Why 'Andor' Feels So Different: The Mature, Political 'Star Wars' We've Been Waiting For
Image Source: IMDb
Now that Andor has finished, we need to discuss why this was the content that Star Wars desperately needed. It is no secret that politics play a massive role in Star Wars as we watch the Republic fall and be replaced by the Empire, the Empire fall and be replaced by the New Republic, the New Republic fall and be replaced by the First Order, and the First Order fall and be replaced by something resembling the New Republic. Something that has been missing from Star Wars politics was reality, and that is what Andor brought to the franchise.
WARNING: This article will briefly discuss sexual assault and will contain spoilers for Andor!
Star Wars has always focused at least a little bit on politics, but it wasn’t until we got Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels that we got a deeper look into how everything worked. In the prequels as well as the original trilogy, we only got glimpses into how the galaxy was run, and we never got an honest look at what it was like when the Empire took over. Andor not only gave us that missing context by showing us what was happening to people who were not related to the Skywalker Saga, but it also opened the line of conversation about what tyrannical governments can really do. We did get a small glimpse of this reality in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but the focus was still mostly on how the Jedi were affected. Andor showed us real people who were not force users who were just trying to live their lives in peace. When the Empire took control of the Galaxy, they went to every corner of it to see what they could do to intimidate the people and what they could steal in the name of the Empire.
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Image Source: IMDb
Andor focusing on the effects on regular people was what we needed. For decades, we have seen how force users were impacted, and how the good guys were always doing the right thing. This series reminded us of the reality that when you are faced with difficult situations, sometimes there isn’t a “good” choice, and you are forced to do whatever it takes to protect yourself and the ones you love. We see this throughout the series with Cassian, but it was Bix who gave us the most realistic look at how far you are sometimes pushed. Bix and the others who escaped Ferrix at the end of season one are living as “illegal” residents on Mina-Rau. They are working as farmers and using their skills to help maintain the farming equipment. After being confronted by an Imperial Officer who attempts to rape her, Bix does what is necessary and takes his life. In her situation, there was no “good” choice, there was only the choice that would save her life. This is something that we don’t get to see in other Star Wars content.
The most important thing about Andor is that it showed what was really happening behind the scenes of the Rebellion. We hear throughout the franchise that “rebellions are built on hope,” and while that is a great sentiment, it isn’t entirely true. Hope fuels others to help, which gives rebellions numbers, but rebellions are actually built on difficult choices, dead bodies, and people losing everything they have ever loved. Luthen Rael’s monologue in season one episode 10 explains perfectly what rebellions cost those who are involved:
“Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chances at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost, and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What was my sacrifice? I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!”
We needed Andor because now we respect and view the rebellion differently than ever before. We now understand what it cost to achieve victory against the Empire, and it is not something we will ever forget.
You can stream Andor on Disney+.
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