Andor

The more I think about it, the more Andor stating that "The Empire caused all its biggest problems!" sticks in my craw.

I get why writers want to say "Being Evil is bad!", but the show is stating that without Death Star development, Ghorman doesn't get forcibly relocated and the Rebellion stays a bunch of scattered goons for years longer.

Without Dedra looking into Death Star material she shouldn't have had... I don't know what that changes, honestly. The show seems to be saying that this is how the Rebellion finds out about the Death Star, but Galen Erso independently sends his Rogue One message with the pilot (Bodhi?) to Saw that Tivik* then hears about and meets with Andor.

I suppose having a second source for the existence of the Death Star makes it more believable that so much of the Rebellion fleet would be willing to show up (and get hammered) over Scarif, but
1) Were there that many nerds complaining that so much of the Rebellion fleet shows up over Scarif based on hearsay?
2) That's just a Rogue One script problem, not a Star Wars problem. Rogue One also had the Death Star blow up a large chunk of Scarif (but not all of it), with most of Saw's rebels getting away, so the Rebellion not having any evidence of the Death Star frankly didn't make sense even in Rogue One on its own.

*One of the last things Luthen does is kill a troublesome informant rather than extract him; the audience is introduced to Andor doing the same thing. I see you script writers! Too bad I don't see your work on how Andor turns into a merciless killing machine one day after he's drinking and gambling in this last arc.

Armadon said:

Sooo is daedra the reason the empire loses everything? She leaked the death star plans causing everything.

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It's debatable, the Andor series implies that there were multiple causes to the ultimate downfall of the Empire that began with the Battle of Yavin / destruction of the Death Star.

Maybe Deedra started rummaging in files she shouldn't have been looking into because she wanted to find some meaning to Syril's pointless death in a Ghorman riot? But Deedra only met Syril because of Cassian's actions on Ferrix, so was it really all thanks to Cassian? None of Deedra's files would have been pirated without Luthen's mole in the ISB.. and Luthen wouldn't even be doing what he does without those atrocities on that planet in his younger days, without finding this little girl in his ship. Cassian and Kleia are saved by Melshi during the Coruscant ISB raid, but he and Melshi only met because of the Empire's justicial system and its flaws. I could go on. It's mostly a domino effect, hard to see all the consequences to so many seemingly unimportant things that culminate in a galaxy-changing event.

Those last three episodes were mostly good, I thought Kleia was a much more interesting character than Cassian but then he is better in the last half of this arc, and K2SO was awesome so that gives Cassian some bonus points. Was glad to see Radus even for just a little bit. Bail Organa's recast worked okay but I'm sad for Smitts because that would have been good scenes with him. Krennic was great, really like Mendelsohn in that role, he really nails the evil overseer who is really mostly incompetent, and his hubris ultimately causes his downfall too (and then in ANH the same hubris is what causes Tarkin to die).

I understand the sentiment that "good will always triumph because evil is wrong" is a bit silly in an adult-oriented serious-tone espionnage series like Andor, but if you're going to attach it to Star Wars, you'll need some good old manichean writing in the end because almost every imperial defeat in those films is due to puppy-kicking-level evil people doomed by their own hubris.

I mean the Empire shooting itself in the foot has always been a theme. How many capable Admirals did Vader force choke and replace them with Yes Men? We saw 3? 4? in the OG trilogy. The entire Empire's Security Bureau was a giant competition of stabbing eachother in the back to get approval from the higher ups instead of working together.

Ironically the biggest success they had on the show, Ghorman, was accomplished BECAUSE the ISB stopped mucking about and made a real plan and worked together towards a goal, and they were very very proficient. SO much so that if they always worked in that way the Rebellion had ZERO chance.

Damn it, it is finished.....

3rd best thing to ever be made for the Star Wars Universe behind the first 2 Star Wars movies. Hell, that was the best thing on period, since Shogun. I would be curious as to what 5 seasons would have involved. I did feel as though at times the pacing slowed down a little too much but when it did get going, it was a sight to behold for anybody who is a fan of Star Wars. This is the Star Wars that adults wanted.

I hope they do a steel book that also includes Rogue 1.

Given how bad most shows are and what has happened in the last 2.5 decades of Star Wars, I have to give the whole series a 10/10.



Now I want more back stories.......

I honestly wish we had spent more time with the ISB crew. Dedra appears in more episodes than anyone other than Andor, but it's unclear what her motivations are at the end. My impression was, with Ghorman completed and no Syril, she's gone back to obsessively hunting down Axis (your choice whether she's doing that to ignore the past or not), but it'd be fascinating to know if Partagaz's comments that she's been reprimanded for going out of her lane were true or just ass-protecting, as well as just how her (theoretically) teenage years as an 'orphan' under the Empire went.

