You do know you can kill him if you wanted to, right? Or lock him down with your own squadrons? Or kill the other guy's ships before he can kill you? Or get more victory points at the end of the game?
Personally, I like flying Imperials with minimal or no squadrons but Rhymer is making me consider making a squadron-heavy build.
correct me if im wrong, but rhymer has heavy, which means you cant lock him down by engaging him. he isn't affected by that status.