Tony Gilroy delivers probably the most unforgettable season finales in tv historical past.
The ultimate episode of Andor Season 1 is lastly upon us, and Tony Gilroy delivers one of many most interesting season finales in tv historical past. Throughout the 12 episodes main as much as this jaw-dropping conclusion, followers of the collection (yours actually, included) have hailed Andor as the very best challenge that Star Wars has delivered for the reason that Nineteen Eighties and the very best collection on tv this yr, and Episode 12 proves that this collection has lived as much as each little bit of the hype. With the demise of his mom (Fiona Shaw) weighing on his spirit and the fires of revolt burning in his spirit, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) makes his return to Ferrix for her funeral, and when he arrives he discovers that he’s not the one resident that has been caught within the flames of slow-burning dissidence.
Episode 12 opens quietly on the Repaak Salyard on Ferrix, the place Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) is studiously constructing one thing. It solely takes a couple of moments to understand that he isn’t repairing a busted flux converter or a defective comm—he’s constructing an explosive. With a hologram of his late father Salman (Abhin Galeya) watching him work, there’s no query that he’s planning to show Maarva’s funeral into direct motion towards the Empire who made an instance of his father. With Wilmon, Gilroy builds an fascinating parallel to Cassian’s personal childhood. Earlier within the season, we realized that Clem Andor (Gary Beadle) was additionally hung by the Empire in a show of energy over the neighborhood. However Cassian didn’t construct a bomb and attempt to blow something up; as an alternative, he got here unmoored and distanced himself from true, rebellious exercise. Not solely does this present an alternate path that Cassian might have taken himself, nevertheless it exhibits that there isn’t any longer any room for complacency from anybody whom the Empire is trying to oppress. This turns into the underlying thesis of the finale, as Ferrix turns into the crossroads for revolt.
Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) returns to Ferrix, in anticipation of Cassian Andor’s arrival, and he or she’s so assured that that is going to be a defining second in her profession. Shortly after her arrival, she and Corv (Nouf Ousellam) go undercover to get a really feel for what’s occurring on the streets of Ferrix, and they’re solely unaware of the truth that Cinta (Varada Sethu) is trailing them — or no less than it seems that they’re unaware for the second. The revolt isn’t the one celebration that has eyes and ears lurking within the streets, on the lookout for information or rumors about Cassian Andor. Elsewhere, Xan (Zubin Varla) relays to Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) that he’s made contact with Cassian, and from the shadows, Nurchi (Raymond Anum) plots how he’s going to get extra info out of Xan. Seizing on the chance to relay info again to the Empire, and maybe enhance his personal scenario, Nurchi lures Xan right into a false sense of safety throughout post-work drinks and pries details about Cassian’s impending arrival out of him. It’s not a lot, nevertheless it’s sufficient to win the favor of the Imperial officers lurking within the streets.
On Coruscant, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) waits outdoors a social gathering for Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie) to complete shmoozing with the opposite visitors, and from the second the digicam settles on her, it’s evident that there’s extra to this night out than essentially meets the attention. They commerce snipes at one another when he lastly deigns to extract himself from the festivities, and Mon is fast to ask their driver to offer them somewhat privateness. It’s already been established that her driver is a spy of the Empire, and it’s not stunning when he doesn’t yield to her request. As a substitute, the motive force listens—with nice curiosity—as Mon accuses Perrin of playing once more. He’s fast to defend himself, accusing the declare to be planted by one in every of her detractors within the Senate, however Mon stays agency in her perception that he’s been squandering their cash and mendacity about it. After final week’s dire dialog between Mon and Vel (Faye Marsay), it’s straightforward to piece collectively the truth that Mon is laying the groundwork to pin the blame for his or her monetary scenario on her husband. Certainly the Empire would reasonably consider that the embattled Senator, in a loveless marriage, is coping with a playing husband than suspect she could be silly sufficient to fund the revolt from her personal coffers.
