You look like Bucky Barnes if he became a dad.

Andor is the first Star Wars story that feels genuinely interested in ideology, not as a background or dramatic plot- but as the point

As a Scottish person, I found the Aldhani arc very interesting. That arc was filmed in the highlands of Scotland. The forced eviction of the shepherds from the highlands and relocation to the lowlands mirrors the highland clearances when the tenant farmers of scotlands highlands were forcibly evicted and forced to the lowlands and industrial cities by the landlords, often violently. This devastated alot of Gaelic language and culture. Even to this day the population of the highlands hasnt recovered.

"The exhaustive period is over" Oof. Now we're in the "It's even more exhaustive, because Andor showed us what we could have instead" era

the most powerful scene in the entire series for me though was when mon mothma looks at her daughter with that haunted fear when she hears what that scumbag proposes for their deal. you see her actually fight with the reality that she’s considering it, and more broadly you see the moral and ethical cost of rebellion. you realize that all these people are forced into positions where they must make choices they themselves don’t agree with because they’re desperate. i think that’s the real cost of rebellion. everything else is acceptable, noble to an extent, but when you’re forced to sacrifice your own conscious for others, that’s when you realize the true cost.

ANDOR is like the 'finally some good f-ing food' meme given a budget.

One thing I like also is how the stormtroopers are not the main ennemy. They fight naval troopers, enforcers, but the only time you see the stormtroopers is when things get out of control and they are unleashed on the townspeople. They absolutely massacre them and you can feel the fear and terror they bring. Instead of being treated as a joking rank and file bad guy, they are portrayed as the crushing fist of the Empire.

What's also rather interesting about the action scenes is the sense of genuine _threat_ they all share. Every time, it's not "the heroes mow down the baddies" but rather "people are fighting, and some of them will die". Both the narrative, and the characters, act like this is the case.

"wonder why every frame of the prequels got meme'd" "the prequels describe how democracies get infiltrated by demigogues and power hunger people use young men's confusion on their place in the world to get more power" I think you answered your own question there. George never claimed to be good at writing character dialogue, but damn if he didn't have a message and a will to send it out

It just hit me now ... he said it's better to live, eat and sleep to Luthen ... that was a metaphor for the prison life. He saw that in prison he can eat, sleep, and live but the empire had him imprisoned and whether outside or inside of prison the Empire still has everyone in prison. That's epic man, to have an ahha moment weeks after watching the season finale ... that is a good show.

No Alien chacters but the dogs on Ferrix? How could you forget the squiggly fishermen, the prison killed all their squiggles near and far. Great video :)

You know how good Andor is? I throughly enjoyed it even though I completely forgot that Andor was a character in Rogue One. I didn't know this was a sequel, I thought it was a stand alone story and I never felt lost and always enjoyed myself. Only now watching this video where he mentions Andor's story in Rogue One did I realise they were connected

When Andor is being transported to prison, Diego Luna’s acting is extraordinary as he shows pure terror.

Luthens speech to Lommi about what it has cost him is brilliant, “I share my dreams with ghosts”

It kind of feels like Andor was the first piece of Star Wars media made for adults.

Andor, even outside the Star Wars universe, was one of the best TV stories told in a long time.

All I want for Christmas is Nemek's complete manifesto, in a fine leather-bound, pocket-sized journal. Nemek was the one for me, in a cast of absolutely brilliant characters.

Andor being made in the Disney+ Machine is like if Chernobyl were somehow made by the CW. A genuine masterpiece of television, everything that could've gone right, went right.

About what the prisoners were building in Prison: If you watch the post-credit scene at the end of the last episode, you can see the droids carrying the same large cross-like pieces to embed them in what is revealed to be the Death Star. So Andor was helping build the super weapon that he eventually destroys.

Did you notice that the prison structure Andor is locked in is literally built in the shape of the Imperial ensignia? it's a Panopticon, which i never noticed until this series. Brilliant.

