Watch Andor Season 1 with Tony Gilroy, and catch the first three episodes from Season 1 on the Disney+ YouTube channel or enjoy the entire first season now streaming on Hulu for a limited time.
Cassian Andor isn’t the hero we know when we meet him in the first arc of Andor Season 1. Obsessed with the past, self-serving and brash, he is incredibly far from the legendary Rebel Alliance leader he will become. Instead of spending his days on Yavin prepping for his mission to Scarif in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, this younger Cassian is searching for answers about his past, leading him to a brothel on the rainy world of Morlana One. And, with flashing lights and pulsating music, the cold open of that very first episode immediately plunges us into the seedy underbelly of the galaxy we know. It is a brand new kind of Star Wars story.
Premiering on September 21, 2022, this arc is an intense introduction to Cassian's past on Kenari and his upbringing on Ferrix. When viewed together, “Kassa,” “That Would Be Me,” and “Reckoning” — all directed by Toby Haynes and written by showrunner and producer Tony Gilroy — masterfully tell the story of how one relatively small incident can set off a chain of events that will alter the galaxy at large.
Where (and Who) in the World is Cassian Andor?
At the start of Andor, Cassian is sleepwalking through his life, focused on a fruitless hunt to find his sister. Rewatching these opening scenes, we meet Cassian as a burnt out, tired young man who is just trying to find some solace. And one simple action in the opening minutes of “Kassa,” — the accidental killing of a Pre-Mor security guard — violently shifts Cassian’s trajectory from the internal, almost selfish, search for his sister to an external journey to the Rebellion.
The introduction of Ferrix, where Cassian spent his formative years, is perhaps one of the most important aspects of these episodes. Our first look at the dusty planet, a Free Trade sector in the Morlani system, shows a salvage yard and a culture built on industry. Nothing new seems to be created on Ferrix, but the community has built itself up through the recycling of old and tossed-away technology. Ferrix is a brick-lined planet full of hard workers, and it is setting individual, important chess pieces for the final arc of the season, when Maarva Andor’s funeral will set off an explosive chain of events.
Scenes from Cassian’s aimless adult life on Ferrix are intercut with flashbacks to a childhood as an orphan on Kenari. Then called “Kassa,” the young boy lives among a clan of children before going to Ferrix with Maarva and Clem Andor. We may not understand the final words Kassa says to his sister, Kerri, before departing, but we don’t need to. It is a stark realization that Cassian may have grown up with the Andors on Ferrix, but there is a significant part of him that he left behind on Kenari.
Dramatis Personae
One of the most unique aspects of Andor as a series is just the sheer breadth of characters, each adding something to the overall persona of Cassian — whether it is his adoptive mother Maarva Andor’s empathy and loyalty to her planet, rebel contact Luthen Rael’s singular focus and resolve, or childhood friend Bix Caleen’s determination and ingenuity. They are not only a part of Cassian’s journey, but on a crash course of their own through the rest of this season. Luthen will soon emerge more from the shadows, connecting disparate rebel cells. Bix will find herself pushed to her absolute limits by Imperial tyranny. And Maarva (and B2EMO) will catalyze an entire movement, sparking a fiery revolution among the people of Ferrix.
But Syril Karn is perhaps the most intriguing character, serving as a foil for Cassian. Syril’s specially modified Pre-Mor uniform shows an insane sense of purpose for a job that is seemingly trivial. And, while hard working, he doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin and position, does not command respect, and demonstrates an incredible amount of destructive hubris. In way over his head, and with the world crashing around him on Ferrix, by the end of the arc Syril can barely stomach being in a battle he started. He ends this arc in disarray, and is forced to confront his internal demons during the rest of the season.
Unlike Anything Else
Taken together, these three episodes are a resounding blast of possibilities for the series: introducing a more mature subject matter than the typical Star Wars story, Andor is brimming with explosive but grounded action and shines a spotlight on the relationships of the average denizens of the galaxy. Star Wars becomes a backdrop to a truly inspired tale of political activism, as well as a dark character study. Cassian’s path to the Rebel Alliance is not without pain, suffering, and sacrifices made for the greater good.
Its pulsing, measured musical score, composed by Nicholas Britell, immediately places the viewer into this new mindset, with the second episode ending in an incredible snare drum riff that is unlike anything we have ever heard in Star Wars. (The drums bring to mind the incredible opening of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith's space battle over Coruscant, a rare musical motif in Star Wars.) That percussion is ever-present, whether reverberating via the metallic clangs that start the day on Ferrix or the banging of scrap metal to signal trouble, a cacophony that echoes throughout the entire arc and beyond, mirrored at the end of the season when Cassian returns to the planet for a somber funeral.
There is perhaps nothing more Star Wars than a character staring into their future in the stars. Cassian has seemingly moved past the fruitless quest to find his sister, and now has been forced to shift his focus to escaping from criminal charges. The incident on Morlana One serves as a catalyst for his work within Luthen’s spycraft network. And like Luke Skywalker looking over the binary sunset or Han Solo gazing into hyperspace in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and we see both the younger Kassa of the past and the older Cassian staring through the starry viewports of their rescue ships. It is a powerful way to end this arc. Both determined and unsure, the years pass seamlessly in this final scene but the eyes remain the same: Cassian is ready for whatever the future holds.
Continue your rewatch of Andor with StarWars.com as we analyze the remaining arcs of Season 1 in Andor Revisited. Andor Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+.
