Well, friends, we’ve made it. Andor has wrapped up its first season with a flourish. Let’s not waste any more time and get into it.
1. Attachments
Whenever we spend time with the Jedi in Star Wars, a certain word pops up as something to avoid: attachment. This is why Anakin fell to the Dark Side, this is why Luke abandoned his training, this is why Grogu returns to Mando. It is hammered into us that attachments are bad. And yet, Cassian, despite being a cold and violent person tat times, values his attachments quite seriously. It was noted last week how, after escaping, he couldn’t move forward without doubling back, not just for his credits and Nemik’s manifesto, but all the way back to Ferrix. Cassian, despite knowing that he needs to get far, far away, can’t help but do what he needs to for the people in his life.
This episode sees that taken to the extreme. His mother is dead, but he can’t stay away. Bix is captive, but he can’t stay away. He gets Brasso, B2, and Bix to safety, but that’s not enough, he can’t stay away. The fight has now become personal for him, and he needs to attend to it the way he attends to those he cares about.
2. Resistance leader from beyond
Maarva’s funeral was an amazing scene from just about any way you slice it, but I want to talk about Maarva’s role in her own funeral for a moment. Star Wars loves to have messages played off of droids, and they love to have the dead speak as Force Ghosts, and Maarva’s speech was a sort of combination of both. Her visual certainly looked Force Ghost-ish, and her ability to communicate with others and inspire them certainly felt a little otherworldly, even if it is clear how that is happening. Much like Leia sent Obi-Wan and Luke into the fight in A New Hope, Maarva is calling Brasso, B2, and all her mourners to action against the Empire.
There is a lot to be speculated upon with just how successful this riot actually was, as the Empire has infinitely more resources than the citizens of Ferrix do, and while Brasso and co. got away, a lot of the ‘regular’ citizens who were radicalized will wind up paying the price for this for the rest of their lives. But this whole show is about sparks that will eventually catch into a roaring fire of rebellion, and Maarva truly stoked the kindling with her speech.
There’s a particular moment in this that I want to single out as well; Dedra is not taken out by a blaster shot, or from the punch of a particularly strong Ferrix native. She’s knocked to the ground by a well-aimed rock. She is an avatar for the Empire: a Goliath that is slain by an unassuming source with a primitive weapon. This is a little heavy handed, but it is reinforcing the idea that we know is coming: the monster will fall, and it won’t fall because they have a weapon as powerful as the Death Star; it will fall because of the people believing in it so strongly that they’ll do anything to take it down, even if it means risking their lives.
3. Dedra and Syril, sitting in a tree. S-E-E-T-H-I-N-G
When Syril saves Dedra from the crowd, she gives the viewer a tour of her emotions on her silent face: disbelief, confusion, revulsion, fear, paranoia, thankfulness, and more confusion. There’s been some debate as to whether Syril is in love with Dedra, or simply wants to be her. I’d argue that those ideas are not as far apart as they may seem, but her look tells you that she is absolutely, 100% not into him in that way at all. She can barely stomach the presence of a man who just saved her life; he’s barking up the wrong tree.
That said, it wouldn’t surprise me if she recognizes his tenacity and brings him into her inner circle and exploited his work ethic and dedication. But she, without a word, makes it very clear that she sees him as nothing more than a useful tool. He’s not a person to her; as a matter of fact, is anyone? If she is the avatar of the Empire, than it makes total sense to have her stripped of all humanity. She has no use for humans anymore; the Empire is all that matters.
Continued below4. Mon Mothma, 4D chess champion
Mon Mothma knows that she’s being watched, and she knows that scrutiny is going to come down both on her financial dealings and her attempt to marry off her daughter to a disreputable gangster. How does she sidestep this? She uses the observation of her driver to accuse her husband of gambling “again.” She’s taking a clear flaw in his past and magnifying it for the present. This will allow her spies to connect him to all of the shady things that she has been doing. He’s too dense to see what she’s doing, and so he’s denying it in a way that, to an outsider, looks like he’s attempting to cover his ass. But he’s actually telling the truth.
This solves almost all of Mon’s problems. I say almost because she has still pushed her daughter into the same system that has led to her own unhappy marriage, and given up on the idea of liberating her daughter into a better life than the one she has led thus far. But, as Cinta tells Vel, the movement gets the bulk of our attention, and we deal with what is left. For the good of the galaxy, Mon Mothma has sacrificed her daughter’s agency. Star Wars is no stranger to Christ parallels, but none have been as nuanced and well handled as this one.
5. Where we go from here
So now we know that Cassian, while on Narkina 5, was literally building pieces of the machine that will eventually kill him. We presume his friends got away. Dedra hasn’t found Axis nor Cassian, but she has found Syril again. Luthen is taking Cassian fully into his fold. Cinta and Vel will likely have to live with that decision, even if they don’t like it. Mon Mothma has secured financing for the Rebellion and gave a little bit of her soul away. The Rebellion is starting to coalesce. And we’ve got at least the better part of a year to wait to see how this all plays out.
Except that we already know how this shakes out in the broad strokes. Mon is successful in funding the Rebellion, but isn’t successful as a senator. We don’t know if Luthen makes it to the battle of Yavin IV, but we know that he and Cassian have done truly important things in the name of freedom. The Rebellion succeeds, at least for awhile, until the First Order shows up. But the path to that, though clear, is not uninteresting. In fact, Andor has made a more compelling case for looking back at the past of Star Wars than most of the books, shows, and films set before A New Hope has. It is an upper echelon Star Wars series, and I can’t wait for season two.
Thanks for reading!