"Never more than twelve." floored me with how much was communicated in a single line. I binged the whole show the other day, I don't know how I would have handled having to wait a WEEK after seeing that.

Another interesting thing from episode 3 was the corpos said it would take 10 minutes to get to the warehouse where Cassian and Luthen are, and in real time I set a timer for 10 minutes, and the corpos got there in that exact time. Good editing! That's not easy to pull off!

I was rewatching Andor yesterday and I noticed another "punishment" for Syril. During the scene where he gets briefed on his new job at the bureau of standards, you can see a mouse droid going straight towards Syril and he is the one who has to step aside to avoid collision. It's almost like Syril is such a loser that can't even get recognized by the most humble droid.

Actually Andor does have a few pretty intentional Easter eggs namely references to the Rakata and the planet Belsavis, both elements from the old republic games. The fact that most people missed this including sage tho shows that Andor does fan service and Easter eggs well. A moment of excitement for die hard fans without confusing non fans and getting in the way of the story

One of my favorite parts was when Mon Motha chooses the "peaceful" artifact over the sword at the store, but after some troubles, returns it. She's offered the sword, and she takes neither. It's a way of symbolizing she was beyond pacificism, but not ready to escalate things. Also I'd say it's on purpose that you never really learn what they're actually making in prison. It's probably supposed to feel as pointless and detached as possible. Edit: People have pointed out that they do, in fact, show you what the things they're making in prison are for in an after-credits scene I missed. Thank you!

Episode 9 with "how many guards" was the best thing I watched all year

Andor is 10/10 from cinematography, writing, characters, acting, even their fashion are literally perfect 💯

The Chant of "ONE WAY OUT" has stuck with me harder than any other anti-f*csist slogan. I loved this show so much

Andor was the massive sigh of relief the franchise needed

I think my favorite thing about Andor was it did have references. It just referenced the smaller aspects of the lore such as the Rakata or the Ghorman Massacre. Andor didn't feel like a rejection of the lore, it felt like it was made by star wars fans who wanted to make a new story.

One thing I noticed in Andor, is they sort of depict how something that is badly designed by the lowest bidder can cause big problems. In one of the prison episodes there is an easily broken wall, which is coupled with an electric floor that apparently has no drainage.

the monolog by Stellan Skarsgård gives me chills every time i see it. he IS what the rebellion is and what it represented. also rogue one was the best star wars film we got in decades.

Considering how explicit Andor was in it's messaging, I'm frankly surprised that it was even allowed to be made.

And I love the show's depiction of the capture of Andor. It wasn't for anything, it was accidental and petty. Just shows that even if they don't get you for rebelling, they will find something, anything. As long as fascim and its oppression exists it will find a way to get you and it's petty and basically shit luck. It was a nice touch

One of the things I really liked about Andor was how it focuses on the regular people a lot, and it really makes us see why the rebellion is worth fighting for. It single handedly improves every other element of the franchise by showing us why the characters on the screen do what they do and why they decide to take arms against the empire

33:56 Nemek equates his manifesto to the navigational device. The very same one that he used to guide their ship through the Eye and allows the heist to succeed, even as he was DYING. There are layers atop layers of each symbolic moment in this show that makes me cry sometimes.

Bush getting a standing ovation to the sound of Duel of the Fates is wayyy too scary.

My biggest takeaway from the show: this is the first time I have never wanted to live in star wars. You can see why everyone hates their lives under the empire for once, you cant even enjoy the beach without being arrested. Even in the most grime episodes of Clone wars, I was like "it'd be kinda fun to hang out at that clone bar Fives goes to", but with this show, no thanks.

The scariest thing about Skeene to me is that he might have been lying when he said he wanted to split the money with Kassian and run. To me that came across as Skeene testing Kassian to see if he'd be willing to screw the rebels over or sell them out. I think he was waiting for Kassian to agree and then Skeene would have been the one to quickdraw a blaster. Instead, Kassian pretended he hadn't quite decided yet and he shot first. But at the end of the day it's impossible to know.

