Star Wars Andor Episode 8 Review and Breakdown

Episode 8 of Andor shows a more real and cruel side of the Empire. The pieces are moving, what happened on Aldhani is just the beginning.

Another slow episode but full of deep concepts that help us understand what happens moments before the true rebellion begins. This review contains heavy spoilers.

Andor Recap: The story so far

The consequences of the Aldhani heist are just starting, the Empire is increasing measures to ensure that no one messes up with them and leaves unharmed.

Dedra Meero was able to prove her point, rebel activity includes stealing top-secret technology from the Empire and distributing it across rebel groups. For this, she has gained control over Ferrix.

Andor Episode 8 - Official Poster of the show

Senator Mothma has initiated her plan to bring Tay Kolma, a banker and childhood friend to the “inner circle”. With his help, she plans to move money from her family fortune without raising suspicions. This money’s purpose is to finance the rebel effort.

Syril Karn gets an opportunity at the Bureau of Standards, a boring job in a boring place but the start of his redemption arc.

Cassian Andor experiences the Star Wars equivalent of police brutality and is arrested for no real reason. Because of the Empire’s new politics, he’s given a six-year sentence.

Diving deep into Imperial Slavery

After Andor is sentenced to six years in prison, he’s taken to Narkina Five, an underwater installation that serves as both a prison and assembly line. As soon as he and the other prisoners arrive it’s clear how this place operates.

One of the guards shows them why none of the inmates is wearing shoes, with the push of a button the floor shocks anyone who’s not wearing protective gear. The man enjoys seeing them twist and scream in pain, this serves as a warning and demonstration of what happens if they misbehave.

This is not the first time that Cassian Andor has been locked up by the Empire, his previous experience has taught him to be aware of the surroundings, every pattern, every word that the guards say, none escapes Andor’s attention. If he’s going to escape, he must learn how the place works and how the guards react to every situation.

In its existence, the Galactic Empire has enslaved many individuals regardless of species, age, or gender; Wookies, Twi’leks, Rodians, Quarrens, or any species really; everyone is a candidate for them, especially humans.

What better way to produce weapons than to take “convicts” for the rest of their sentence? No payment and extremely high-quality control because if they screw up, it’s their sentence that gets increased. Who would want to sabotage the Empire with their lives at such risk?

We’ve learned about labor camps in Star Wars by watching Star Wars Rebels, The Clone Wars, or Solo: A Star Wars Story, but this is probably the series that portrays better the mentality of the people in charge.

Power can be very intoxicating, and very few are self-conscious enough to prevent themselves from being driven by it. Imperial prison guards are not the type of men that tend to fit this description, they’re just as afraid of their superiors as the prisoners are from being electrocuted, but that doesn’t stop them from inflicting pain on the prisoners, some even enjoy it.

I wonder if Andor is going to take advantage of this when the time comes to escape Narkina 5.

Syril Karn: back in the game

After the disaster on Ferrix, one would think that Syril Karn has learned from his mistakes, but I guess that’s not the case. After just a few days working in the ISB, he has already filed multiple fake reports in order to find a clue that leads him to Cassian Andor. He’s willing to risk his career (or what’s left of it) to find the man that ruined him.

The team of Dedra Meero notice this and call him so that he provides any useful information that wasn’t on Blevin’s report. There’s nothing useful in Karn’s head but to be fair it’s not like he has too much information.

Meero dismisses him but Karn’s determined to find this fugitive. He knows that for some reason, Andor and his accomplice are very important to the ISB and the security of the Empire.

He expresses his wish to serve as an asset in the ISB, Dedra tells him to stop submitting false reports and walks away, but Karn doesn’t see this as a defeat. This is just the first step in pursuing his ultimate goal, gaining the attention of an ISB Supervisor is very important for joining an organization that fits his skills and ideology.

I think it’s just a matter of time until Dedra Meero returns to Syril Karn to ask for more information or even advice. I’m convinced that Karn has a bigger role in the story and his evolution as a character is something that we’re going to love and hate.

Karn and Meero can become a very dangerous team for anyone that crosses their path, Rebels or Imperials.

