Luthen’s ship is all kinds of brilliant. Did I see what I thought I saw when they searched Luthen? I guess he trades in antiques are rare things, right. That explains it Luthen seems to have an abundance of competent and dedicated rebels who are willing to do his bidding or be sacrificed for the rebellion so could the importance of Andor and Luthen’s interest in him be about more than his abilities as a rebel? Perhaps Cassian Andor’s future significance might have come to him in a vision?
With a lot of stories like these where there are multiple separate plotlines running that need to converge at a conclusion, that convergence can often feel forced or awkward. Not here. Everything is slotting into place smoothly and with a satisfying "click." I feel like there's going to be a lot to ruminate on next week, so I don't have much of an analysis here. Spoiler It was nice to see the Narkinans (Dewi and Freedi Pamular, according to the credits) and get a glimpse at what the Empire's presence has done to them. The absence of aliens in this show has been notable and a fair point of criticism, but Gilroy's reasoning in a recent interview is honestly understandable. He wants to tell a human story and it's much easier to do that with, well, humans. His other reasoning was that he doesn't want to have non-humans in Star Wars if he can't actually take the time to explore the political and social dimensions of how aliens are treated in-universe, and he just didn't have that time to do it in this story. The little glimpses we get here with the Pamulars is a good reminder that the show is still concerned with that part of the universe, it just isn't the focus. Luthen's brief space battle was tense and a joy to watch (not to mention the last little bit of trailer scene finally covered - jumping into unseen territory for the finale), but I can't help wondering if he should have taken out the Arrestor instead of escaping. He's made a big deal about how recognizable his ship is (worried about Andor because "he's seen the Fondor"), and he certainly gave the Imperials a good look at it and its distinct weaponry. It would be a risk to draw that much heat to Segra-Milo (and to Saw), but presumably his escape is already going to do that. B2's scenes made me sad. I love that droid. Surprised that Maarva died offscreen, but I suppose it works - Cassian never got to say goodbye, so we don't, either. Also, "she'd be proud of me." -> "Your father would've been proud of you, Jyn." And with the scene parallels!! God this show is good. I do want to mention a bit of detail that I had noticed before but didn't really think about it until a podcast discussed it, but there's a strong and consistent theme throughout both Andor and Rogue One that links Cassian's character development to water. In the movie, his major character moment occurs in the rain on Eadu, and he dies sitting on the edge of the sea. Here, Cassian is chronologically first introduced beside a river, his altercation with the Morlana corpos occurs in the rain, the Aldhani raid takes place in a dam (though Cass doesn't go near the reservoir, and he doesn't change in this event; he's resisting the pull of joining the rebellion - he's holding back that inevitable force, much like the dam), Narkina 5 is both surrounded by water and Cassian's escape is precipitated by cutting the water lines, and finally, the closing scene of today's episode is directly evoking his aforementioned death scene: standing at the edge of an ocean at sunset. So with Cassian, we see that water itself is connected with major character decisions, while large bodies of water are connected with death (or perhaps births, in the case of the river). It doesn't mean all that much, I suppose, but it's so recurrent that it has to be intentional - and it's just neat to think about. Art is cool! It has me wanting to go back and see if anyone else in this show has subtle themes, elemental or otherwise. It's just his retractable walking stick/weapon/thing that we saw him have on Ferrix... not that it couldn't have other properties, of course. It is interesting that the show thinks we need to be reminded of its existence, though...
His hidden high tech rod-shaped device has other properties, such as........er..........I swear everyone has filthy one-track minds.......er I thought of that, oh dear. Look over there, nothing to see here.
...I think this has been the far far superior Star Wars Project released so far ('smiles' as it laughs in the face of Episodes VII-IX). Its, the best show on Disney+, but its not drawing in subscribers; be happy Disney pre-approved Andor for a second series.
Re. Luthen and kyber, I'd assume it's what he uses to power those lasers, much like the Empire with the Death Star. Jyn's dad had some Kyber necklace and he wasn't a Jedi/Sith. Maybe Luthen had some original involvement in early DS development.
I strongly disagree. I do think Star Wars makes Andor better, but even more than that, Andor makes Star Wars better. If benefits from the structure of the Rebellion versus the Empire, and the themes expand on those in Star Wars, it challenges them for the better, but it doesn't dispute them. It might be too good for Star Wars fans but it's not too good for Star Wars. Plus, why would anyone want another Firefly? I know a few weeks ago everyone was quoting an analysis that said no one was watching it, but that analyst said their numbers were wrong. I think it's safe to assume that it's underperforming against the other Star Wars shows on Plus, but that doesn't mean it's unsuccessful.
Another great episode. Really intrigued to see how the finale goes. Great space flight scene, great Saw scene, great to see Karn continue to squirm and squeal at how much he wants to be a better fascist. The ending was appropriately sad. I know it all too well what it’s like to look at a beautiful sky at sunset, thinking about how now a loved one is up there too.
