Episodes 4-6 of Andor take us to Ghorman and Coruscant. The ISB’s game is on, and the Ghorman front is taking the bait. This arc builds up the tension until it blows up in the last twenty minutes.
Haunting ghosts
One of the things that is rarely addressed in Star Wars is all the PTSD that many characters suffer after going through a traumatic experience. As fun as it is to just see “good vs bad guys” go at each other in epic battles, I prefer the more realistic depiction of how it is to participate and survive a war, one battle at a time.
Seeing the faces of the people who died, both enemies and allies. The need to seek cover after hearing any sound that resembles a detonation. Re-living a horrifying scene every time you close your eyes. PTSD is something that can wear down and slowly destroy anyone from the inside.
Cassian, Bix, Vel, Cinta, Luthen, Saw, and probably everyone involved in the rebellion have experienced it at some point. Definitely not the most pleasant scenes to watch, but this is another reason why Andor feels so real and relatable.
I hope Bix doesn’t have to go through more traumatic events, but considering what has happened so far, I think it’s fair to say that it won’t be the case.
Living two lives
It’s very interesting to see how Bix and Cassian try to live a relatively normal life when they’re not on a mission, though it’s impossible to ever feel normal when you’re a wanted criminal. Not going to certain places and always looking over your shoulder must be so exhausting.
Choosing to hide in Coruscant is as bold as it is smart. With a trillion citizens and over five thousand levels, not even the Empire can keep up with that. Despite being able to hide in anonymity, Cassian is right to be paranoid about everything and everyone.
A small mistake is all it takes for the Empire to find them. What he said about dreams being the worst when they relax also applies to what I’m mentioning. It’s when they relax and let their guard down that things can go south real quick.
To say that it’s unhealthy would be an understatement. Living with constant stress is something that won’t let you sleep at night. On top of that, add the PTSD. The result is a worn-down Bix who has to rely on substances to be able to rest.
The perfect candidate
Syril is arguably the easiest one to manipulate out of all characters. His need for validation makes him the perfect candidate to be used as a puppet.
The poor man has always been humiliated by his mom for his lack of “professional accomplishments,” and as a result, he always takes opportunities that he considers to be more important.
Out of all the qualified Imperial spies, why did the ISB decide to use him specifically? There are two reasons I can think of.
The first one is his closeness with Dedra. She knows that his love for her would prevent him from revealing any information, and well, he looks incredibly naive.
The second one is his eagerness to prove himself. With an absent father figure and a mother who only minimizes his choices, his need for praise and approval is almost pathological. If we ignore the lack of training and experience, he is the perfect candidate for this mission.
However, one factor that neither Dedra nor the ISB are taking into consideration is his rigid morality. Let’s not forget that from his point of view, he’s doing everything possible to maintain order. He’s willing to do anything the ISB tells him to do.
That might change when he sees the darker side of the Empire and how far they’re willing to go. Before the season began, I was wondering if Dedra would change sides, but now I’m convinced that if there’s someone who could do such a thing, it’s definitely Syril.
Playing a dangerous game
Did you ever have a class in school where everyone would be so afraid of the teacher that answering a question incorrectly felt like failing the entire course? Well, that’s the vibe I got from the ISB meeting.
Everyone’s too afraid of saying the wrong thing. They just freeze and panic, hoping that Partagaz will take his questions to the next clueless person.
Lonni Jung might not look like much, but he has been able to provide good answers when others fail while simultaneously increasing the trust and respect from his fellow supervisors.
Stealing equipment and hacking intel can only take you so far, but infiltrating the Empire and earning the trust and respect from the same people who coordinate all espionage and military efforts? That’s something that very few individuals have been able to achieve.
Lonni Jung is, without a doubt, Luthen’s most valuable man. His dedication and composure are second to none. I wonder how much he’ll be able to do before something bad happens to him.
The reality of bureaucracy
Mon Mothma is one of the most dedicated senators, even before the rise of the Empire. She’s always trying to rally other senators to vote for causes that help the weak and most vulnerable.
Sadly, her good intentions mean nothing if there aren’t enough votes to back her initiatives. In The Mask of Fear, a book that takes place six months after Order 66, she is already struggling to get other senators to vote.
Now that the Empire has been consolidated, it’s nearly impossible to make anyone vote against anything that would be considered a direct attack on Palpatine’s interests.
Not even the senators whose planets are being targeted directly dare to vote because they know things can always get worse with the Empire. This is yet another good parallelism of how politics work in the real world. If those who give voice to the people are incapable of uniting against an overreaching leader, then it’s the normal citizens who pay the price.
Too eager and inexperienced
Ghormans are top artisans who are proud of the quality of their fine twill. Their craftsmanship and expertise in refining the Ghorlectipod’s silk have allowed them to earn wealth and status. But that has nothing to do with a revolution.
They don’t have the knowledge, experience, equipment, or preparation to pull off something like this. As Cassian points out, their plan makes no sense. Attacking a military transport inside their own city and then publicly acknowledging this?
