After two seasons and 24 episodes, Andor has come to an end with a somewhat unnecessary final arc that wraps up the storylines for characters like Luthen Rael and Dedra Meero, preparing the way for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
It's been nine years since Rogue One released, three years since the first season of Andor, and now we have the full story. As Vader might say, the circle is now complete, and we've gotten to see Cassian's journey from a selfish mercenary only concerned with his own problems to becoming a key figure in the Rebel Alliance who eventually gives his life to ensure the Death Star can be destroyed. It's been quite the journey that's included Cassian's time as a prisoner in the clinically inhumane prison of Narkina 5 and his period as Luthen Rael's agent inciting rebellion around the galaxy before finally becoming a full member of the Rebel Alliance and learning how to be a part of something bigger than himself, for the good of the whole galaxy.
In many ways, Cassian's story ended in the previous three episodes. There was little further development for him here, though it wouldn't be unfair to say he's often been the least interesting character in the show, even if his name is attached to it.
These final three episodes were more of an epilogue. The main storyline of the season revolved around the attempt to stir up rebellion on Ghorman, as the Empire wanted control of the planet so it could mine it for the precious minerals buried there, minerals vital to the effort to build the Death Star. That plot ended last week with the Ghorman Massacre, the death of Syril, and the culmination of Dedra's plan. So really, there wasn't all that much left to play with.
These three episodes were more an exercise in tying up loose ends, not just from this season, but from the first one as well, focusing on the characters who don't appear in Rogue One to get them out of the way before the events of that film. It's necessary to some extent, but it does come across as a bit perfunctory, lining up the pins one last time so they can all be knocked down and pushed out of the picture, which is probably better than leaving them hanging.
Star Wars: Andor reviews, Season 2, Episodes 10-12: "Make It Stop," "Who Else Knows?" and "Jedha, Kyber, Erso"
The biggest benefactor here is Luthen Rael, who gets a chunk of backstory filled in, with extended flashbacks to when he was an Imperial soldier who rescued Kleya from a war zone before starting to fight back against the Empire. As always, there's a risk with revealing backstory that it will never be as interesting as the speculation; it risks ruining the mystery of a character as complex as Luthen. In this case, it comes pretty close. It's an old story of someone who becomes disillusioned with the power they fight in the name of and turn against it, the same with characters like Wedge Antilles or Agent Kallus.
In Luthen's case, it's an oddly impersonal revelation. We still have no idea what his life was like before the war or what he lost as a result, and there's no real reason why he should have chosen to carry on the fight rather than simply running, especially once he took on the responsibility of caring for Kleya. Really that's what these flashbacks are there to do, to show how far back their relationship goes, and how he's something like a father figure to her, which makes her decision to kill him so he can't be tortured and used by the Empire all the more devastating. Yet it would have worked as well without it, or at the very least, if these flashbacks had been split up and peppered throughout the show, it would have given more meaning to their interactions before now, when they appeared to be colleagues and fellow fighters for the rebellion.
Probably the worst-served character in this show is Bix, who was rather unceremoniously shoved offstage last week with a cliched "I'm leaving for your sake" letter. She really couldn't have been allowed to stay in the show though, as she's too important a character to be missing from Rogue One without a good explanation. It would have been rather tired to just fridge her, perhaps as a final push to get Cassian to join the rebellion full time, and I'm not sure how it could have been handled any better. It's an odd choice for her to return to Mina Rau, though, as she must be on some most wanted list after killing an Imperial officer there and then fleeing with another fugitive on a stolen TIE prototype.
As for the rest of the characters, they're dealt with almost as brutally as though it were Order 66. Jung is killed by Luthen, Partigaz commits suicide rather than face whatever punishment the Empire has planned, and Dedra gets thrown into jail. It's not so much tidying up loose ends as sweeping them under the carpet so there's no way they can interfere with Rogue One. It's something, but not entirely satisfactory, and still leaves characters like Wilmon around, so not everything is squared away. But in the same way you can jump from Rogue One straight into A New Hope, now you're able to lead straight from Andor into the movie that started it all.
The tenth episode is titled "Make it Stop," and there's something in that. I think these three episodes were unnecessary, if Luthen's story had been wrapped up earlier. Naturally, they are extremely well made, but they feel more like extras added on to the end, the "extended edition" of the show that goes on a bit longer than it should. Sometimes it's better to leave things unsaid and let the audience make up their own minds.
I'm sure that Andor will remain a contentious show, with its darker, more mature feel and lack of iconography we usually see in Star Wars movies. But there's no denying it's an excellently made show that looks at the rise of a rebellion against tyranny from both sides: the political overlook with Mon Mothma, and the groundwork of building an army from nothing with Cassian and Luthen. At times it could be frustrating with how it contradicts some of the central ideas of Star Wars, such as the nature of heroes and villains, but it's still a solid, compelling story of the fight for freedom.
Episode grade: B
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