Andor Episode 10 delivers an epic prison break and a shocking twist

Star Wars: Andor is all about spies and the brutal makings of a Rebellion. And while episode 10, “One Way Out,” has its most thrilling moments during the prison break on Narkina 5, it ends with a surprising twist that makes us rethink much of what we’ve watched in the previous nine episodes.

As always there will be SPOILERS below for this week’s episode of Andor.

Andor Episode 10 review: “One Way Out”

Starting at the climactic end, Episode 10 concludes with the revelation that the unassuming ISB officer Lonni Jung (Robert Emms) is a Rebel mole working for Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård). The two meet in a deserted lower level of Coruscant, where Lonni asks to be done with his service to the Rebellion.

Even as we’ve been groomed to have little compassion for Imperials, Lonni’s reasoning for wanting to give up his spy hat is a tragic one. It’s been a year since he and Luthen have been in contact, and in that time Lonni had a child. He tells Luthen he’s done with the Rebellion and with the ISB because of fear and stress.

His reasoning is understandable, but it gives Luthen the opportunity to give one of the greatest speeches in all of Star Wars. Lonni questions what Luthen has sacrificed for the cause, to which Luthen yells “everything.”

Luthen has sacrificed a life of love and friendship. He has burned away his own kindness and decency to give it all for the futures of others. He has sacrificed everything he has and then some not for himself, but for the next generation. “I burn my life to make a sunrise I know I’ll never see,” he says.

Luthen, and eventually people like Cassian and Jyn Erso, sacrifice everything for the cause of the Rebellion. They do what they do so that people like Luke Skywalker can fly X-Wings into the Death Star and blow it up.

Luthen drives this point home to Lonni — once you’re in the Rebellion, and even as far into the ISB ranks as he is, there’s no going back. Neither the Rebellion nor the Empire will let him go.

It’s a gut-wrenching monologue that foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice Cassian will make in Rogue One — dying on the beaches of Scarif alongside Jyn after successfully transmitting the Death Star plans to the Rebellion.

Cassian (Diego Luna), on the other hand, is currently still five years away from Scarif. And in Andor Episode 10, he helps execute one of the greatest prison breaks in all of entertainment history.

“One Way Out” opens immediately after Kino (Andy Serkis) finally tells Cassian there are no more than 12 guards on each floor at any given time. Cassian sees this revelation and the one about them not ever getting released from prison as catalysts for escape.

Kino at first is still hesitant to fight back against the Imperials, believing they still have the power at the prison. But Cassian assures him that “power doesn’t panic,” and he’s seen how they struggle to maintain a grip on the thousands of inmates in the facility.

Cassian also pushes Kino over the edge by telling him he’s rather die fighting them than die by giving them what they want — which is complacency and subservience with no reward or hope of freedom. This epic prison escape hinges on the conviction that Cassian and all the other prisoners are “already dead” and have nothing left to lose. So, why roll over and accept the fate the Empire has given them? Instead, give the Imperials hell.

And give them hell, they all do. The prisoners quickly exploit every weakness they’ve observed during their many shifts to break lifts, shut down the power to the electrified floors, and kill every Imperial officer on sight.

When Cassian and Kino make it to the command center, they flex their newfound power and force the two Imperial hostages to stand “on program” with their hands behind their heads. Then, Kino delivers the other soul-stirring monologue of the episode, delivering a rallying cry to the entire facility and encouraging every prisoner to fight back.

Kino and Cassian are the sparks that ignite rebellion at the facility, especially when Kino repeats Cassian’s earlier words to the rest of the prisoners, announcing that he’d “rather die trying to take them down than give them what they want.”

When the prisoners make their way up to the loading docks, they start to leap off the edge into the waters below. But Kino tells Cassian he can’t swim and looks on horrified that he truly is “already dead.”

Cassian and Melshi (Duncan Pow) make it to shore, but Kino’s fate is left unanswered.

Andor‘s prison arc has proved to be another catalyst for Cassian’s transition from self-serving rogue to selfless spy ready to give it all for a higher cause. He’s been on the sidelines for much of the series so far, content to stay out of the Imperial spotlight and only fighting back when it serves his own goals.

Now, it’s clear Cassian understands the stakes for himself and for so many others like him around the galaxy. The last two episodes of Andor season 1 are going to be absolutely epic.

Episode Grade: A+

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