Unlike the prior ‘first’ pieces of the arcs, Andor‘s “Announcement” feels like a self-contained story and, frankly, a damn good one.
1. The spark that’ll light the fire that’ll burn the Empire down
This episode does a lot of work to show the ripple effect of the heist on Aldhani on both sides of the aisle. We’ll discuss the Imperial side in a bit, but for anyone who isn’t an Imp, it appears that this was the moment that people recognized that the Rebellion may actually become something. It inspires Maarva to stop running from her fear and commit herself to doing the work. It forces Mon Mothma to speed up her plans. It makes Luthen’s team go to extreme measures to protect itself.
I am an unapologetic The Last Jedi stan, and this very much feels like the Luke Skywalker moment at the end of that film. We see kids emulating that moment while playing, and this seems like another ‘bedtime story’ (to quote another Lucasfilm property I love) that will serve as a rallying cry for future generations of believers. The Empire is vulnerable if you work hard, risk your life, and plan well enough. And, as Skeen said, you have to get lucky. We saw what happened to his luck, though.
2. Dedra’s success
While the heist has thrown the Empire into upheaval, it has provided Dedra with the opening she needs to prove herself. The emergency atmosphere has allowed Dedra’s ambition to cease being cause for alarm and, instead, seen as an example of the times making the (wo)man. The same actions, a week ago, would’ve gotten her demoted or, at least, slapped on the wrist. But now, she is able to thrive, due to the heightened sense of urgency.
This is, of course, the other side of Syril’s coin. If Cassian somehow had killed those two workers after the heist, his actions and single-mindedness on tracking down Cassian would’ve been seen as prudent and necessarily. Both are made examples for their actions, but in very different ways. I’m not sure how these two will meet up, but they must.
3. Poor Syril
The big, climactic scene in Jarhead sees an assassination that is called off at the last minute in favor of a carpet-bombing. The end result is, essentially, the same for the snipers: the target gets killed. But the finesse, the execution, the purpose of their mission is all tossed aside and Peter Sarsgaard’s character can’t deal with the frustration of not being able to do the thing that you’re meant to do. That was what kept echoing through my head when Syril was speaking with the supervisor at the job interview. He mentions his prior employment, and Syril goes through this heartfelt explanation of what happened and how he will fight to expunge his record.
We now see that this is why he hated Cassian so much; he’s a true believer through and through. When he was staring at the wreckage from the botched mission, he wasn’t reconsidering his life choices. He was unable to believe that he failed, that the process failed, that the ‘right’ thing didn’t happen.
And as he’s recounting his plan to clear his name, the supervisor basically says “Let me do that,” and does so. He doesn’t clear his name because Syril was correct; he doesn’t stand up for the procedure and the system to work. He does so because Syril is someone’s nephew, and that someone is important and can’t be trifled with. Syril’s name is cleared to make things easy, not because an injustice was done.
And so, where does that leave him? He’s now in a job he doesn’t want, doing work he doesn’t believe in, and the one thing that was driving him – clearing his name in order to find Cassian – is gone. He, like Sarsgaard in Jarhead, has had his balls taken from him. The end result – being cleared – is the same, but all satisfaction is gone. He is more stuck than ever, though at least he has the collar he likes on his suit.
4. Niamos Vice
Everyone online is, rightly, calling out the Miami Vice vibes of Niamos. I have nothing new to say about that part of the Niamos story, but felt I needed to acknowledge it.
Continued belowWhat is worth discussing, however, is Cassian Clem Keef’s arrest. This, again, connects Syril and Cassian. If the Empire wasn’t on high alert due to the Aldhani heist, Keef could’ve been walking to that store with no issue. If the standards hadn’t been changed by something he himself did, he would’ve been imprisoned for six months instead of six years, if at all. Both men are being punished for living in the times they find themselves.
Cassian was already losing Bix and his mother because of the way things ended on Ferrix, and now he’s losing everything. His quest for his sister, which Maarva told him to abandon, a quest for reunion and a (minor) victory for justice, set all of this in motion. If Cassian hadn’t walked into that brothel, he wouldn’t have fled, the Aldhani heist would likely have failed, and literally everything would be different.
5. The Mothma of it all
The best part of this episode is the long sequence between Mon Mothma and Tay, her friend from Chandrila. It is one of the best written scenes from this or any Star Wars show. The way that Mon and Tay are revealing just enough at any moment shows a lot of restraint in both the writing and acting. Both Genevieve O’Reilly and Ben Miles play their parts absolutely perfectly here, and the nuance they bring to the conversation felt far more like something from a prestige TV series than from a space opera. I wish I had more original thoughts on this scene, but it is something better seen than analyzed. It is all there on the screen.
Stray Observations
I need to do a few quick hits, because there’s just too much in this episode.
– Apparently the ‘shave and a haircut’ knocking style originated in a galaxy far, far away.
– I liked seeing the KX droids, clearly foreshadowing K2SO’s eventual arrival.
– Wulf Yularen alert!
– I think this may be the last we see of Maarva or Bix, but I’ve thought that before. I hope not; Bix, in particular, is a very compelling character.
– Keef being in prison may be what saves Cassian’s life from Vel.