Okay yeah this one is not a book but this is my website so I GET TO DO WHAT I WANT.
*Spoilers*
Andor is a two-season series released in 2022 as a prequel to the popular Star Wars Movie, Rogue One. Andor is set five-years before rogue one and seeks to explore of Jyn Erso's partner in crime - Cassian Andor.
"Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I've given up all chances at inner peace. I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion: I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there's no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!" — Luthen Rael, One Way Out
Is this even Star Wars?
Cassian Andor is a character that is far from the poster child of the Star Wars universe. The name Andor doesn't demand the same sort of attention as other names in Star Wars just as Skywalker, Kenobi or Yoda which is a damn shame because I think the Andor show is some of the greatest Star Wars produced in recent years. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series released before Andor was cool because we got to see a fucking fully unleashed Obi-Wan completely demolish Darth Vader. I think Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen did a great job, especially in the final face-off (you could really see the hurt in Obi-Wan's eyes when he saw Anakin in the damaged mask). Obi-Wan Kenobi did a fine job for what it set out to do in my opinion, it gave the fans what they wanted and Obi-Wan some closure in terms of his character arc (him coming to terms with his mistakes and the fall of his best friend) but nature of the canon universe has dictated the journey of these characters so much that I think there wasn't much room for the writers to be creative.
In the case of Andor, however, the writers can fully flex their muscles because the characters in the show weren't as well defined in the existing canon which gives gives the show a potential to be very interesting... and interesting it was. The Cassian Andor you meet at the start of Andor is not the one you meet at the start of Rogue One, he's rebellion averse, he's a troublemaker and a bit of a dickhead. The show is paced much slower than other Star Wars projects which allows the world of Andor to be rigorously constructed. Andor is the first show where we see how powerful the Empire truly is. In other shows the Empire seems like a uncoordinated mess and the Stormtroopers compared to our OP protagonists seem like target practice. In Andor the Empire seems organised, responsive and efficient, the characters in Andor aren't Jedi or Mandalorian, they're just regular people which makes the Stormtroopers and the rest of the imperial forces seem omnipotent. The commanding presence of the Empire depicted in Andor is what allows this story to be so powerful. It was just regular people with big balls that sparked the entire rebellion effort.
Andor is a much harsher show than any Star Wars project we've seen in the past. It feels more real than any other project. Cassian Andor, Luthen Rael, Mon Mothmna are not saints by any metric they've done things that are morally dubious in pursuit of what they believe. On the flipside Syril Karn, Dedra Meero are not devils either they have feelings and qualities that are morally good and as audience we understand and empathise with their motivations even if they're the 'enemy'. Rebellion is something that is harsh and requires people to sacrifice everything. Central characters introduced are constantly killed off because the nature of what they're doing is extremely dangerous and people die and the fact that we see these deaths on screen makes it feel more real to us and allows us to understand the characters better also. Characters who've seen their comrades die for their collective cause gives them a sense of motivation and pushes them further and further so that dead would be remembered for their sacrifice not forgotten in vain. It's how Cassian gets pushed towards rebellion and we'll go more in depth into that.
Once you see the truth you can't keep living the lie.
The Cassian you meet at the start of the show is kind of oblivious to life living under empire control. Ferrix isn't under Empire command and he goes about his day to day completely bing chilling he has a bunch of debt and that but for the most part bing chilling. The story sort of evolves so that Cassian begins to learn more and learn more about the immediate realities of the world around him. When he fucks up and kills two imperial officers; Pre-Mor comes looking for Andor; Bix's boyfriend gets killed as a result; Ferrix gets put under imperial authority; he sees the lives of the Dhani people under imperial rule; he sees his comrades die for a cause he doesn't even believe; he experienced the judicial system, the lives of prisoners etc. All of these things has opened Cassian's eyes to the real world. His actions and the actions of others who care about him have put the people closest to Cassian within striking distance of the Empire, when he learns about his mother's death, Bix's imprisonment he suddenly feels recalls his relationship his fellow Kenari, his adoptive father Clem and decides fuck this. We feel the immense guilt he must have for the shit he's directly or indirectly caused, we feel his anger towards the Empire start to build and by the end of Season One the Cassian we knew at Rogue One finally starts to take shape.
There's so much other shit in Andor that's so good, politics, corruption, the writing of all the other characters, the visuals etc. that I don't have the time to talk about. It's a shame it doesn't get the credit it deserves. Andor is not the flashiest or mainstream Star Wars project but in my opinion it is the most authentic and impact series that Star Wars has (I'm gonna say it) ever made.
