candidates for a canon romance IMO. But that doesn’t mean your ship isn’t valid, just unlikely
Its not just Widowmaker. Hanzo has two interactions with Doomfist where he is invited to join Talon, while he only has the one with Widowmaker. The other interaction he has with Widow harbours a lot more animosity.
Hanzo: I would wager on my bow against your rifle any day.
Widowmaker: That would be the last mistake you ever made.
And the reason why they are making the offer to Hanzo is because he was part of the Shimada Clan. Retribution reveals that they had actually tried recruiting Sojiro in the past as well, but he too rejected Talon.
As for the other heroes not affiliated with Overwatch/Talon, the only other options they have are Ashe and Junkrat/Roadhog.
Ashe is very much about being the leader of her family and giving orders rather than taking them, which makes me think she is incredibly unlikely.
Roadhog/Junkrat don’t even do what they’re told properly, as seen in Going Legit. Talon wouldn’t even want to formally recruit them, they might just tip them off to cause chaos somewhere. And even then, it could end up biting them back.
Either way… I don’t see why a sudden romance is being suggested here? Especially not here, Widowmaker earned her name for a reason.
I have mixed feelings about redemption arcs with Talon characters. I think it would be better if Talon is a serious threat with formidable agents/assassins. On the other hand it would be cool to see her double cross Talon.
Widowmaker is the character needs the MOST of a redemption arc. I think those who are saying she doesn’t deep down are just afraid she well become a worse, more boring character if she goes that path and they are mistaken.
The way I see that could happen are: she would have to have her brainwashing reversed, no other way around it. I see it 2 ways:
Her reconditioning breaks down little by little until she screws up and is betrayed by Talon. Then she escapes their ambush and joins with Overwatch to get revenge. Getting her revenge, she would get a pardon but wouldn’t stick around with Overwatch and would travel around the world to find herself or even fighting foes returning to HQ once in a while. The Sasuke Uchiha of Overwatch.
Widowmaker is defeated in battle (possibly by Ana or Pharah, to be poetic) and is captured by Overwatch, where she gets interrogated, learns the whole truth, spill the beans, gets deprogrammed and vows to get revenge on Talon. She would survive, gets pardoned and become a full Agent of Overwatch, to help continuing what her late husband had started.
Another factor who must be taken into account is how much she knows what really happened to her. I really think is very implausible, to say at least, she would be loyal to Talon if she had fully known it was responsible to her kidnaping and assassination of her late husband Gérard. Unless HE was still alive! Theory: Gerard faked his death to be a Talon's Mastermind - #5 by QuakMcCree-1976
The problem with either of these theories is that Overwatch isn’t just going to forgive and forget. Widowmaker killed a lot of people, including people important to members of Overwatch - they’re not going to trust her just because now she’s Talon’s enemy or she’s somehow reformed. I don’t see any plausible scenario where she gets a pardon - either she is locked up in prison forever for being a murderer, or she’s locked up and reconditioned into a functioning human (and ceases to be a sniper).
Most likely Reaper will have a tragic death, having a showdown with Soldier 76 to fight for his twisted Worldview and losing but most likely making amends before dying, similar to Frank Jeager (Gray Fox) or Obito Uchiha…