Cassian makes his reckless return to Ferrix and it isn’t clear what his plan is, no less than not at first. Aboard the ship that he scored on Narkina 5, he listens to Nemik’s (Alex Lawther) manifesto and displays on his childhood. It’s a brief, dreamlike recollection of a second he shared with Clem whereby his adoptive father is speaking about rust and making repairs to gear, reasonably than changing them with one thing new. Regardless of the circumstances of how Clem and Maarva got here into Cassian’s life, it’s clear that he was cherished and well-cared for by them. Each second and reminiscence that Andor has proven between the three has showcased a uncommon dynamic throughout the Star Wars universe, the place households are sometimes proven as messy, damaged, and complicated. If Cassian arrived on his homeworld with a plan in thoughts, all of it modifications the second he runs into Pegla (Kieran O’Brien) at his mom’s dwelling and learns about what the Empire has executed to Bix (Adria Arjona) throughout his absence. Maarva could be lifeless, however Bix remains to be alive, and he rapidly devises a plan to rescue her earlier than he loses one other individual he cares about.
Cassian isn’t the one individual to return to Ferrix; Vel and Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) have additionally arrived in hopes of taking out the ultimate unfastened thread from the Aldhani mission. Vel’s arrival is a bit more fraught with emotion than Luthen’s, contemplating Cinta didn’t decide her up on the shipyard as a result of she was too busy trailing Dedra and Corv. After all, Vel acknowledges that getting info for the revolt is extra vital, however that doesn’t change the truth that she’s clearly upset about being left to search out her personal solution to their hideout.
As anticipated, Mon Mothma’s driver takes the data he realized about her monetary scenario on to the ISB, and Blevin (Ben Bailey Smith) is definitely satisfied that Perrin is chargeable for her questionable banking choices. Whereas Dedra is listening to the plans that the Daughter of Ferrix have requested for Maarva’s funeral, Blevin and the remainder of the ISB are buzzing with pleasure that they get to execute Anto Kreegyr. Dedra is furious that her superiors dispatched Kreegyr for present reasonably than utilizing him to get extra details about the revolt, and he or she rapidly reminds her officers on Ferrix that she needs Cassian Andor taken into custody alive. And whereas the Empire is maintaining their eyes out for any signal of the galaxy’s most needed man, Pegla has efficiently hidden him away someplace protected so he can devise a plan to get Bix out of the resort that the Imperial officers have became their headquarters.
When Brasso and Cassian lastly reunite, Cassian unleashes all of his regrets about how his final interplay with Maarva went. He regrets preventing together with her, and he regrets not making her include him to Niamos, however like the nice good friend that he’s, Brasso steadies Cassian and tries to assist him see previous the grief. He even shares, that in her ultimate hours, Maarva spoke about Cassian and her love for him, and her perception that “he’s simply the primary spark of the hearth.” Whereas Maarva had no concept that Cassian was chargeable for the heist on Aldhani, which reignited her want to push again towards the Empire, she knew what Cassian was fabricated from. Even in her demise, she believed that he was able to carrying out nice issues, and that serves as the ultimate push for him.
Cassian has so much stacked towards him on Ferrix. Not solely does he need to keep away from being caught by Dedra and her lackeys, found by friends-turned-narks, or taken out by Luthen and Vel’s lethal plans, however he additionally has Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) arriving to search out him. As final week’s episode indicated, Syril took his mom’s credit and stole into the night time together with his Pre-Mor buddy Sergeant Linus Mosk (Alex Ferns) to redeem their names after the blunder that transpired the final time they have been on Ferrix. It’s laughable, actually, that Syril is so hellbent on monitoring down a person that doubtless doesn’t even bear in mind what he appears to be like like. However Luthen undoubtedly remembers that Syril Karn is the person that Cassian foolishly spared after they have been attempting to battle their approach off of Ferrix.
Because the marching band begins tuning their devices and the Time Grappler (Neil Bell) takes his place atop the bell tower on Rix Street, tensions start to mount all through the town. Relatively than staying amidst the rising crowds on the road, Cassian Andor takes to the higher ranges of Ferrix. Rescuing Bix isn’t one thing that Dedra has factored into her plans for the funeral—she appears to be anticipating that he’ll be within the crowds, or that he’ll make a dramatic look to position his mom’s brick within the wall. It appears she’s underestimated that she’s made Cassian out to be somebody that he isn’t—no less than not but. He isn’t a harmful revolutionary or a selfless martyr; there are nonetheless folks he cares about.