Everyone against everyone

One of the things that make Tyrants so hard to remove from power is their ability to turn the people under their rule against each other; Deprive them of their freedom and basic rights, limit their activities and make them compete against each other for meaningless rewards while the losers get punished severely and they won’t have enough time to think about anything else.

This is a good example of it, to lower scale and less cruel than other situations but just as effective. The “best” thing is that they even have some prisoners police the others so that nothing gets out of hand, if something goes wrong it‘s the unit manager who gets punished. However, there’s something that the prison guards might not be aware of.

From what was shown in this episode, I got the impression that there’s a strange sense of companionship between the inmates. Each table works together against the other tables and all of them against the other rooms, this has to create a teamwork environment to some degree.

There’s always the possibility of someone who’s going to only look for himself and even betray others to save his skin, but if they’re capable of not forgetting who’s the real enemy here there’s always a chance to get out of the direst situation if they work together.

I believe this is how Andor and the other inmates are going to escape, the guards are so confident about the security and the coercive methods they use that when the moment comes, they won’t know what to do.

I’m not saying it’s going to be an easy escape, there’s a ton of security and variables that need to be accounted for, but using the Imperial protocols and routines against them is a tactic that has been used multiple times. I can’t wait to see how Andor gets out of this.

The calm before the storm

Mon Mothma is hosting another reunion at her house, this time with the intention to gather votes that would help her stall Palpatine’s new legislation. The Public Order Resentencing Directive (PORD), from my understanding, this new law will allow the Empire to pursue anyone under any type of suspicion.

Not only that but there won’t be anything that protects the Empire’s citizens from being watched 24/7. If Imperial authorities decide that someone might be a threat to the Empire nothing will stop them from treating that person as a criminal, just like what happened to Andor.

Aside from her rebel activities, Mothma knows that this would give too much power to the ISB, if this legislation is approved no one’s going to be safe; senators, civilians, businessmen, etc. You only have to make angry someone with enough power to tag you as a potential danger and everything ends for you.

To make things worse, there are banking regulations going on that make it difficult for Mothma to move the money. Both sides are making their movements, trying to anticipate and outsmart each other, tensions are increasing and it’s only a matter of time until someone makes the first big move and the first mistake.

Maarva’s time is running out

The events of Aldhani inspired Maarva to fight the Empire in any way she could, she’s a stubborn woman who has lost many things but the rebellion has re-invigorated her spirit.

Sadly, her body is not able to keep up with this and it’s starting to show. She’s visibly sick and weak but her commitment to helping the rebellion is more important than any of her health problems.

Bix and Brasso look after her but it’s clear that she has no intentions of slowing down her activities. Some might think that she’s just an old lady who’s grasping onto something to keep what’s left of her sanity intact, but she’s far from being dumb or crazy.

Maarva knows Ferrix like the palm of her hand, if there’s a vulnerability she’s aware of how to exploit it, and I’m sure that she has taught that to Cassian.

I really like Maarva’s character but I don’t think she’s going to last until the next season, hopefully, she’s able to see his son one more time while simultaneously hitting the Empire hard.

Eyes on Ferrix

Cinta and Vel are searching for Andor and like most characters in the series they end up at Ferrix, where they are watching Bix. Vel isn’t completely sure about Cinta staying alone, as her significant other Vel wants to spend more time with her, but Cinta is very focused on the mention and quickly reminds her that the mission will always come first.

Bix attempts to communicate with Luthen but he refuses to answer back, he wants nothing to do with Andor or Ferrix. The signal is discovered by Imperial Intelligence and they arrest Paak a few hours later. Meero arrives at the scene and tortures Paak, Bix is also arrested and taken to the same place where Paak is being held.

This is a good moment to remember that we can empathize with someone that is still a villain. I rooted for Meero when she outsmarted Blevin and was able to gain Major Partagaz’s favor, but at the end of the day she’s still an Imperial who’s going to abduct, torture, and kill anyone who stands in her way.

