One of the minor characters in The Rise of Skywalker that I noticed right away was Beaumont Kin, the Sith expert who commented on Palpatine’s return with the dread words, “Dark science. Cloning. Secrets only the Sith knew.”
This was, of course, Dominic Monaghan, who played the Hobbit Merry in The Lord of the Rings, and Charlie Pace in Lost, characters that I love. He’s instantly recognizable; and that usually means I can’t get into any new character an actor plays because I’m seeing their iconic roles instead.
But Beaumont Kin was a small enough role that I could get on board, and I wanted to know more about him. Most of what we know about him is from the comic Ghosts of Kashyyyk Parts 1-3. Kin takes part in a mission to free Kashyyyk from a First Order blockade (why does everyone pick on poor Kashyyyk? The Wookiee homeworld got stepped on during the Clone Wars, by the Empire, and by the First Order).
Anyway, we find out that Kin joined the Resistance after his parents told him he was “useless.” Before that, he was an historian, and was particularly interested in the early Republic era after the vanquishing of the Sith. He visited many ancient Jedi and Sith sites in his quest to learn more about them. This is how he was able to help Rey translate the ancient Jedi texts she’d taken from Ach-To.
He was fluent in nine languages, and was on track to become the youngest professor at Lerct Historical Institute. When Hosnian Prime was destroyed by the First Order he abandoned education and became a captain in the Intelligence Division of the Resistance.
Kin, as seen in The Rise of Skywalker, took part in the battle of Exegol in the ground assault on the Star Destroyer Steadfast.
Monaghan got the role of Beaumont Kin in a rather unorthodox way: he won a bet against J.J. Abrams on the FIFA World Cup. So Abrams wrote the part of Kin with Monaghan in mind.
I just love that Monaghan was in three of my favorite stories: LOTR, Star Wars, and Lost (I don’t care how it ended, I love it, lol).
Star Wars and Other Obsessions 
Hi Tina, I usually have the same problem of seeing an actor/actress as their “iconic” or earliest roles and unfortunately when I see Dominic Monaghan I am always reminded of “Hetty Wainthropp Investigates”. Hetty Wainthropp was a UK television drama that followed a senior lady that solved local crimes a la Miss Marple style. I imagine Beaumont Kin might have picked up some investigative skills from Geoffrey, Hetty’s sidekick (Dominic’s role).
I just about managed to disassociate him from Hetty in this film though which was good. I’ll have to read up on the Kashyyyk blockade, I hadn’t heard about that till now.
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Yeah, me neither. I feel like I miss a lot of info from the comics, but I just can’t keep up on all of them, lol. So I just try to read reviews when I can.
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Yes I have that problem, due to my circumstances I can’t afford all the novels and comics or streaming services to keep current. Thankfully good people like yourself help by posting reviews to fill in any gaps I may have, however I have managed to see both episodes of The Bad Batch which has been very good so far.
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We’ll all try to help each other keep up, lol. It’s getting almost ridiculous with the amount of content coming out lately, and there’s only going to be more in the future. I’m not one to complain about too much Star Wars (heaven forfend!) but it’s impossible to watch or read everything. You have to pick and choose, sometimes. Yes, the Bad Batch is turning out quite good.
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I loved Lost! I even loved the ending I always feel so alone saying that 🙂
Always nice to see Monaghan anywhere!
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I liked the ending, too! At least, I didn’t hate it. I think people are unreasonably hateful about it, lol.
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