In a show that harkens again to Cassian’s assertion that energy doesn’t concern, the Imperial troops are frightened of the dimensions of the gang that has turned out for Maarva’s funeral. They’re virtually shaking of their boots on the mere sight of a mediocre marching band, and able to don riot gear because the Daughters of Ferrix start flooding the streets. Nevertheless it’s Maarva’s self-eulogy that offers flight to actual concern. Maarva knew that she was dying, and he or she knew that, whereas she wasn’t in a position to lend bodily energy to the revolt, she might lend her spirit and sense of obligation in demise. As Brasso and B2EMO make their solution to the top of the funeral procession, Cassian mounts his rescue try whereas the Empire is in any other case occupied with their fears.
When the Empire took over the resort as their headquarters in Ferrix, they didn’t take away everybody who was working for the institution, which inadvertently helps Cassian’s rescue mission. As soon as he makes his approach inside, he runs right into a cook dinner within the kitchen who he is aware of, and who’s greater than prepared to inform him the place Bix is being held. Ferrix has a robust sense of neighborhood, one thing that Gilroy has showcased all through Andor, nevertheless it’s small moments like this that actually underscore simply how a lot these folks look after each other. The cook dinner had the chance to be a turncoat like Nurchi, however as an alternative, he provides Cassian the data he wants to save lots of one in every of their very own. Regardless of how small-world Star Wars has been prior to now, we’ve by no means actually seen a way of neighborhood as sturdy because the one on show in Ferrix.
When Cassian lastly makes his approach into the room the place they’ve been holding Bix, he isn’t in any respect ready for what he’s greeted with. Weary and damaged, Bix is clinging to the bars on the window, attempting her greatest to be a part of Maarva’s funeral. She’s not solely shocked to see Cassian standing there as a result of she claims he’s visited her in her desires. Cassian is horrified—he’s seen the horrors of life in jail on Narkina 5, however Bix’s transformation is a heart-wrenching instance of what the Empire is prepared to do to individuals who resist them. Within the first handful of episodes, Bix was proven as a vibrant, assured, and resilient lady, however now she’s been damaged and Cassian should acknowledge that it’s his fault. His actions led to repercussions that harm others, not simply himself.
From its first introduction, Ferrix has felt like a really lived-in, sensible nook of the galaxy. These are working folks, who we’ve watched clock out and in of their jobs, congregate for drinks after work, and slowly maneuver beneath the watchful eye of the Empire. With the finale, all the pieces coalesces in the way in which that real-world revolutions have traditionally began: at a funeral. Within the crowd of mourners who’ve gathered to listen to Maarva’s ultimate phrases, there are two teams of individuals trying to benefit from the scenario: the rebels who need to kill Cassian and the Imperial officers that need to take him into custody. Gilroy has positioned an interesting dialog, that exhibits the “good guys” are prepared to kill their very own to guard themselves, whereas the “unhealthy guys” are prepared to maintain folks alive if it furthers their very own causes. Nevertheless it’s neither of those two events that spark the following violence—it’s Maarva.
As Bee performs Maarva’s eulogy, the larger-than-life hologram looms over the gang and delivers an ominous name to motion. She tells her former neighbors and associates that they’ve been sleeping and turning away from a fact that they don’t need to face. There’s a wound on the heart of the universe that gained’t heal as a result of the Empire is a illness that thrives within the darkness. Her phrases echo real-world warnings, like The Washington Put up’s dire warning years in the past—when Rogue One was nonetheless recent in our minds—that “democracy dies in darkness.” It’s this somber and stirring message that units the residents of Ferrix towards the riot-shield-wielding officers closing in on them.
The battle breeds chaos compounded by Wilmon’s bomb exploding into the gang of officers. Brasso is fast to brush in and rescue Wilmon from the fray, although Xan will not be as fortunate because the Imperials begin attacking anybody and everybody who was within the crowd of mourners. Dedra will get swept up into the gang, overpowered by the townspeople who’re posed to tear her aside, limb-by-limb, however her surprising hero (who has had his eyes on her for the reason that second she stepped into the gang) is fast to tug her free from the mob. The scene that follows is wholly uncomfortable on a lot of ranges.
Syril has been a wild card since his introduction and the primary feedback about his altering his Preox-Morlana uniform set the stage for the way eaten up he’s about being seen as vital and helpful. As soon as Dedra made the error of seeing him as helpful—even when she shot down his makes an attempt at leveraging his info for an actual job—it set him on a path of an unhealthy obsession together with her. This obsession manifested in him stalking her at work, studying her commute to the ISB, and accosting her. It was a startling second and the throughline between her horror from that episode to her less-than-disgusted expression when he saves her life introduces a doubtlessly much more disturbing dynamic between them when the present returns for Season 2.