Being “good” or “bad” depends on the optics of the spectator, it could be argued that Andor was the bad guy in the first episodes and Syril the good one but as we just saw, the roles can switch at any time. I believe that no one is entirely good or entirely bad (except maybe one or two Sith Lords), and Andor has done a great job reminding me of this.

With just four episodes left I’m eager to see how things evolve. So far, everyone’s attention is focused on Ferrix; The Empire, The Rebellion, and who knows if there’s someone else watching.

A revolution is around the corner and it’s going to start on Ferrix, or that’s what I expect. How cool would it be for Ferrix to be one of the first systems to join the rebellion?

Rebellions need a leader

Saw Gerrera finally makes his appearance, the radical leader of a rebel cell and friend of Galen Erso. Luthen is visiting him and offers to give him equipment in exchange for Saw to work with another rebel group.

Gerrera laughs at him, despite having a common goal he doesn’t tolerate many of the other rebel cells. He says that they’re lost and that only he thinks clearly.

This is a trait fairly common in people who practice radical ideologies, “everyone else is wrong and I’m right”.

Luthen understands that they have differences, but he also understands that separate groups don’t stand a chance against the war machine that is the Galactic Empire. He’s attempting to unite these groups but it looks like it’s going to be a difficult task.

I mean, who would trust a man like Luthen to lead the cause against the Empire? He just sees others as expendable resources that can be discarded once their purpose is fulfilled. In that regard, he’s just like Palpatine.

What can’t be denied is that someone needs to be the head, someone that unites, inspires, and cares about the people. Mon Mothma has proven to have all of these qualities, we knew that she’s of vital importance in the Rebel Alliance since A New Hope, but I’m really enjoying learning why she’s such a perfect fit for the job.

Andor Episode 8 Easter Eggs

Every episode of the show offers a few, but very distinguished and intriguing secrets for us, fans, to spot, discuss and analyze. In Episode 8 we have a (distant) Belsavis reference, we see Andy Serkis return to Star Wars in a different role (one that suits him very well) and we also have new items in Luthen’s shop worthy of pointing out!

Belsavis mentioned

When Cassian is designated to Narkina 5, we can see that other prisoners are being sent to Belsavis. In The Old Republic era, Belsavis was a secret prison planet reserved for the most dangerous individuals of the galaxy; Crime Lords, Sith Lords, and traitors. It’s so cool to learn that after thousands of years it still serves its purpose.

Padmé Amidala’s headpiece

Every episode I have such a fun time watching what’s new in Luthen Rael’s shop, this week was no exception. We can see a headpiece that looks like the one Padmé used in Episode II, Luthen sells exclusive and rare items so it’s not too crazy to think that it’s the same one.

Andy Serkis in Star Wars again

Kino Loy, the unit manager is played by the one and only Andy Serkis. Serkis is an expert in motion capture and has played important roles like Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Cesar in Planet of the Apes, and Supreme Leader Snoke in the Sequel Trilogy (No, Snoke has nothing to do with Andor).

While slow, this episode has given us more insight into what’s it like being in an installation of this kind; The treatment, the routines, and the punishments for those unwilling to cooperate.

Andor is going to learn that everything he makes to hurt the Empire will have a direct impact on regular people, including his friends and family on Ferrix.

Mothma and Luthen share one goal but their methods are opposite, Luthen believes that the Senator is too soft to do what’s necessary while he’s willing to do whatever it takes, regardless of who gets hurt. It’s going to be super interesting to see how both behave under pressure, from the Empire and from each other.

Do you think any of them is capable of betraying their counterpart? How is Andor going to get out of this prison without help from the outside?

Star Wars Andor Season 1 Episode Reviews and Breakdown

This is a collection of individual reviews and a breakdown of all events, secrets, references and easter eggs in the first season of the Star Wars series Andor available on Disney Plus. Adrian goes beep behind the plots of each episode to discover what the world od Star Wars was like when the Rebellion was born!

Please note that every single one of the reviews contains heavy spoilers from the episode it analyzes. It's better to watch the episode and then read the articles.

Also, each review starts with a recap of the events leading up to this episode, so you will never be lost with where things pick up from last week.