In ep 6 the Eye when it’s all over and Cass is talking to Skeen and Skeen is like “You and I are the same, you just care about yourself so let’s just take all the money”. I’m pretty sure for him it was like looking in the mirror and being horrified that “after all that, am I just like this heartless douche?”. Then he kills him in a bit of a panic decision from not wanting to be faced with the reality of that self-reflection. So good! Great analysis btw!

In the last episode, in the riot scene on Ferrix, when that first pipe bomb was thrown and we cheer for the rebels knowing full well that they are "terrorists" in the eyes of authority, that's when I knew that this show had truly done something special.

The interrogation scene with the headset was brilliant. It had lovecraftian class to how the "unfathomable horror" was described only by what effect it had.

The milk scene reminds me of the famous shakespearean line "The warm milk of human kindness" and Andor wasnt ready to drink from it because he's still jaded and looking out for himself.

I rewatched Andor after finished Ahsoka and the level in quality in basically all departments is night and day.

Watching Andor as an Iranian in the middle of the current revolt against the Islamic Republic was very interesting. It's a PERFECT depiction of what life under a totalitarian dictatorship is really like, and fighting against them feels like. Even some of the dialogue in the series are things I hear daily in streets of Iran right now. Some scenes were actually difficult to watch. Like when Brix's boyfriend gets shot, or when she gets tortured. That shit is happening for real, in even more violent manner in Iran right now.

The metaphor of a child's smashing his toys together definitely fits for these shows.

The bit about cameos honestly makes me feel refreshed looking at the bad batch again, especially now that it's finally getting it's second season. Sure, it's got cameos, but they're thus far ones that make absolute sense with what's going on. The best examples so far being Rex, a clone deserter trying to find his way in the galaxy in a show about clone deserters trying to find their way in the galaxy, and Cody, a clone having second thoughts about order 66 and his loyalty to the empire right in the middle of the overarching plot of the clone army being replaced for those exact reasons.

i havent gotten far yet, but i need to tell you how much i love the sentence "what happens when an ourobouros finishes eating itself?" as a description of the last few years of star wars

I loved this series. It's one of the first pieces of Star Wars media that feels like it was written by an adult

you should mention the irony of Nemik literally being crushed from the weight of Emperial capital.

Just a small thing to add, Nemek's hat is based off of the Budenovka, a hat commonly associated with the Early Red Army of the Civil War Era

Thanks for being present during the narration. It makes the video so relatable. Seeing your reaction makes your points far more real than pure voiceover.

The last bit about Luthen's speech paralleling with Kino's subconscious thoughts? Also pairs nicely with the other Andor in the show, Marvaa Andor, whom also burned herself for a tomorrow she'll never see. Andor is truly one of the most remarkable pieces of Star Wars to come out and it's strange to think Disney actually approved of this.

I am so ready for the tidal wave of Andor video essays

Just discovered your videos and really appreciate your deep takes on the themes behind the story, and how they're demonstrated through the characters and plot lines. THANKS!!

A lot of Star Wars media talk about hope and how important it is but in Andor you finally understand what it feels like. Nemik’s manifesto will be forever etched into my brain.

One thing about the Skeen arc that is also important to Cassian's reaction is that Skeen lied about his brother and how the Imperials possessed and flooded his brother's land. Andor's loss and search for his sister in contrast to Skeen's lie is one of the reasons here why he takes the shot beyond the other moral reasons.

I love the way you articulated fan service. When a story becomes so self referential that there is no longer a self to reference. I understand the marketing success behind the concept but as a fan you just get so tired of sitting through it. Fan service, post credit scenes, and easter eggs have become the fart jokes of modern writing. :(

Andy Serkis has said in interviews that he saw Kino character as a former foreman, who looks out for his guys and tried to unionize but got burned and that's how he ended up here.

