Every time an episode of Andor: A Star Wars Story lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on episodes seven, eight and nine of season two, ‘Messenger’, ‘Who Are You?’ & ‘Welcome to the Rebellion’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Ross Hollebon
Rhetoric is the symphony of moving, gut-wrenching words delivered with fierce elegance by critical characters in both seasons of Andor. From Karis Nemik’s readings of his manifesto, to Luthen’s “What do I sacrifice? EVERYTHING!” monologue, to Maarva Andor’s posthumous call to anti-Imperial action, Season 1 kept adding sparks to the galactic kindling. And then, in Episode 9 of Season 2, Senior Senator Mon Mothma quietly enters the Senate chamber with drums of fuel and a blowtorch, bringing the house down on Coruscant while peeling back the curtain to reveal a hint of the Rebellion with her speech about Ghorman, condemning Emperor Palpatine.
It has become time to transition from insight to incite, based on the foresight of a select few who, like Luthen, admits in his epic Season 1 scene, “I burn my life, to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see.”
That bravery and pride can put some at risk, like the people of Ghorman singing their anthem while protesting Imperial occupation. It immediately made me think of the famous scene from Casablanca that Bryan Young goes into more detail about in his article, Andor Season 2’s Ghorman Rebellion Evokes A Pair Of Cinema Classics.
Evil born of rhetoric is propaganda—misleading and misinforming the masses for a specific purpose. That is what cost Ghorman the most and what is being amplified to villify the people of the planet, unjustly under siege and being written off with a false narrative to empower the nefarious.
For our quick hit reviews, I am boiling Episodes 7-9 (maybe unjustly as well) down to this: Words matter. What is said on or off the record is important to pay attention to, especially when actions begin to unfold. Luthen, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Saw Gerrera, and other “malcontents” recognize this and are preparing to battle it, each in their own unique way.
And strictly from a fan perspective. It was amazing to get K-2SO’s origin story and the metallic hug of Alan Tudyk’s robotic snark. Bring on the finale arc.
Daniel Lo
Earlier this year, a childhood friend of mine retired from a military career that spanned over a quarter of a century. He’s also a Star Wars fan, and in the past has pointed out some inaccuracies in certain Star Wars scenes. A couple of examples that come to mind are how the troopers weren’t flanking the rebels during the ground assault on Scarif, and that actual military bases wouldn’t have endless streams of people running around like in the reunion scene between Poe Dameron and Finn in The Force Awakens. Not necessarily stuff I would know or think about, having only ever been a civilian.
Well, it required zero military experience for me to know that stormtroopers probably shouldn’t be exchanging fire with the crowd while standing on a wide open flight of stairs during the Ghorman Massacre. Inconsequential gripe aside, the latest season of Andor really hit its stride in the third week. We are firmly in familiar territory now. The rebels have established a base on Yavin 4, Mon Mothma publicly denounced the Empire and Palpatine, Cassian Andor was forced to commit to the Rebellion, and we even saw the “birth” of K-2SO.
Speaking of KX-series security droids, we’ve seen another great example of how Andor offers a sobering glimpse into the true dangers of war. In the first season, we got a sense of just how terrifying a single TIE fighter can be. This time around, security droids were given the full Terminator treatment and portrayed as what they truly are: Soulless machines programmed to kill. There was no cartoon violence here; when Enza Rylanz was picked up by one and hurled across Palmo Plaza, she instantly died on impact.
I’m fairly confident that I’m not alone in saying that Syril Karn’s demise came as a bit of a shock. For so much of the show, he came across as naive if not well-meaning. By week two of the current season he was technically working as a double agent, but still retained a large degree of innocence about him. Suddenly, we saw him choking Dedra Meero in anger and then nearly dismantled Cassian in a fist fight before getting shot in the head. The escalation of his character development followed by such a jolting and unceremonious end really added to the realism. The show continued on while giving viewers no time to breathe, let alone mourn Syril’s passing. Back on Coruscant, Eedy Karn flipped from being borderline comic relief to a character we felt genuine sympathy for. Brutal.
What’s going on with Lonni Jung? Has he defected from Luthen Rael’s team? Beska was described as Jung’s agent, but no explanation or context was obvious to me beyond that. I don’t know if I’ve missed something, or if it was an intentional layer of mystery. The show is definitely good at the latter.
Clair Henry
There really aren’t words strong enough, wise enough or descriptive enough to adequately describe this weeks episodes of Andor. For the last three Wednesdays we’ve essentially been given a movie a week with a trio of episodes, all leading up to Rogue One. They’ve all been great, but this weeks chapter was simply superb.
Before I wrote this review I watched the episode of Rebels where Gold Squadron evacuated Mon Mothma (Star Wars Rebels Season 3, Secret Cargo). It’s a must for people to watch, because although the story arcs are slightly different, you can totally see where it’s heading, and it’s amazing. Watching ‘Messenger’, ‘Who Are You?’ and ‘Welcome to the Rebellion’ reminded me of classic World War II movies; the cinematography is sublime, as is the storytelling and acting. Every actor in the season so far have executed their roles to perfection.
Let’s start with Syril. He is clearly conflicted by what he’s doing, but when he dropped his weapon while pointing it at Cassian I thought this could’ve been a turning point. To then to see him killed was gutwrenching; the secrets he could have fed the Rebellion from what Dedra had told him would’ve been invaluable. Then again, if he had we may not have got the Star Wars we know and love because of it.
