Who Are The Empire’s Secret Police In ‘Andor’?
Image Source: Wookieepedia
The first three episodes of Andor, directed by Tony Gilroy, do an excellent job of setting the groundwork and kicking off the premise for the Rogue One prequel series. Led by powerful performances from Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, Stellan Skarsgård and more, we are given an intimate look at Cassian’s life prior to joining the Rebel Alliance. The tone for the series is effectively established in the first scene of the first episode, in which Cassian enters a brothel on Morlana One to locate his missing sister, only to be held at gunpoint by a pair of armed security guards working for the Preox-Morlana Authority.
In the ensuing struggle, Cassian accidentally kills one of the guards and ends up having to kill the other one before he hastily returns to Ferrix. This encounter puts Cassian in the crosshairs of the Pre-Mor Authority, who ultimately send the Pre-Mor Enforcement to Ferrix to arrest him.
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What makes the Pre-Mor Enforcement unique from previous Imperial foot soldiers is that they don’t operate like typical stormtroopers. As a corporate military force, their purpose is to serve the needs of the Pre-Mor corporation first and foremost, even if that means working outside the knowledge of the Galactic Empire. This is demonstrated by Chief Inspector Hyne of the Pre-Mor Security Inspection Team, who would rather create a cover story for the deaths of the guards than bring in the Empire to investigate. Despite this however, Syril Karn, Deputy Inspector for Preox-Morlana, is determined to bring the guards’ killer to justice.
With the assistance of Sergeant Linus Mosk, he is able to discover Cassian’s identity and leads the Pre-Mor Enforcement to Ferrix. Despite not obtaining the approval of the Empire, the Pre-Mor Enforcement is still capable of carrying out Imperial missions in the service of their corporation’s interests. Due to administering the Free Trade sector, the jurisdiction of which includes Ferrix, the Pre-Mor Enforcement have authority over Ferrix similar to the Empire, despite being subservient to the Empire themselves.
The idea of corporations acting on behalf as well as independently of the Empire is quite interesting. This unstable partnership between the Empire and Preox-Morlana creates the possibility of Imperial infighting and competing interests among the various corporations controlling trade and commerce throughout the galaxy.
Corporations like Preox-Morlana having unmoderated control over an entire sector of free trade also reinforces the Empire’s lack of supervision over how their various subsidiaries run their parts of the galaxy. If the Pre-Mor Enforcement are going to be subjugating the people of Ferrix and hunting down Cassian beneath the Emperor’s notice, could this make them a potential future enemy for the Empire? After all, the Empire owns Preox-Morlana and could easily end their business partnership if they continue to step out of line. Such a conflict between the Empire and a large part of their ownership of the galaxy could even hasten the Empire’s downfall by allowing the formation of the future Rebellion without Preox-Morlana maintaining authority over their planets.
Image Source: Inside the Magic
Andor has already set the stage for an in-depth political drama involving multiple factions of Imperial and rebel forces in a growing struggle for the fate of the galaxy. The Pre-Mor Enforcement represents a side of the Empire fuelled by corporatism, corruption and self-interest that may end up contributing to their eventual dissolution. As we see in countless Star Wars instalments, even the mightiest empire is still vulnerable to the selfish ambitions of those who work within their walls. Similarly, like the Sith themselves, Imperials are willing to undermine one another in their own pursuits of power. But if Preox-Morlana does end up straying from the Empire’s grasp, will they be able to slip through their fingers or end up being crushed in the Emperor’s fist?
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