You may have caught space monkey and Rebel Alliance freedom fighter Bistan taking down an AT-ACT during the Battle of Scarif during Rogue One before ostensibly meeting his fate after his U-wing gunner ship was shot down in the melee. It was an ignominious end to such a weird and interesting character that didn’t get nearly as much screen-time he deserved, but apparently anyone sad at Bistan’s end shouldn’t be so cut up. That dude put in his dues for the Rebels for at least half a year.
In an Instagram photo sent out on the official Star Wars page, a “Did You Know?” graphic says that Bistan had only been a rebel fighter for six months. No big whoop we guess for such a relative newcomer to the big fight against the Empire before making the ultimate sacrifice.
It makes you wonder what it must be like fighting for the Rebels and putting your life on the line without really being behind the cause for all that long. A character like Cassian Andor has been doing it all his life — “I’ve been fighting for the Rebellion since I was six years old!” he yells at Jyn in Rogue One — but who else really put in the effort?
Jyn Erso reluctantly joined up just because her dad inadvertently forced her into allying with the Rebels, and she turned out to be one of the saga’s noblest heroines.
It’s easy to forget that Star Wars is full of young hotshot upstarts that come in and take all the glory for themselves. Luke was a Rebel for something like 45 minutes before he just jumped into an X-wing and blew up the Death Star. That dude tried way too hard and still does.
Alas, six months just wasn’t enough for our beloved space monkey Bistan to make a real impact. Here’s hoping he gets his own comic book or novel spinoff to fill in the monkey-shaped gaps in his rebellious story.
