#if cassian wouldn't have been pushed I'm sure he would have helped Kino get to shore

[missunsympathetic]

like, hear me out. If no one helped Kino escape then he would still be there. And the ISB will be majorly interested in this prison break.

And since he and Cassian left the two people from the command center alive, they can also identify Kino as one of the leaders of the revolt. So the ISB is gonna interrogate him and it won't be pretty.

And after that? Well, it's the empire. They take pleasure in sadism and figuring out how they can ruin a person's life the most. So they won't just kill Kino. No, they will just transfer him to a different prison, give him 30 years or something as a sentence, the time doesn't really matter. The point is, they want to make clear that he will never ever have the chance to get out again. That he will die a prisoner.

Sorry but I'm just so emotionally affected by this because I loved Kino's arc, how he overcame his incredible fear and led the men to freedom, knowing he won't have a part of it. One of the bravest characters and one of the best arcs in the show