The rebels got intelligence on the second death star from Bothan agents, but lately I have come across material suggesting that only part of the spynet aided the rebels (the Imperial Commander's Handbook, for one example)- where do the loyalties of the rest of the organaization lie?
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1Of note, the publisher has stated that despite the publishing date, the book is considered Legends canon.– phantom42Commented Sep 18, 2015 at 10:53
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2 Answers
Freelance in the sense that they were contracted by the Rebel Alliance to perform specific services, no, no more than the Mon Calamari were 'freelance' in providing star cruisers to the Rebel fleet.
The Rebel Alliance was just that:
a loose alliance of planetary, system, and sector-level insurrectionist factions.
Often there was no formal obligation between smaller organizations and the Alliance main, thus I don't find it surprising that the Bothan Spynet as a whole did not commit themselves fully. Even after the disastrous failure of Imperial leadership at Endor, there was still quite a lot of uncertainty as to who would emerge victorious, if at all, and I can understand why the Bothans chose to be scrupulous in their support.
That said, given the Emperor's inclination toward xenophobia and other unsavory policies, it makes a certain amount of sense for the Bothans to have become involved in bringing about the end of said Emperor's regime. Admittedly, the Imperial presence on Bothawui was minimal - no doubt as a measure of good will, or at least a move designed to not incur the opposite - but certainly total autonomy was preferable to anything less. The only way to completely ensure such a fate was to remove the Imperial presence locally while simultaneously preventing any means of retribution. Helping to fell the Empire would achieve both those aims.
Given the Bothan sacrifice as attested to by Mon Mothma - even if such sacrifice only represented one aspect of their entire covert organization - I think its fair to say that the Bothan Spynet was more loyal than disloyal, particularly after considering that no inherent obligation existed between the two groups.
The Bothan spynet's allegiance was to the Bothans; all other considerations were secondary.
Wookieepedia (emphasis mine)
the Spynet was one of the most comprehensive and thorough intelligence outfits in the galaxy, serving Bothan interests first and selling its services second.
answered Sep 18, 2015 at 11:05
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2Some examples of their lack of loyalty to anyone but themselves would go a long way here since the statement from Wookieepedia is unsourced. Commented Sep 18, 2015 at 12:25
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1Plus, that is the Legends article and this question isn't tagged Legends.– Null ♦Commented Sep 18, 2015 at 13:39
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1Wookiepedia isn't canon. is there a primary source backing up that assertion? Commented Sep 18, 2015 at 14:36
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Unfortunately in primary canon, there is no real insight into the motives of the Bothan spynet. We do know, however, that they have a high casualty rate.– user45549Commented Sep 18, 2015 at 19:28