Andor is litterally the only thing keeping star wars alive for me

The part where Luthen and Saw are talking and Saw lists all the other Star Wars-world ideologies that he is competing with was so cool to me. It just baffled my mind that they would get that explicitly political and identify Saw as an anarchist

Despite the lack of fan-service, Andor's visual story-telling and shot composition is probably the most consistent with the Lucas Trilogy since Disney took over the franchise. Pay attention - every episode is loaded with "ring shots", characters framed by large spherical arcs, patterns on floors, doors, gateways etc, which was a huge thing in the Lucas films. Rather than overt fan-service for fans whose ideas of being serviced is getting props and characters, Andor is full of service for fans who loved the more subtle visual iconography and camera work of the Lucas trilogy. No, I'm not joking. Look for it. Characters are endlessly framed by circles in every episode lol.

Andor is such a _British_ show and I mean this with the highest of praise. The main Star Wars saga is at its core a qunitessentially American kind of feel-good good guys vs. bad guys kind of story. Andor is what would happen if you took the anti-imperialist spirit of Star Wars and told it through a more Black Mirror-type lens - the prison episodes in particular gave me big Black Mirror vibes. In the original trilogy, the Empire are just the space n*zis for the heroes to blast. Andor is more about the _spiritual_ evil of fascism - how it rots the human spirit from within. We see it in the cultural genocide of the people of Aldhani, in the robotically cruel panopticon-world of Narkina 5, and we see it back home on Coruscant in the soul-crushing bureaucracy of the Bureau of Standards. The torture device they used on Ferrix was also a whole new level of soul-destroying not before seen in Star Wars as well, I thought that in particular was delightfully horrific.

Yours is a very interesting perspective, because I've always felt a sense of Imperial sympathy in Star Wars that I think most people don't experience. The ISB as portrayed in Andor, for example, could very well be the good guys if you put some of their board room meetings in another context, and it is only because they are portrayed torturing people and aiding in the Empire's deliberate erasure of native peoples that we are clued in to the fact that, yes, these people are aiding and abetting an evil regime. Because colonialism isn't cool nor hip. On the other side, we have the rebel characters, who are lawbreaking, murdering, mercenary, thieving, lying, and throwing bombs into crowds, yet these are the ones we cheer for, despite the fact that we know that the people being shot, bombed, and stolen from are just people like anybody else - one of the rebels is, in fact, an ex-stormtrooper. The uniformed faces of the Empire are not machines which exist to be killed for the cause, but people who, for one reason or another, are serving a tyrannical ruler. Every rebel comes from a history of some kind, making their insurgency a deeply personal thing which we get to peer into in every conversation, culminating in the deeply moving monologues of the Rebel Manifesto and Maarva Andor. The Empire is also full of people like the Lieutenant, who fell in love and betrayed the Empire for a broken heart, or the Sergeant who believes in something greater than himself, or even the tired administrators that just want to have another boring, uneventful day at the office. Rebels aren't the only ones with a past, and aren't the only ones with tragic pasts, so why do their agonies make it good for them to wage war? It's easy to imagine that the child who saw his father held hostage by rebels, marched through the base, forced to his knees at gunpoint, and gagged beside his mother to await rescue might end up becoming equally as ardent in his support of the Empire as Cassian is in his support for the Rebellion. The tension that exists here is why Luthen's line "condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them" resonated with me. It's not saying "the Empire is bad simply because it's an empire" but because the atrocities they perpetuate across the galaxy are bad. But the rebellion exists in a raw and complicated situation wherein they end up also doing evil things, supposedly for 'the greater good' but ultimately how can you distinguish one atrocity from the next? Indeed, Luthen's intention was to use terror tactics to induce an uptick of oppression upon completely unrelated innocent beings in order to create more tragedies which creates more rebels driven by their personal vendettas so that they can grow in size and influence. And there is also the depiction of the New Republic as ineffectual, corrupt, overly bureaucratic, and equally Core-World-centric as the Empire and its predecessor in shows like the Mandalorian, which ultimately leads to the resurgence of the First Order and the necessity of the Resistance. I kind of hate that the ultimate fate of heroic people is to just repeat the mistakes of the past, though...it makes Star Wars feel ultimately hopeless, and it paints the sacrifices made by characters like Luthen in a ghastly light.

