Spoiler WarningAndor is the expansion of the Star Wars universe we didn’t know we needed. This dark and gritty spy thriller tells a story that we’ve never seen before. Set in the darkest timeline of the galaxy, Andor is a completely different Star Wars show in the best way possible. Reprising his role as Cassian Andor, Diego Luna is simply fantastic while the show resonates on certain themes that reflect upon the kind of world we live in today. Andor is a much slower-paced spy story that’s more focused on character exploration rather than epic action sequences.
Star Wars: Andor serves as a prequel to Rogue One, which was released back in 2016. The series follows the character Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) which takes place five years before the events of the original film. Andor is a more grounded and mature show that features several new characters who will deeply be involved in politics, spies, and espionage. The first 2 episodes begin with a slow burn, but episodes 3 & 4 easily redeem themselves incredibly well.
Episode 101
In the opening minutes of the series premiere, Cassian Andor arrives on Morlana One during a rainy evening heading towards the Morlana Corporate Zone. Walking his way through town, Cassian reaches his destination at a local bar. Inside the bar, he’s served a drink at the counter and begins to ask questions about someone’s whereabouts. He claims that the person he is looking for is a girl from the planet Kenari who happens to be his sister. During his time at the bar, two Sentry Guards aren’t pleased with his presence and begin harassing him.
Failing to obtain any new information about his sister’s whereabouts, Cassian decides to leave the bar. On his way back to his ship, the same two Sentry Guards come up behind Cassian. As the situation escalates, Cassian has no choice but to kill both Sentry Guards and immediately leave Morlana One. Having to commit murder in order to escape, Cassian arrives back home in Ferrix, which is a planet in the Morlani System that is mainly used as a free trade sector. Aware that the authorities will eventually come looking for him, Cassian establishes a cover story with his droid B2EMO (Dave Chapman) and friend Brasso (Joplin Sibtain).
In the first of many flashbacks, Cassian is shown as a young boy living in a village in the jungle on the planet Kenari. The people living in his village were all children, including Cassian’s sister. It was just another day at the village until a ship had broken through the atmosphere crashing down towards a nearby area. Back on Morlana One at the Corporate Security Headquarters, Deputy Inspector Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) begins his investigation to find the murderer who killed the two Sentry Guards. Cassian decides to get help from his old friend Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) by selling a special item to her secret contact so that he can make enough money and leave Ferrix for a while and lie low.
Episode 102
On Kenari, Cassian leaves the village with a group to scout the area where the ship had previously crashed, leaving his sister to stay behind and wait for his return. Going back to present day, Deputy Inspector Karn makes enough progress in his investigation to be able to describe Cassian’s description and sends a message out for people to identify. Cassian arrives at the home of where he and his adoptive mother Maarva (Fiona Shaw) live. She’s already aware that Cassian is being investigated and is worried he will eventually be captured. Bix’s secret contact (Stellan Skarsgard) arrives on Ferrix and travels into town to meet with her.
Bix’s lover, Timm Karlo (James McArdle) becomes suspicious and jealous of Cassian’s constant presence around Bix and decides to report Cassian’s location and image to the authorities. After successfully identifying and locating Cassian Andor, Deputy Inspector Karn arranges a team to travel to Ferrix to arrest Cassian. In another Kenari flashback, young Cassian and his scout group arrive at the crash site, revealing several dead bodies in the area. As the leader of the group decides to take a closer look at the damaged ship, a passenger wakes up and immediately shoots her. While the group retreats with their leader’s body, young Cassian decides to stay behind and enter the ship.
Episode 103
Young Cassian is seen entering the ship and walking through several rooms searching for answers. During his time on the ship, a much younger Maarva also appears on the same ship in search of something. She runs into young Cassian where they meet for the very first time. Realizing that she has no choice and is out of time, Maarva decides to take young Cassian with her knowing that the area is too dangerous for him to stay behind.
Bix’s contact, Luthen, finally arrives to meet with Cassian. At the same time, Deputy Inspector Karn arrives at Ferrix with his team to capture Cassian. During Luthen and Cassian’s first ever encounter, Luthen reveals that he really didn’t come to Ferrix to retrieve the special item, but that he was really there to recruit Cassian. He also reveals that he knows everything about Cassian and that he’s his only hope of leaving Ferrix alive. After an intense battle against Deputy Inspector Karn and his team, they manage to get away in Luthen’s ship and leave the planet.
Overall Andor is absolutely a one-of-a-kind Star Wars series. The show is beautifully shot, with impressive writing, cinematography, and acting performances. Andor is visually stunning in a very dangerous world. Star Wars: Andor is coming to Disney+ on September 21, 2022.
The first season will consist of a total of 12 episodes while it has been confirmed that the series will return for a second season.