When it comes to Star Wars, fans have learnt to be wary. It often serves up offerings that can divide the fan base down the middle and you either hate it or you love it. So it’s not surprising that most fans are wary of what to expect from Star Wars: Andor, which premieres on Disney+ Hotstar with three episodes on September 21.
But ever since the first trailer hit, the wariness has given way to genuine excitement for most. Mostly because it looks like nothing we’ve seen before but at the same time very familiar. And if you’ve loved Rogue One: The Star Wars Story, a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope, which came out of nowhere and ended up being the most memorable till The Mandalorian literally gave us fans a new hope for the franchise, then this show could be exactly what you need.
But even more so, this seems like a show that non-Star Wars people could also enjoy because this is more a spy and political thriller than an intergalactic saga where battles are won or lost by Jedis with lightsabers and war machines.
Who is Cassian Andor and why do we care about him?
“Everything I did, I did for the Rebellion. And every time I walked away from something I wanted to forget, I told myself it was for a cause I believed in. A cause that was worth it. Without that, we’re lost. Everything we’ve done would have been for nothing” — Cassian Andor in Rogue One.
Star Wars fans will remember him from Rogue One. The Rebellion intelligence officer and assassin, portrayed by Diego Luna, was the man who led a rebel unit called Rogue One to Scarif to steal plans for the Death Star that actually enabled the Rebel fleet in A New Hope to destroy it. We know that Andor often undertook morally questionable missions against the Galactic Empire, mostly on his own, completing missions even if he had to pull the blaster on someone who was not the enemy. And (spoiler) we know that Andor believed in the cause so much so that he died with the rest of the team on Scarif, giving his life for the Rebellion he had been fighting for from age six.
Where in the timeline does the show fit?
“Before a new hope emerges in a galaxy far far away. Before the creation of a devastating weapon known as the Death Star. And before a team of rebels known as Rogue One unite for the first time. An unsuspecting thief named Cassian Andor will be thrust onto a journey that sparks the birth of a Rebellion and sets in motion everything you’ve come to know” — Diego Luna, Andor TV spot.
In a new Andor spot, Luna, who is reprising the role of Andor, spells out exactly when the show takes place. And for a change, it is a perfectly planned timeline that ties in with the events of both Rogue One and A New Hope.
From what we have gathered from interviews of the cast and crew, Andor is set around five years before the incidents of Rogue One, and therefore five years before the events of A New Hope. So technically, it is a prequel of a prequel. The first season of 12 episodes will cover the first of the five years and season two will cover the other four years — each year being explored in chunks of three episodes — and lead up to the events of Rogue One.
How does it tie in with other Star Wars shows?
Set as it is five years before A New Hope, it has the same timeline as the animated show Star Wars: Rebels and though Andor hasn’t cropped up in the show, it isn’t to say that Rebels crew can’t show up in Andor. Given that Andor, as a spy for the Rebellion, had contacts across the galaxies in various insurgent cells, like the ones operating in Rebels, we wouldn’t be surprised if some of them did cross paths with him. Two other characters, who have been both in Rogue One and Rebels, will also show up in Andor and we are eager to find out how their character arcs in this show tie in with their arcs in Rebels.
Mon Mothma at the Imperial Senate Disney+ Hotstar
Are there any familiar faces or places in the show?
From whatever materials have been dropped, there are a few familiar faces and places that had fans taking to the Internet to express their delight. One of them is the fan-favourite Mon Mothma, who we had first met as a commander of the Rebel forces in the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi.
Mon Mothma: In more recent times we saw Mon Mothma, now played by Geneveive O’Reilly, in Rogue One where she was the leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In Rebels, we see her (voiced by O’Reilly) leave the Imperial Senate and become the public face of the Rebel Alliance. It seems like in Andor, where she is considered almost a co-lead, Mon Mothma still believes that she can serve the fight against the Empire from the inside as part of the Imperial Senate. The show will probably track her journey to the roles we see in Rebels and Rogue One.
Saw Gerrera: The other character whose return has fans clamouring is the militant leader Saw Gerrera, played in Rogue One by Forest Whitaker. Gerrera, who led a group called the Partisans, was labelled too extreme by the Rebel Alliance. When we met him in Rogue One, he was settled with his militant group on the planet Jedha. Gerrera has also shown up in the animated series Clone Wars and in Rebels. It will be interesting to see where his story is in this series.
The other familiar things that showed up in the trailers for Andor that have us chomping at the bits? First, Clone troopers. How?! Clone troopers were phased out by the Empire much before 5BBY (Battle of Yavin), which is when Andor is set. Our best guess is that it is a flashback to Andor’s childhood. Andor was born in 26BBY and grew up during the Clone Wars, so this could be a scene from then.
Second, the Imperial Senate and Coruscant! We return to the Senate and Coruscant after the prequel series, and it has changed some. The central presence of the senate gives us the idea that Andor will be somewhere between the politics of the prequel trilogy via Mon Mothma and the rebellion of the original trilogy via Cassian Andor.
We haven’t seen Andor’s fan-favourite droid companion K2SO yet, but I am sure he will join the refugee spy sometime on his journey.
What we like so far?
This is the grittiest we have seen Star Wars get and that is exciting. The shots look great, nothing like the cheap backgrounds we have seen in The Book of Boba Fett or Obi-Wan Kenobi. In fact this looks as good as The Mandalorian. The background score sounds amazing and is giving us goosebumps already. Oh and we love the fact that this is a story not of the Jedis or the Rebel leaders but about the regular people who are almost always forgotten who actually make a rebellion happen. After all, as Andor told us, “Rebellions are built on hope”.