Andor also has excellent use of referential props _that make sense._ Andor’s blaster is the same exact one used by Kyle Katarn in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knights series and Luthan’s gallery featuring a treasure trove of canon and legends references alike are great examples of this. But there’s no one going, “Oh Cass! It’s so cool that you shot that storm trooper with your K-16 blaster!” In the show itself

One of the many things I loved about this show was the thematic ties to the original trilogy. You can draw a straight line between everything andor thinks about the empire and Luke's line to the emperor in Ep6: "your overconfidence is your weakness". This show expands that line and shows it, rather than tell it.

I finished Andor months ago and I still think and talk about it. Not sure what other piece of a giant franchise I have ever done that about

Thanks for a truly inspiring oped. I honestly didn't noticed some of these points while I watched this series. but am thoroughly invested now!!!!

“While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free..." -Eugene Debs

I love how Andor doesn't ignore anyone in the empire. In any other star wars show Syril (rent a cop) would have been forgotten about after the botched capture. I expected him to disappear and was surprised when he didn't. Because the show doesn't ignore the threat he is. He's pathetic, he's only barely competent enough and he is a dyed in the wool loyal fascist. He is careening towards something. He's gonna crash into someone and it's very tense waiting to find out who. I also want to nominate Syril and Dedra as the WORST couple of the year with a standing ovation.

Andor was so special to me, in a way that I couldn't describe, that when you played the intro at 6:30 I almost cried. That show that takes you on that ride of "my/everybody's life is about to change"

The editing of this & duel of the fates in this is amazing.

My favorite thing about Andor is that soldiers actually use cover and infantry tactics. Unlike in almost every other show where everyone stands in the open and shoot from the hip

Honestly, regarding fan service, Saw Gererra in Rogue One is how to do it right. They wanted to include an extremist type rebell and someone came around saying we already have someone (from story group iirc) like that in TCW. So they used him. If you need someone or something to serve a certain purpose, looking for what already exists in that vein is the right move imho. You don't have to reinvent the wheel and it's a nice way to tie what you're doing into the existing universe.

On the Mandalorian and fatherhood: Din Djarin represents traditional masculinity and stoicisme. Him taking off the helmet, is him exposing himself and showing vulnerability. It's an important part of the climax of season 2, having taking off the helmet so they can connect on a deeper emotional level.

Nemeck's manifesto is interesting. It's about Independence. A Declaration of sorts regarding gaining freedom from an oppressive empire. An empire of British...accents.

What I love is that Luthen's gallery was basically a shiny trove of easter eggs to force fans to pay attention to what was happening in those scenes. And I say this as someone who actively had to contribute to the algorithm by writing about the easter eggs. At the same time, there are a few "easter eggs" that are made more into themes that I adored. The refrain of "climb" throughout is about Cassian and other rebels taking a leap of faith and rising up against the empire, while also calling back to K2SO's last words to Cassian.

'The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.' After seeing a platter of f*scist memes delivered to me on Facebook each day (by my groups making fun of the original posts of course), this line gave me some mental ammo against the modern resurgence of the idea that people need to be violently controlled to conform. And this show gave us the best clapback. We've needed some strong, anti-authoritarian quotes as of late.

Excellent video!! One point in the show that I found very interesting was the dynamic between Luthen and Saw Gerrera, between system agnostic anti-authoritarianism and one with a specific system in mind. Gerrera not working with the other rebels more generally because they are not for his solution, only opposed to the common problem. On the one hand it is factionalism that often breaks down revolutionary movements before they can get off the ground, but on the other hand uncertainty of the end goal (or even certainty on half baked political/economic systems) often leads to authoritarian regimes reemerging from the power vacuum.