Similarly Partagaz himself. The guy had to have at least been in his 40s when the Emperor took over - what were his motivations for keeping with / joining the Empire forces in the takeover? Was him listening to the 'rebellion manifesto' speech and having spent decades as an adult in the Republic enough to make him realize Palpy's takeover was falling apart, or was it something else?

I also wish they had brought back Dedra's black opponent from Season 1 instead of Heert showing up from nowhere. Not sure if that was actor availability or the show subtly and slowly moving the Empire to all whites as we reach the conclusion (and the few women are just in tech roles).

But speaking of Empire-related, I would not categorize Krennic as incompetent. The guy managed to build the goddamn Death Star, including kidnapping Galen to design the thing, and while he's a pompous windbag, he's also the first to react when the Rebels start attacking Scarif in Rogue One (and also note that all the ISB agents are terrified of his power this season).

I was left wanting more, but that's much more compliment than complaint. I called the final Bix scene but it still effectively hit the feelz. K-2 was even better here than in Rogue One

I probably said the same thing when season 1 ended, but it's really refreshing to have a prequel that actually develops and improves the older material rather than tarnishes it. Both R1 and ANH are better for Andor having been made.

Krennic's problem was the same as Vader force choking for every random failure. He literally enunciates the problem "I don't have time for why" but at the same time Dedra believes this is all a clerical annoyance until the Finger scene. Then she finally gets defensive and hopelessly expands on the Why "in classic fashion your team tortured him to death, and that crucial piece of information, rather than being directed [her] way, was buried" which he ignores to point out her own mistakes and arrogance.

"A quick solve might work wonders. I've just pushed out a massive search package, but you know as well as I do, that she's too smart to go where they are looking" Heert and Dedra literally know the exact problems with Krennic and Partagaz's approaches, but both insisted on the glory of handling it personally and look how that turned out for them.

Luthen's S1 monologue and the manifesto both brilliantly outline why one side succeeds. Partagaz at the end was still asking "who do you think it is?" having no idea it was a random grunt dead for years who knew nothing about the big picture but died to get the job done. Luthen, the mirror of the ISB on the other side, knew the glory was irrelevant he had to get the job done.

Malakriss said:

Krennic's problem was the same as Vader force choking for every random failure. He literally enunciates the problem "I don't have time for why" but at the same time Dedra believes this is all a clerical annoyance until the Finger scene. Then she finally gets defensive and hopelessly expands on the Why "in classic fashion your team tortured him to death, and that crucial piece of information, rather than being directed [her] way, was buried" which he ignores to point out her own mistakes and arrogance.

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To push the point further, Krennic is shown to have changed quite a bit since his introduction in the first arc of the season where he seemed a lot more calm and collected, you can tell he's being pressured to finish the Death Star in time, and that's also what's causing his "I don't have time for why" moments. Grand Moff Tarkin is breathing down his neck, trying to take his pet project from him and get the glory. And not even a week later, he's getting choked by Vader and then blown up by Tarkin with his own creation.

Some other great stuff

"Are there any fakes in here?"
"There are two."

The troopers waiting for Partagaz and the "don't react" hand signal from the ISB guy.

I think the first season was better, second season was too slow

Watched Rogue One again tonight after this ended

-Why did Cassian know Galens name at the start of the film? Like its great that he did in the context of the show but why did he just for the film?
-Good lord make the movie score stop. Its painful as shit.
-Krenic is way better in Andor
-I really hate this movie now. Prior I was ambivalent. IDK What Gilroy reshot for this but its a duct taped hode page and not good at all.

One thing I do like is how unhinged Saw is. He truly trusts noone and after what the Alliance did to Luthens memory I do not blame him at all for turning out this way.

Juvarisx said:

Watched Rogue One again tonight after this ended

-Why did Cassian know Galens name at the start of the film? Like its great that he did in the context of the show but why did he just for the film?
-Good lord make the movie score stop. Its painful as shit.
-Krenic is way better in Andor
-I really hate this movie now. Prior I was ambivalent. IDK What Gilroy reshot for this but its a duct taped hode page and not good at all.

One thing I do like is how unhinged Saw is. He truly trusts noone and after what the Alliance did to Luthens memory I do not blame him at all for turning out this way.

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The score is truly miserable in places. I think they reused music from 60's German pornos.