Corv isn’t as fortunate as Dedra, as no obsessed guardian angel is looking for him. In his haste to flee the fray and hold a watch out for Cassian Andor, he catches Cinta trailing him and makes an attempt to deliver an finish to that. However Cinta hasn’t stayed alive for so long as she has by coming to a possible battle and not using a weapon. She rapidly dispatches him with a blade and and not using a single glimpse of remorse—which begs the query of what occurred to the girl and little one she was “watching” on Aldhani. Later, as Cinta and Vel collect their belongings to depart Ferrix and not using a hint, Cinta assures Vel that the blood on her fingers isn’t her personal and Vel doesn’t even bat a watch.
Cinta and Vel aren’t the one folks getting ready to depart Ferrix. Within the shipyard, Jezzi (Pamela Nomvete), Brasso, Wilmon, and B2EMO have boarded Cassian’s ship, and Pegla is rapidly working to organize it for a fast getaway as soon as Cassian arrives with Bix. As soon as Cassian ensures that they’re all safely tucked away on the ship, he informs them that he isn’t going to be leaving with them. Bix, nonetheless very misplaced inside her personal thoughts, speaks of Cassian as if he isn’t even there—mumbling about how he all the time manages to search out his approach again to them. Earlier than he leaves, he guarantees that he’ll discover them. However will he? Is Gilroy setting us up for heartbreak with Season 2?
Earlier than the episode attracts to its ultimate moments, far-off from the violence on Ferrix, Mon Mothma is going through a private disaster. Even with setting Perrin as much as take the autumn for her suspicious monetary actions, she isn’t in a position to keep away from the deal she made with Davo Sculdun (Richard Dillane). Mon and Perrin stand at both aspect of their daughter Leida (Bronte Carmichael) as they current her to Davo’s son. Even and not using a single phrase of dialogue between the 2 households, Mon’s expression exhibits the load of her actuality. These are the sacrifices that Luthen has alluded to all alongside. The price of revolt comes at a excessive, unfathomable value.
Andor’s season finale doesn’t depart us hanging about the place Cassian is headed, as an alternative of safely escaping together with his associates. As Luthen retreats to his haulcraft, there’s an instantaneous sense that he isn’t alone—and he’s not. Cassian emerges from the shadows together with his blaster and a determined request to both kill him or take him in. Throughout the span of twelve episodes, we now have watched Cassian battle for a life that wasn’t value something. He was borrowing cash from associates he by no means deliberate to pay again, aimlessly floating by means of life, carelessly hurting folks he cared about, and overstaying his welcome at each door he arrived at. Even when he received his first style of preventing for the revolt, he was extra within the payout, than he was impressed by what the trigger meant. However as he stands earlier than Luthen, it’s clear that he’s lastly realized that his life isn’t value something until he’s prepared to pay the price of freedom. Narkina 5 radicalized him and compelled him to understand that even when he saved his head down and aimed for complacency, the Empire would nonetheless come for his life—so why not pay the final word worth? Whether or not he lives or dies, the result remains to be the identical: he’s already a lifeless man due to what he’s endured. These final moments lastly set Cassian totally onto the trail he’s destined to steer; one that can devastate and encourage all the identical.
Andor is an ideal instance of what Star Wars is ready to do with the fitting crew of creatives, and it stands as a testomony to the sorts of tales that tv as an entire is able to doing. The world will not be as black-and-white as folks may want to see it, and it’s not shades of grey that I’m alluding to. There’s the glimmering gold of war-mongered credit, the violent splashes of harmless blood, and the blue skies that masks the awful realities beneath them. Tony Gilroy and his incomparable crew of writers, administrators, and forged have been in a position to minimize deep right into a galaxy far, far-off and discover deep, significant themes that decision again to the foundations on which George Lucas first constructed this franchise. Positive, Star Wars is for youngsters, nevertheless it’s by no means too early to remind them that even in a fantastical world set among the many stars, there are tyrannical powers at play that decision for on a regular basis folks to stand up. Star Wars has all the time been political, and it’s all the time referred to as for anthropological exploration, and it has all the time been at its greatest when it makes use of the actual world to inform its tales of revolt.
