Michael Suarez
The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Andor and Star Wars more generally
It amazes me that anyone ever questioned the necessity for this show’s existence, but I don’t mind being right every now and then. When Andor was announced many years ago, I was excited. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is one of my favorite Star Wars things, period, and being able to get a closer look at the Rebellion through the point of view of one of the film’s characters was very appealing to me.
Now that it’s all said and done, Andor is one of the most acclaimed series of the decade, and it enriches the universe from which it came. Yes, this is a television series that takes place in the heart of the Star Wars universe. It is, however, a show that regularly transcends both its place in Star Wars and the medium itself. Showrunner Tony Gilroy and everyone involved, both in front and behind the camera, deserve massive praise for what they have achieved.
There’s so much to say about the final three episodes, let alone the second season as a whole. Still, after spending some time thinking about the end of the series, as well as re-watching Rogue One immediately after, a few things stand out to me. In my previous article about the opening three-episode arc of Season 2, I talked about how one of the show’s themes concerned the idea of structures, whether in the Rebel Alliance or the Empire. That idea did not go away as the season progressed. If anything, what happened in Season 2 developed it.
The show’s eponymous protagonist, Cassian Andor, is a man who slowly learns to give himself not simply to others in his line of sight but to the galaxy as a whole. The end of Episode 9 has Bix Caleen leave Cassian because she believes he’s destined for bigger things. She’s, of course, not wrong, given what we know from Rogue One. However, the idea of selfishness is important to consider.
Though certainly loyal and compassionate, Cassian wants out of the Rebellion to live a life with Bix, away from all the fighting. Given the things he’s seen and done, I don’t blame him one bit, but I also see where Bix is coming from. There is a sense that walking away from the Rebellion, when he is able to do so much for so many people, is a bad thing. Ignore that Rogue One exists for a moment. Within the context of the series, it makes sense that Bix chooses to leave Cassian so that he can continue to do what he has successfully done for years: save people. Walking away from the Rebellion would no doubt ensure that people would come to harm or die without Cassian’s presence.
Could someone else fill the space? Sure, but I don’t believe they would be as effective as Cassian. I agree with the Force Healer in Episode 7. He’s meant to be there because he’s going to do something important. I ultimately agree with Bix. He would put her first, always, and as such, people could get hurt or worse as a result. It’s heartbreaking, but not as heartbreaking as the show’s final moments in Episode 12, where we find Bix on Mina-Rau, last seen in Episode 3, walking through a field of wheat with her and Cassian’s child.
We know Cassian will die on Scarif in Rogue One, but we also now know that he has a child. That child is a symbol of what he will die fighting for. His child will grow up in a world without the Empire. And while I know that later works in the Star Wars universe show that what the Empire represents doesn’t go away, I know it will be a better world. It’s the way of life. Even when good triumphs over evil, there’s no promise that evil will simply vanish from the galaxy. It will always be there, but make no mistake, a galaxy without the Empire is the galaxy I would want for my child.
What of the rest of the show’s main players? Well, as the season progresses, so do the losses, though I’m surprised at how few there were. Don’t get me wrong; I’m elated that Vel, Wilmon, and Kleya live to fight another day. I love that Vel and Mon Mothma end the series together, or that Kleya might actually let someone like Vel in. The first three-episode arc showed these two at odds, in the sense that Kleya didn’t care for Vel’s attitude regarding Luthen’s decisions. Now that Luthen is gone, I love that these two will probably end up in a friendship of some kind. It’s what I choose to believe.
Luthen, meanwhile, gets the respect he deserves. He did some really reprehensible things throughout the series, but Kleya and Cassian are correct in defending him. Kleya’s family is dead because of Luthen, and yet she stayed with him and even grew to love him. Cassian was made to do some dark and dangerous things, with the idea that Luthen only cared about results at the forefront of his mind. Perhaps that was true. Or, maybe, Luthen always saw the bigger picture, and sometimes that means taking one for the team. He knew how the world would see him, but he also knew that what he did would serve the galaxy in a positive way.