There is one story element of this show that doesn’t seem to fit comfortably with being consistent with the events of A New Hope that happened at a similar time. Han Solo complained to Jabba the Hut about having to jettison his load of spice that he was trying to smuggle on Jabba’s behalf when he was being boarded by an imperial ship, to appear to be innocent and avoid punishments but if the Empire courts at the time were doing a zero tolerance approach to even suspected criminals, wouldn’t Han Solo and Chewbacca have likely found themselves with a lengthy prison sentence of forced labour from that situation? Perhaps Han Solo could have been lying to Jabba but it would have had to sound plausible as an excuse and there could have been some mitigating factors to explain this inconsistency away like Tattoine being in the middle of nowhere important on the outer-rim so maybe they was less inclined to bother to punish people there or Jabba the Hut as a taxpaying business owner and friend of the Empire maybe had an unofficial agreement with the Empire that any of his staff caught on the job get released in to his custody so that he can further exploit them claiming they are in even deeper in debt to him. Maybe it works very different with suspected terrorists and rebels rather than suspected financial criminals as the Empire clearly care a lot more about the motivation behind the crime of trying to go against the system rather than the severity of the crime and how many people were hurt or ripped off by the crime. I know this might sound like me being a bit too generous towards this show but plenty of real life fascistic governments who claim to be all in favour of law and order have worked very closely with crime organisations so long as they pay their taxes. In the Empire Strikes back the Empire wasn’t above using thugs and bounty hunters as allies should it be convenient for them to do so.
There are five years between the events of the show and the events of the original Star Wars movie. The zero tolerance crackdown occurs as part of this story, but we're still watching the consequences play out. It's premature to expect that ongoing events in this story are the status quo of another. I do enjoy when this show recontextualizes the OT stars. Spoiler Luthen's ship can fly and shoot with just one crew member? He took out those TIEs without trying, talk about an easy escape. The Millennium Falcon really is a piece of junk. Also Andor makes Luke look like the sheltered farm boy he is. Finally, some real heroes in Star Wars.
Disney is airing the first two episodes on cable TV and putting them on Hulu next week over Thanksgiving. The only reason they'd do this is because they believe Andor, more so than any of the other shows, is what will draw in new subscribers. That's a very good sign that the higher-ups are aware of the critical and audience buzz around this show, and probably a better sign that the whole "no one's watching Andor" thing was mostly bunk. @gregles - I hadn't thought of that but it's a good point. That said, a zero-tolerance crackdown on the scale of the PORD is simply unsustainable, and I think we'll see it wind down. Melshi's desire to expose what happened at Narkina 5 suggests that the general public don't actually know about how bad the prisons are and what kinds of atrocities the Empire is committing. We've already seen that there are senators who are uncomfortable with the PORD, but if it becomes public knowledge that the Empire is handing out life sentences for prison labor and mass-executing entire floors without justification, there's going to be a problem. Like AcademyofDrX said, we've still got five years till the Battle of Yavin. It's also worth noting that we've got three years until Mon Mothma is finally blacklisted by the Empire and forced to flee Coruscant (which I'm sure we'll see more of next season). We'll likely see the PORD repealed or scaled down at some point as a sort of pyrrhic victory that appeases the liberals in the Senate but really only buys the Empire more time to stave off open rebellion (which, again, will not be declared for another three years).
Fantastic episode. Not quite as thrilling as last week's, but still among my top favorites so far. Spoiler That space battle...while brief...is probably among my favorite Star Wars ship battles. Really innovative and clever, while still feeling like everything that happened could fit in Star Wars. Loved the tension and suspense as Luthen's weapons were charging up. Loved the design of that Imperial ship, it had a very retro-sci-fi feel (probably because it was inspired by early 1977 concept art). And it was a gorgeously shot sequence on top of everything else. I kind of wish that sequence was a bit longer, but I get this show probably has a tight budget.
This may be the best visual Star Wars product since the original trilogy. At this point Disney could add in , slowly of course, the characters with high merchandising value and i'd still think highly of this show. I'm going to have to think about this but is it the best sci fi show in the last 2 years?
Only recently had a chance to catch up on this show. It's incredible. I was never sure what a story about Andor pre-Rogue One could possibly entail, but it is by far the best Disney+ show. Every episode keeps me enthralled from start to finish. Cannot wait for what will no doubt be a fantastic finale.
The finale was a culmination of everything that the show has been so far with it being an imperfect and ambiguous world and story that is being served to us to ponder and consume. The cinematography and set design still continues to impress and the script had some wonderful flourishes without dipping into becoming too speech-heavy. The funeral was fascinating and contained an almost claustrophobic amount of tension that ominously rose until boiling point. One side had the tools of oppression like rules, weapons and bullies meanwhile the other side had the tools of freedom like music, culture, community and unchecked emotion, and both sides seemed to equally intimidate each other. What lit the fuse of violence itself, is open to debate as was it the speech itself or was it the act of denying that freedom of expression? The look on Luthen’s face throughout the events of this episode is continuing to fascinate and perplex me since I’ve finished watching the episode, as he seemed to appear almost ashamed of himself at times though that could be a misread of what the actor and director was trying to portray here. There is definitely enough unresolved ambiguity to Luthen’s character to make me want to see more. Roll on season 2 and whatever else this creative team later put their efforts and talents into.
Perfect season finale. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and had to stop myself from shouting and cheering on multiple occasions. I'm going to miss this show so much while it's gone, but it was an incredible ride. It breathed new life into Star Wars like nothing else has, and I know we're still going to be thinking and talking about it for a long time. Just... it's just so good. Also, to those who wouldn't think to look (which is, like, everyone) - there is a brief post-credits scene that answers one minor but thematically crucial question. I think that's absolutely a correct read. Remember what he told Saw? "I'm a coward." He knows this about himself and he hates it.
