Without beating around the bush, I will straight up say that it’s hard to believe that, as a series, Andor is a part of the Star Wars saga to begin with; that’s how good it is. Set in a franchise that has been caught up churning out nostalgia bait through cameo overload and is making unsuccessful attempts at creating its own legacy—prioritizing merchandise sales over characters with substance—over the last two decades, a story like Andor feels like a breath of fresh air. It is often said that Star Wars is at its best when it’s grounded, untouched by Jedi-Sith duality and other larger-than-life elements, and the first season of Andor proves just that. By making the Galactic Empire more nefarious than ever by translating its autocratic, tyrannical control in the context of real-world despotic regimes, making newly introduced players interact and behave like actual characters, and backing it up with a solid narrative, memorable score, deft cinematography, and awesome production design, Andor is a definitive example of how to push the boundaries of popular IPs beyond basic entertainment.
As the second season of the series is set to release later this week, let us take a brief, thorough look at the events that took place through the twelve episodes of the first season of Andor to catch up with the established storyline.
Cassian Andor: From Fugitive to Rebel
Those who are familiar with Rogue One, a prequel to Star Wars Episode IV : A New Hope will surely have an idea about Rebel Alliance leader/pilot Cassian Andor, who led his ragtag crew on one of the most significant heists in the history of the Galactic Empire, i.e., stealing the schematics of the Death Star. As a prequel to Rogue One, the first season of Andor focuses on Cassian’s growth from a disillusioned, reluctant smuggler to a formidable rebel leader. From a young age, Cassian became exposed to the oppressiveness of the slowly transforming Republic, as his home planet, Kenari, was overexploited in mining operations by Imperial forces. Cassian, known as Kassa in his native tongue, was separated from his sister, Kerri, as after witnessing the death of their teenage tribe leader at the hands of the sole survivor of a crash-landed mining ship, he ventured inside it. A smuggler couple Maarva and Clem Andor and their droid B2EMO find Kassa inside the ship, and Maarva decided to adopt the kid to save him from the ire of Republic officers and took him to their home planet, Ferrix.
Years later, during the Clone Wars, Ferrix came under the control of Imperial Stormtroopers sent by Emperor Palpatine, and Clem Andor, who wanted to defuse the growing tension between soldiers and locals, met a tragic end as he was hanged to death by Imperial forces on suspicion of fueling the unrest. Needless to say, experiences such as these had sown the seed of rebellion in Cassian’s heart from a young age. At present, in 5 BBY, Imperial Forces have assumed control across the farthest reaches of the galaxy, when a grown-up Cassian goes to Morlana One and visits a brothel in search of his long-lost sister and ends up on the wrong side of a couple of corrupt Preox-Morlana corporation soldiers. Cassian kills both of them in self-defense and returns to Ferrix to sell stolen Imperial tech to his old flame, Bix Caleen, who arranges a meeting with an interested buyer, Luthen Rael.
On the other hand, Syril Karn, a driven, ambitious deputy officer of the Preox-Morlana corporation, can’t handle upper management’s efforts to hide their incapability by covering up the murder of two officers and takes it upon himself to investigate the supposed perpetrator, Cassian Andor. It turns out that Luthen lives a dual life as an antique dealer in the Empire’s capital, Coruscant, and is really an elusive insurrectionist leader who is willing to sacrifice anything for the right cause. On Ferrix, Luthen meets with Cassian and reveals he knows a suspicious amount of his past and present. The crafty rebel leader proposes Cassian join his battle against the tyrannical Empire and offers a lucrative sum in exchange when Cassian appears unwilling to act altruistically. Things go awry when an overeager Syril leads his troop to Ferrix with the intention of capturing Cassian but ends up losing them as, with Bix’s aid, Cassian and Luthen escape from the planet. Syril’s failure cost the lives of corporation soldiers, and the Imperial Security Bureau takes over the Morlani system as a result. Syril’s overbearing mother uses family ties to have him assigned to a desk job—adding to Syril’s humiliation.
Heist on Aldhani: Gradual Formation of Rebel Alliance
The first season of Andor acts as the first foundation of the gradually unifying rebellion against the Galactic Empire, as rebel factions with their distinctly different ideals and motives start to realize the need to form an alliance. Hiding his true identity and posing as a mercenary, Cassian joins Luthen’s group of rebels in Aldhani as the group plans a heist on a local Imperial garrison to steal their quarterly payroll worth millions—rebellion needs funding, and that becomes a recurrent topic in the first season. Anyway, led by rebel loyalist Senator Mon Mothma’s cousin, Vel Sartha, the crew manages to pull off the heist successfully during the Eye of Aldhani event. But the majority of the crew, including former Stormtrooper turned rebel Taramyn Barcona and a young, bright-eyed idealist, Karis Nemik, who wrote an inspiring manifesto against Imperial tyranny, perish in the process. Cassian kills another crew member, Arvel Skeen, who was planning to betray the group, and takes his share of the loot, along with Namik’s manifesto, which the kid had left for him. Cassian returns to Ferrix. Rebel leader Vel sends her lover, Cinta Kaz, to track down and kill Cassian on suspicion of him being a turncoat.