I recently watched Denise Gough describe the differences in upbringing between Syril and Dedra as one being indoctrinated and one not. However I do feel there’s a wavering in her, a sense of feeling trapped. I don’t believe she’s going to turn to the Rebellion, but you can see that it potentially could happen.
Cassian Andor is still the broken hero. You know he’s not going to die for the cause quite yet, but seeing the lead up to it is heartbreaking. He wants a simple life, but he knows in his heart of hearts that’s is not going to happen – nowhere in the galaxy will remain untouched while the Empire stands. This makes his story even more touching, knowing what he ultimsately sacrifices, and what people have sacrificed for him.
The presense of Mon Mothma in Andor reminds me of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, where the focus was very much on young Princess Leia. It’s fantastic to see the focus on her, what she does why she does it. It’s truly incredible to have picked up this story arc from that one scene in Return of the Jedi. Her importance shines through, no more so than in this latest trilogy of episodes. I’m curious though; what about her daughter Leida and her husband Perrin? Are they no longer a family unit? Are they now living separate lives? As a wife and a mother, these are huge sacrifices to make, but it shows her absolute dedication to the Rebellion.
The scenes depicting the Ghorman Massacre where brutal, for Star Wars or any other series. You felt the oppression, the defiance, the fight on both sides, so to have captured that was truly impressive. You felt the fear from the citizens who were caught up in the moment, and the passion of the Ghorman resistance. It was evocative of the French resistance of World War II, and as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe this week it feels very poignant.
Andor has brought to the fore in a modern context the fear and depression people must have felt during World War II, with nods to the French resistance, Nazism, dictators and ordinary citizens. This Wednesday for the final chapter I have pencilled in time to watch the last three episodes, Rogue One and A New Hope in a back-to-back marathon for no other reason than this is everything I love about Star Wars.
Tony Gilroy, I salute you, your cast and your crew.
Greg McLaughlin
So many standout moments from some of the most difficult and disturbing Star Wars to watch at times. We’ve seen the Death Star take out targets and whole planets from a distance, we’ve caught a glimpse of the purge of Mandalore, but we’ve yet to really see this kind of violence up close and personal, such as the Ghorman Massacre.
But yet, over these three arcs we did see scenes, such as Cassian’s interaction with a Force Healer (played brilliantly by Josie Walker) that reminded us that there still are amazing powers in this galaxy that almost cannot be explained. I thought it was one of the shining moments of the arc, that you’d be forgiven to not remember after the magnificent speech gave by Mon Mothma in the Senate Chamber.
In something that seemed to be a matchup of ‘Three Days of the Condor, and Escape from New York,’ Mon becomes the mission for Cassian as she now joins the Rebellion. Also I loved how this lined up with the season 3 episode of Rebels that carried the story to Yavin. I think even Dave Filoni would admit Mon’s speech here was better than its animated version.
Syril and Dedra. Such a complicated relationship that was forged in trauma and was destroyed with devote and ambition. Even at his end there was still some mystery about him. He may have gotten the easier out, as I believe the Emperor and the ISB will be looking for people to take the blame after this mess.
Speaking of fallout while we lost so many, there are plenty of pieces left on the table that I would think these last few episodes will put into place to get us to Rogue One. And the price I fear for some will only climb higher.
But to end on a positive note, twice in this arc we find there is something more about Cassian. First from the Force Healer, backed up by Bix, and then by an almost throwaway line from Andor about being lucky. No I don’t need him to fully come into the Force, such as Sabine from the Ahsoka series, but I do like the reiteration that Force sensitivity comes in many shapes and sizes. It almost begs the question ‘In our business, there’s no such thing as luck?’ Hmmm.
Johanna Lindén Nybelius
A lot of people will praise episodes 8 and 9 as some of the best Star Wars that has been produced. And it was glorious, the full width of the Ghorman massacre, as well as Syrils conflict within himself when he realizes that he is one of the bad guys. I will also say that what makes Andor so great is that in the end we had sympathy for his mother Eedy, one of the most unsympatethic characters in the series. That is great storytelling.
Then comes episode 9, and the speech I had been waiting for the whole season, but it’s not the speech itself that is the best moment. I loved seeing Mon Mothma’s nervousness and edgyness, she knows that after this there will be no going back. Benjamin Bratt played Bail Organa perfectly, I only wish we had had more of him, and his hints that he is not just building the Rebellion he has a deeper stake when it comes to resisting the Emperor.
Finally I will say that the design continues to be wonderful, and now we are starting to see the bridging between the prequels and Rogue One and the Original Trilogy. Everything is getting more boxy and square, we are leaving the beautiful soft lines of the prequels. This is just another proof on how good Andor is, not only using the script for storytelling but the design of the sets.
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in Andor: The Guide: Episode 7 ‘Messenger?’
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in Andor: The Guide: Episode 8 ‘Who Are You?’
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in Andor: The Guide: Episode 9 ‘Welcome to the Rebellion‘
Hear Mark Newbold and Mark Mulcaster discuss Chapter Three of season two on Making Tracks Reaction Chat: Andor: A Star Wars Story Episodes 19, 20 & 21.