It turns out that was true. Luthen’s inside man, Lonni Jung, is the one who tells Luthen about the Death Star. Luthen, in turn, tells Kleya, who tells Cassian, who tells the leaders of the Rebellion. It’s not until the Rogue One squadron leaves for Scarif at the end of Rogue One that enough people put their faith in the fact that the Death Star exists. We know what happens. Cassian and company die getting the plans to the Death Star into the rebel fleet, which takes us to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and the destruction of the Death Star.
Without Luthen, there is no Lonni or Kleya or Cassian in the Rebellion. I’m assuming there’s no Vel, either, or Cinta or Bix. Remove him from the story, and the Empire probably never falls. Probably. I suppose the Force would figure out a way to balance things one way or another. Still, it’s amazing to think how many people it takes for history to change. We know of the leaders in a war like World War II, as well as the sheer number of lives lost in the war. Still, most of us never consider the details. Who begins revolutions? Does time remember them? Should it have to?
Luthen will be remembered, but will children learn about him in history class? Or will they be taught about the leaders, like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa? Will people like Leia and Luke trump their importance? I don’t know. What I like to think is this: Luthen wouldn’t care. He devoted his life to the end of the Empire, and even though he never got to see it, his actions ended in that result. What a gift he gave the galaxy.
And what of the Empire? All main antagonists suffer or die by the series’ end. Plus, we know Krennic meets his end in Rogue One, thankfully, and that the Empire does fall. Still, I cannot hide the pleasure I felt in seeing Dedra in that cell at the end of the last episode, in tears. Sure, the Ghorman Massacre and Syril’s death a few episodes before seemed to shake her resolve, but ultimately, she was a rotten human being, and knowing she was an unwilling (and unknowing) cog in the Rebellion is some great irony.
After all, if she hadn’t taken it upon herself to seek out Luthen, she wouldn’t have uncovered information pertaining to the Death Star, which wouldn’t have made it to Luthen, and so on and so forth. She helped the very cause she claimed to despise, and her reward was most likely dying in that prison. Pardon me, but I have no tolerance for fascists, and Dedra met a fitting end.
As the final episode closed, we were given a beautiful montage of all the remaining main players. I was satisfied. I also found it a masterstroke that the last episode served as a series finale to the characters we don’t see again and a perfect set-up for the characters we do see in Rogue One. The decision to watch the film immediately after Episode 12 was so rewarding. It felt like the next episode of the show, albeit with a few new characters. I loved it.
It’s hard to write something meaningful about a story so rich and full of characters and ideas. Andor has inspired so much analysis and will continue to do so for the long haul. I could write thousands of words on its political subtext and how it both complements and deconstructs the politics of both the prequels and the original films. And I could spend time on the various relationships in the show, without ever once bringing up politics. Then, there are interesting characters like Luthen and Kleya, who, although given a backstory in Episode 10, warrant further discussion. There’s just so much. Yet, here I am, doing my best to juggle the avalanche of thoughts in my mind. As I said, Rogue One is one of my favorite Star Wars films, and now, Andor is probably my favorite thing to come out of Disney+, which is saying a lot.
I cannot think of another show like Andor, even when the remake of Battlestar Galactica comes to mind. The latter was a thought-provoking series of a different kind, though both shows certainly use politics as a major theme. Andor is about regular people occasionally doing extraordinary things in extraordinary times. I wonder how I’d make out in this galaxy. Do I have it in me to be anyone in the Rebellion? According to the show, of course, I do.
Because here’s the thing: anyone can be a part of the Rebellion. One simply needs to heart to care and courage to not only fight but also walk away. We needn’t all be Cassian or Luthen or Kleya or Vel or Mon Mothma or Wilmon or even Saw Gerrara. Some of us can be Bix. It’s fitting that the show ends with Bix and her and Cassian’s child. The Rebellion isn’t about the fighting; it’s about the winning. Winning what? A future. Cassian and Bix’s child is that future. It turns out that Andor is ultimately about hope, and remember:
“Rebellions are built on hope.”