On the other hand, the heist orchestrated by rebels draws the Empire’s ire, and the ISB doubles down on their cruel and oppressive means, resulting in more dissent across the galaxy, just as Luthen had planned. Luthen believed in inciting violence if it meant baiting Imperial forces to commit more atrocities, which in turn attracted more numbers to the rebel forces. Luthen was in close contact with the revolutionary, extremist rebel leader Saw Gerrera, whose methods were in direct contrast to the approach of Senator Mon Mothma, who tried her best to salvage whatever elements of the former Republic remained in the Senate to somehow prevent the Empire’s aggressive takeover and strengthen the rebels under Luthen’s leadership. While arranging funds for the rebellion, Mon Mothma nearly finds herself under Imperial investigation, to avoid which she makes a harsh judgment call. Mothma joins hands with shady financier Davo Sculdun, with the help of her banker associate Tay Kolma, and in exchange for having her tracks covered, she arranges for the marriage of her estranged teenage daughter, Leida, to Davo’s teenage son. Sacrifices are needed to protect and fuel the revolution, even if it comes at the cost of one’s family.
The Empire Tightens Its Grip
The retaliation for the Aldhani heist comes in the form of ISB Supervisor Dedra Meero’s rapid rise and a brutal crackdown on the denizens of Ferrix. Meero proves herself to be a loyal, ruthless, calculative Imperial bureaucrat by burying incompetent colleagues and deducing the growing insurrectionist activities of Luthen, codenamed Axis, by noticing the connection between Imperial tech thefts and separate instances of rebellion across the galaxy. Syril Karn comes under Meero’s radar, and he reveals Cassian Andor’s central role in the ongoing conspiracy. However, a headstrong, dismissive Meero refuses to take Syril’s assistance in identifying Axis or Cassian and decides to take matters into her own hands.
Imperial forces begin the unlawful detaining of Ferrix denizens, abusing the crooked Imperial Emergency Act, and in Cassian’s absence, his adoptive mother, Maarva, comes under Imperial inspection. Cassian, now possessing millions in credits, secretly returns to Ferrix following the Aldhani Heist and insists on Maarva joining him to leave the planet for good. However, Maarva had lost her husband to the Empire’s tyranny, and at present, knowing the community she grew up in is in dire peril due to Imperial oppression, she refuses to join Cassian and leave her homeworld behind. Cassian leaves, and Maarva gets injured while aiding rebel forces. After arriving at Ferix, Meero takes Bix captive to investigate her connection with Axis and Cassian and has her brutally tortured to pry any possible intel out of her.
Cassian’s Prison Escape and Ferrix’s Uprising
Cassian wanted to turn a new page in his life now that he had become rich overnight, but at the same time, given his recent history of colluding with rebels and murdering corporate officers, he was extremely wary of the Imperial forces. While spending his days on the tropical planet Niamos, Cassian was detained by an Imperial operative who became suspicious of his activities, and was sent to the Imperial prison camp on Narkina 5. At the prison, Cassian met Kino Loy, an assertive, strong-willed fellow inmate who suppressed any possibility of dissent and prison break plans so as not to risk the near completion of his sentence. However, Kino’s false hopes of freedom were crushed following the death of an older inmate, Ulaf, as an inmate/medic working under the Imperial forces revealed that the inmates will never get to leave this life of unending servitude. Kino joined hands with Cassian to orchestrate a daring prison break and motivated the inmates of the prison complex against the Imperial forces with his inspiring words. Unfortunately, Kino was unable to escape with Cassian, as leaving the prison complex meant swimming across the sea, and as tragic as it may seem, Kino did not know how to swim. The sacrifices of many such unsung characters formed the basis of rebellion in the long run. Cassian escapes with fellow prisoner Melshi, who parts ways with him after pledging to expose dastardly Imperial prison management. After learning about Maarva’s death after communicating with his old friend, Brasso, an aggrieved Cassian decides to return to Ferrix. In the meantime, each side of the warring factions—Luthen and Val representing the rebels, and ISB Supervisor Meero with the Imperial garrison—is awaiting Cassian’s arrival in Ferrix, both parties hoping to capture him for different reasons.
Maarva proves that even death can not sap the spirit of revolution, as during her memorial service, a pre-recorded holographic message from Maarva is played by B2EMO, and her firebrand speech inspires the citizens of Ferrix to engage in a violent battle with Imperial forces. Amidst the battle, Cassian makes his way through the Imperial holding cells and rescues Bix and takes Brasso and B2EMO to send them away from the planet to safety. Cassian promises to meet them later as he decides to stay behind. On the other hand, Meero gets surrounded by an angry mob but gets rescued in the nick of time by Syril Karn. Sinta Caz fails to locate Cassian and kills an Imperial officer. In the final moments of the first season, Andor confronts Luthen in his ship and swears his fealty to the cause of the rebels. Going through a myriad of experiences within a brief period, especially inspired by his adoptive mother’s words, Cassian Andor now fully believes in the ideals of freedom and equality and is willing to do whatever it takes to resist the tyrannical Empire. In the final scene of the first season, the Death Star is seen being constructed, reminding viewers of the sacrificial role Cassian and team played to topple the Galactic Empire.
