Star Wars Andor Episode 9 Review and Breakdown

Andor Episode 9: Nobody’s Listening is my favorite episode so far, it had a little bit of everything: dark scenes, tense moments, and incredible anticipation for what’s about to happen!

At this point, I have acquired a taste for the slow, deep episodes in Andor. I think this was the slowest and most intense episode so far, it’s a rare thing to say about a Star Wars series but Andor has proven to be nothing like any other Star Wars media.

This review contains heavy spoilers.

Andor Recap: The story so far

Cassian was taken to Narkina 5, a prison factory where people are forced to assemble equipment that the Empire uses in their military campaigns. Guards enjoy inflicting pain on the prisoners and they only leave their cells to work a twelve-hour shift, any disruption is answered with an electrified floor.

The ISB learns about Bix communicating with who they called “Axis”, she’s captured and brought in for “questioning”.

Syril Karn files fake reports hoping to find a clue that leads him to Cassian Andor, Dedra Meero notices and interrogates him. She made quite an impression on him.

Worst of the worst

Bix is about to be interrogated, Dedra Meero is desperate to acquire information that gives her a lead to Cassian’s whereabouts, torture is something routinary for the ISB. It doesn’t take too much to understand what kind of people are in charge of “interrogation” and developing new “techniques”.

Poor Bix never stood a chance, she was told what the terrifying sounds were but even that didn’t prepare her for what was coming. Hearing how an entire civilization is exterminated, it’s even worse if we consider that they use the screams of children.

I loved how it made me feel so uneasy about the whole situation, the moment was super tense, and just imagining how that sounded was disturbing, it made me feel anxious without hearing a single sound and that is something unique.

This was a good reminder about a woman as capable as a man of doing horrible things in pursuit of power. Dedra isn’t someone to root for, she’ll lie, torture, and murder to achieve her goals. It was interesting seeing how she outmaneuvered the annoying inspector Blevin but this scene was perfect for remembering that she’s still part of the terror machine that is the Galactic Empire.

It wasn’t only her, Tigo and Dr. Gorst also were good examples of how the Imperial ranks are filled with sadists and psychopaths; empathy, and compassion are non-existent in most of its workers.

Natural leader

As day pass, Andor has been attempting to learn as much as possible about the guards’ movements and procedures, with help from other inmates he’s been able to collect information about everything that happens across the installation; the gear they’re using, routines, what parts of the factory can’t be electrified, or anything that can give them an advantage when it’s needed.

I believe that he’s becoming someone that the other prisoners respect and follow, he’s skilled, smart, and trustworthy (at least in the eyes of the other prisoners). From the moment he arrived, Andor tried to understand how the prison operates and its potential flaws, he firmly believes that the Empire doesn’t care enough to take precautions.

It’s certainly going to take an incredible amount of precision and coordination if they want it to get out of there. There’s just one small problem, Kino Loy doesn’t love the idea of attempting an escape, his time will be over in just a few more months so risking it now seems like a very bad idea.

Every time a group starts to ask questions or talk too much about the topic he makes sure that they shut up. Andor has tried to acquire information from him but Loy just ignores him, he genuinely believes that he’s going to be a free man after his time is over.

Family business

Mothma appears at the Senate chamber speaking against The Public Order Resentencing Directive, Palpatine’s most recent legislation that pretends to give increased authority to Imperial institutions like the ISB.

Her argument is straightforward; if the legislation is approved then nothing will stop the military branches of the Empire from using or abusing their power without anyone to hold them accountable. This is not only about the PORD but about the precedent that this could establish and the irreversible consequences.

Some senators attempt to discourage her while others show their support, I wonder how many people are willing to defy Palpatine’s wishes as openly as Mothma does.

Mothma is heading home and looks displeased, but that doesn’t seem to matter when her driver informs the senator that her cousin is visiting. To my surprise, it’s none other than Vel Sartha, the leader of the team that sacked Aldhani.

Vel is as good as Mon when it comes to keeping appearances, talking about old childhood memories, or letting Perrin feed his own insecurities is something that both Vel and Mon find quite amusing. Of course, this is all a facade to discuss how the rebellion is going on.

Mothma is understandably worried about how things are developing, the Empire is now actively looking for any signs of rebel activity and everyone under suspicion is going to get hunted down no matter what charge or influence they have.

For a brief moment, the senator hesitates about the whole thing but Vel reminds her why they’re doing it, this comforts Mothma and they hug each other. It’s nice to see that Mon Mothma has someone that really understands her position and doubts.