I was excited for Andor. Then I heard the creator say that they specifically avoided fanservice and references. Then I was very very excited. Then the trailer came out and I couldn't wait

Yes, this technically was made by the Disney Corporation but Tony Gilroy has said he had very little adult supervision. I think that says a lot.

When Vel spoke of the Aldhani highland clearances, while filming on location in the Scottish Highlands, which were cleared in exactly that manner, I may have gasped. Ferrix is very much a Star Wars equivalent of a British working class town (damp, red bricks). I wouldn't be surprised if the final episode was based on when Thatcher crushed the miners' strikes in the 70s/80s.

Andor brought tears to my eyes

The misplaced censor on the juggernaut had me serving all over the highway

Another interesting thing about Andor's fanservice - there's much, _much_ more than just the blue milk in there. There's the fact that it canonizes KOTOR by mentioning the Rakata, there's Andor's Bryar Pistol, Saw Gerrera, Mon Mothma - but you don't need to know _anything_ about any of that beforehand to get maximum enjoyment out of the story. All that stuff I just mentioned has plenty of its own relevance, so it feels natural. Like the Rakata. It's cool if you know it, but you really don't _need_ to know the crystal's intricate backstory. Cause the crystal has a lot of relevance to Luthen's wealth, how it signifies Cassian as an outsider and mercenary, how it spurs on the rift between him and Skeen... It's how I think fanservice and referencing the Expanded Universe of a work should be. It's not a main course, it's more of a condiment that can enhance the meal as needed.

Tension. Yes. That's how I always describe Andor. Tension. The tension is why its pace is never boring. Masterpiece.

You hit the nail in the head on this one. Thank you for your beautiful and intelligent words.

The political theme of the prequels was, is still my favourite part about those movies and the fact the clone wars only exemplifies the political aspects is why I love it so much

I need more footage of politicians talking with sith music playing

It’s amazing that they made a TV show about space travel and laser beams where the most unrealistic part is the bad policemen getting fired

This is the first video of yours I watched and I was a little iffy at first but then you said you put yourself in charge of this ‼️ And that brought me right back in great work 😇

26:06, I’d just like to point out I think it was a Deathstar test, as it was being developed as early as before the Clone Wars started. “Mining disaster” is repeatedly used to Coverup the Deathstar Project, namely Jedha and Scarif suffering “Mining disasters” during Rogue One.

I think they needed to train audiences to notice they were using accurate numbers I'm fight scenes. I'm so used to there being infinite enemies I'd never considered that there were actual numbers to count ( its great to use these real numbers of enemies, I just didn't expect it)

Andor finally went places that I've personally wanted Star Wars to go for ages. Brilliant stuff from start to finish

As a Scot, I love the second arc, which is all filmed in the Scottish highlands, and so closely reflects the highland clearances, where Gaelic communities where coerced and forced off their traditional land by wealthy British landowners.

The missplaced bleep on juggernaught is gold dude, GOLD

The anti-fan service stuff is so true. This show really went out of its way NOT to give fans what they've already seen a million times. It was about the workers vs the ruling class, the proletariat vs the bourgeoisie, and that is a dynamic that has long existed in Star Wars but hasn't been explored in any real capacity until now.

Something that I love about the setups in Andor regarding characters who lead the rebellion knowing the won’t see the fruits of their labor is that we all know Andor takes on a suicide mission in Rogue One and never sees the end of the rebellion. This was the kind of video I’ve been waiting for on Andor. So many others are about Easter eggs like the security camera and they’re uninteresting.

Fantastic analysis. You articulated all the themes and small details I was enjoying but couldn't define.

One very subtle fan service reference Andor did make, was the Rakatan crystal Luthen gives Andor. The Rakatans were an ancient advanced alien species who built the first galactic empire and brought hyperspace technology to the galaxy. I haven’t heard another mainline Star Wars show or movie mention this. I think adding some history to your world building is always a positive (take Lord of the Rings for example). I don’t think being self referential is a bad thing in itself - it’s bad when it’s recycling the same characters or when it’s insignificant things like you said.