lj-writes:

It never sits right with me that Cassian is called a former Separatist. Cassian, as @attackfish pointed out, was born 26 BBY and was at most seven years old when the Clone Wars were over and the Separatists were officially defeated in 19 BBY.

I mean, child Cassian may have thrown rocks and bottles at the Republic military, maybe even tagged along with Separatists to give what help he could, but that alone does not make him an insurgent. It is factually, morally, militarily, legally, and humanly wrong to call a child a combatant when he was being a kid in a community under attack. That’s the kind of rhetoric that gets children murdered.

Flip the script, though. What if this was a story that Cassian spread about himself? What if he himself claimed to have been a Separatist and the story spread? What would he gain from telling such a lie or, at the very least, gross exaggeration?

Well, there’s an element of fear and respect, of course. Maybe his enemies would think twice before tangling with a battle-hardened insurgent. Maybe he wanted his comrades to take him seriously. Maybe he wanted to get into the Rebellion and forged his credentials. (”Oh hey, I used to kill Republic soldiers. Can I get in on this Alliance to Restore the Republic action?”)

You know what I think, though? I think he originally made up that story to lie about his age.

Imagine Cassian at fourteen or fifteen, with nothing more to lose and nothing left for him at home except ruins and grief. He wants to join the Rebels but they’re like, hey um, there’s a little problem. You’re underage, come back when you’re old enough to drink kthxbye

And Cassian, rubbing at a moustache that is totally not makeup and speaking in a falsetto baritone that is totally his natural speaking voice, tells them: HOW DARE U I’M NOT A KID I’M TWENTY-FIVE. I USED TO BE A DANGEROUS SEPARATIST AND I’VE KILLED CLONE TROOPERS FOR LESSER INSULTS IS THIS BECAUSE OF MY HEIGHT I’M SUING FOR EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

And the Rebel recruitment officer is like… okay…? It’s not like they can pull records to check anyway, even if the records from Separatist planets were all intact.

So young Cassian joins the Alliance, head held high, and the story spreads and becomes part of his mystique. Sure it might not match with some of his other biographical details and his close friends might know it’s bullshit, but the story was useful on multiple levels and he didn’t bother denying it when people asked.