It’s going to be very interesting how their relationship develops once the senator knows what Luthen has been doing, assuming (if she finds out).

Nobody’s Listening’s strange way to compliment

Syril waits for Dedra outside of the ISB installations, he approaches her in the creepiest way possible. Karn thanks her for his promotion and starts talking about how he has regained hope in life.

Meero doesn’t have time to answer as Karn continues to say how he feels around her, mentioning that he knows that they both want the “same thing”. Supervisor Meero gets pissed about being stalked by this guy she barely has talked to, she tells him to not repeat these actions or he’ll pay the consequences.

I’m really enjoying how small scenes like this allow us to understand more about Syril Karn; he’s obsessed with order and rules, has zero social awareness, and idolizes figures that represent power. This guy is the perfect pawn, willing to do anything to “preserve order” without question or hesitation while actually believing that he’s doing the right thing.

He’s undoubtedly going to climb the ladder and become a valuable asset to the Empire. I just wonder if he’s going to end up serving Meero and if so, how their dynamic is going to evolve.

Desperate times require desperate measures

Tay Kolma is visiting Mothma, he’s not the bearer of good news, new tax laws make moving money incredibly hard. If I understood correctly, the money that was taken out of Mothma’s account must be justified or that will draw unwanted attention.

Tay brings up the name of a man that could be their solution; Mothma describes said man as a thug, and she’s almost offended by the idea of him visiting her home. But these are desperate moments and time is running out.

In my opinion, Mothma is one of the characters with more principles, but this kind of pressure is something completely unprecedented at this point in time. Will she stay true to her beliefs? With how everything is turning I really hope so but I wouldn’t be too judgemental if she ends up meeting with this man.

No one’s getting out

Ulaf’s health has been deteriorating, despite being an elder man he looked very energetic and motivated to win every shift. Sadly, this abruptly changed in the last part of the episode, he looked so sick l and his companions had to carry him to the cell.

Ulaf collapsed and Kino asked for a med-tech. In the last episode, I thought that Kino Loy was a cold man who only cares about himself and maintains order so that his sentence is not affected.

This episode proved me wrong, he encouraged Ulaf about leaving soon and even called him “Uli”, an obvious sign of affection. Loy might be annoying sometimes but he actually cares about the other inmates, sometimes we forget that people in jails are human beings and this little moment was very good at reminding me how dehumanizing prisons can be.

It was very surprising to me that even the medical personnel of the factory are inmates, this probably means that the place is heavily understaffed. When Andor arrived, we saw how one missing guard was slowing down everything and even making the other guards visibly nervous.

After ending poor Ulaf’s suffering, they ask about what happened on level two. The doctor first suggests that Kino keeps his men in line, but that answer doesn’t satisfy them. After making the guard walk away a few meters he finally tells them that someone who was supposed to be released ended back on another level, when the other inmates learned about this they simply killed them all.

This destroys any hopes or illusions that Kino had of leaving and becoming a free man, he finally understands that there’s no winning when the Empire decides what the rules of the game are.

The last line of this episode is my favorite, it foreshadows what’s going to happen. “How many guards on each level?” Andor asks and Kino finally answers back; “Never more than twelve”.

Episode 9 Easter Eggs

This Episode was very intense and interesting to watch, sadly this time we couldn’t stop by Luthen Rael’s shop but I still found a couple of cool easter eggs I absolutely have to share.

Mas Amedda

When Mothma is giving her speech in the senate chamber, some of her colleagues are shouting many things but if you listen closely you can hear someone yell “order!”. This man sounds incredibly similar to Mas Amedda, who also yells the same word in Episode III.

Let’s remember that Mas Amedda is the Grand Vizier, one of Palpatine’s closest and most loyal followers, Mothma has already mentioned him in a previous episode.

Kafrene

Kafrene is mentioned by the ISB when they capture a rebel pilot, they say that the ship where he’ll be found dead is going to get towed to Kafrene. Kafrene or the Ring of Kafrene is a mining colony built on an asteroid, this is where we meet Cassian Andor for the first time in Rogue One.

This was the slowest but most intense episode so far, there are so many things going on. Mothma needs to figure out a way to move the money without raising suspicions, the prison break is inevitable, Luthen is planning his next move, and the ISB is quickly gathering information about Andor and other rebels of importance.

I can’t wait to learn who’s on the losing side, we may even get one or two characters that commit treason. This is a spy-themed series after all, who do you think is most likely to do something like that?

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.