Everyone already knows what they’re building. By making it public, they’re only telling the empire who to target directly. Cassian didn’t join because he knew what follows such an act of rebellion is something even worse than what happened at Ferrix.
Once again, we see Luthen using others to force the Empire’s hand. It’s in his best interest to make things explode in the most chaotic way for everyone in the galaxy to notice.
The Tarkin massacre is what we previously knew as the Ghorman massacre, but that is now a past event and not the reason behind Mon Mothma’s call-out of Palpatine in the Senate. Now, the poor Ghorman people have to endure another slaughter at the hands of Imperial troops.
It’s very cool that they incorporate something from legends while also adapting something new that fits the storyline. That’s going to be one tough arc to watch.
Fighting for those you love
Speaking of Luthen, these episodes gave me the impression that he forgets why some of his top operatives joined to begin with. Cinta and Vel, Bix and Cassian are great examples of how it is to be in the middle of a war while also trying to maintain a relationship.
While there are more examples in other Star Wars media, nothing beats what we see in Andor. Even if it was just for a couple of minutes, I really enjoyed seeing both couples have a moment of vulnerability.
Luthen thinks that these attachments can become a liability; he definitely has a point, but these attachments can be a more powerful driving force than the sole idea of bringing down the Empire. Rose’s line from The Last Jedi phrases in a much better way than I can: ” That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.”
As Star Wars fans, we are more than aware of what happens when saving a single person becomes more important than the fate of an entire galaxy, but I have faith that Cassian and Bix will be able to handle that.
Revolution is not for the sane
Saw Gerrera is completely unhinged, you love to see it. While completely paranoid and with extremist views, he has managed to build a very loyal group of followers.
Wilmon experiences firsthand how strange but persuasive he can be. It’s funny how Luthen warns Bix about abusing substances while Saw encourages Wil to breathe Rhydonium as if it were some psychedelic drug.
His small speech about his sister is odd, but I believe that using Rhydonium is one of his many ways to deal with Steela’s loss. It’s been many years since her death, but that event scarred Saw permanently. I wonder if inhalating such a powerful substance has anything to do with his extreme paranoia.
This instability, combined with his hate and determination, are what makes him so unpredictable and dangerous. Particularly to those who are closer to him.
Saw has been out there since the Clone Wars. First, defending his home on Onderon and now leading the Partisans, but I don’t recall him ever doing something that really hurts the Empire. His role in Rogue One was anything but impressive, so I hope he does something meaningful in the upcoming episodes.
Another loss
I accepted the fact that everyone’s going to die before the season even started, but that doesn’t make losing Cinta any less devastating. A character dying in such a stupid way is infuriating, but I can’t deny that it’s a good way to show what happens when inexperience, ineptitude, and not following orders are combined.
It only takes one person to make a mistake and ruin what should have been a very easy mission. I understand why the Empire sees most of these rebel cells as a group of peasants pretending to be soldiers. They don’t even tolerate each other.
You can see it in every rebel group that has appeared, they don’t even tolerate each other. Even Saw has this delusional thought that he is the only one with a clear vision. Until someone like Mon Mothma unites everyone, people like Cinta and Brasso will continue dying in vain.
The axe forgets, but the tree remembers
The final scene was probably the most satisfying one from these episodes. Dr. Gorst is probably the most infuriating character to see. He’s the embodiment of everything that’s wrong with the Empire. Who knows how many hundreds of people have been tortured by his device? He didn’t even remember Bix’s face.
The fact that he was going to train more people on his “interrogation techniques” speaks volumes about how successful he’s been since we saw him on Ferrix. What’s more impressive is how quickly Luthen sent Cassian and Bix to deal with it.
The project was just getting started, so it’s safe to assume that the facility and personnel had not yet been moved there. That’s why it was so easy to get in, blow out the place, and get out. Or at least that’s how it was portrayed.
As enjoyable as it was to see Bix get her revenge, I’m slightly worried about the implications of this mission. Not many people knew about it, pointing out the inside source shouldn’t be that hard for the ISB. That puts Loni at risk and the entire Axis.
Since there was zero context given, all we can do is speculate about the mission, but if we’ve learned something from Ferrix and Aldhani is that everything has repercussions.
Final thoughts
I love these three-episode arcs, not having to wait an entire week for the third episode is great, even if it comes with some over-the-top anxiety. The stakes are higher than ever, and that is matched with lots of tension.
It was so good to have Syril, Kleya, Vel, Lonni, and Cinta in the spotlight. They’re all great characters, but we haven’t seen enough of them. Having long episodes lets us see many characters grow and develop, unlike series like Ahsoka or The Mandalorian.
The recasting of Bail Organa worried me when I heard about it, but I think it was ok. Gilroy was smart to introduce him briefly, so when he appears more consistently in the next episodes, the audience has already processed it.
The next episodes are likely to be even more intense and stressful. I’m both excited and terrified to see what’s next!
We have discovered a few very interesting secrets and references hidden in the background or between the lines of dialogue in Episodes 4-6. You should not miss out on this extra bit of lore and secret-hunting that we love so much doing for everything Star Wars.
