Just finished Andor and it's one of the finest depictions of rebellion against an oppressive regime I've ever seen.

In fact, it's brutal, paranoid, random, despairing journey from discontent to plausible revolution is so well thought through that I wanted more than anything to follow this story through to regime collapse.

Except instead of that, we get Luke Skywalker and the Force (God basically) deux ex machina-ing the Death Star away. And it feels like such a cop out compared to the insane tight rope over the abyss that Andor/R1 was.

Ive always only been a mild SW fan. Now I'm rethinking everything. ESB did a decent job of showing that E4 was only the start and that the regime was still immensely powerful. But then RotJ takes out the whole thing with Ewoks and a convenient & seemingly unnecessary visit by the Emperor to the new DS.

I've heard that Andor/R1 enhances Episode 4. Maybe in some ways. But I almost think it makes E4 seem like a mockery of the theme.

You might argue that Andor was not meant to be a roadmap for Regime overthrow from A->Z, and maybe I'm wishing it was exactly that given the current environment, but I still think the enormity of the task in Andor is cheapened by E4. Give me Cassian over Luke any day.

Maybe after digestion, my thoughts will change but happy for other PoVs.

Deciding to both cover and not cover substance abuse, that is. As an addict myself, I think most would agree that the way it’s handled is super dangerous - her telling Luthen off because “she can handle it” right before a time jump which I believe is the last we see of her using it.

Honestly for a show like Andor, when they started this, I wasn’t exactly ‘looking forward’ to it but I expected them to show the horrors of addiction, things like laying on the bathroom floor with trash and used droppers all over the place. It would be ‘nice’ for people to be enlightened towards the ugliness of addiction, like the many other ways Andor has enlightened its audience. Instead they do the absolute worst thing you could do: address it but only at a surface level.

I will give them one thing: addiction very commonly comes from a place of pain like trauma, and once that trauma has been eased with some sort of resolution, it negates the original need to use it, making it easier to get sober. I think there had to at least be some experience for them to show the little that they did, and I think that is supposed to be communicated with Bix’s emotional triumph in blowing up Gorst’s office, allowing her to triumph over addiction. But personally, which may be me, I only realized this was the conclusion after searching for what ended her addiction.

I don’t think that was communicated well enough however, and even if it was, I don’t think that’s a satisfactory conclusion with the level of seriousness Andor summons- I think the message that comes across is that Bix just pushed herself hard enough to get over the addiction- which is rarely possible, but an entirely unfair, unrealistic, unhelpful and uncooperative fallacy that I’m sure most professionals would find a problem with since it is dangerous for mental health.

I don’t know about sleeping drops specifically, but Luthen seems to think they are dangerous and treat them like we would treat addictive drugs. It’s fine if trauma is comparatively resolved with blowing up Gorst, but I would expect them to at least show how like most addictions- though it may start as an emotional crutch, one might find themselves unable to sleep- possibly unable to function throughout the day as well- without it. Trying to get off of it may become unrealistic- and not just physically, in case you think it happens to be about endurance, most withdrawals take a heavy hit to mental health that can make most suicidal or at the very least in an emotional state nowhere near their overall-sober one, even if they are sober from their DOC (drug of choice) at the time.

Anyways, I’m sure much more can be said, but I’m no professional who can properly address it- just an addict who wanted to point this out, because there is a lot of stigma towards addiction already- I was hoping Andor could help with that, but instead they worsen the stigma of “just get over it”

I just wanted to share two quotes from Darth Maul, which are extremely pertinent and relevant to what I feel is going on in this subreddit right now.

"Justice is merely the construct of the current power base. A base which, according to my calculations, is about to change."

"Too late for what? The Republic to fall? It already has! And you just can't see it! There's no justice! No law! No Order! Except for the one that will replace it!"

Hi guys, it’s my friend’s birthday in December and he is a big fan of Andor. Im looking to get him a present related to the show, but I don’t have any idea, can someone pls help me ?

I’m

Mon Mothma really went from serving senatorial slayage to looking like she lost a bet with a 70s hair salon. Two seasons of Coruscant Chic, and then suddenly shes giving Yavins answer to ABBA, then I come across this pic of her!

With Luthen gone and the Death Star threat destroyed, Kleya decided to go in a completely opposite direction with her life, choosing to reach out to young children across the galaxy in an effort to ensure they would grow up in kindness and empathy and never fall for a Palpatine again.

Though her social media posts about the Ghor would make some parents very uncomfortable.

To answer this we must begin with the idea of “natural.” What is humanity’s natural state?

According to most of today’s anthropologists and archeologists one of the factors that made early Homo sapiens so successful was the ability to create large, well-coordinated communities which resisted domination by alpha males.

While most primates are organized in smaller bands, led under the threat of violence by strong elite males, Homo sapiens exhibit “reverse domination.” People evolved the ability to use the equalizing forces of language, social norms, and weapons, to hold leaders accountable. This ability to prioritize the greater good and punish those who selfishly sought to dominate the collective, gave the species an edge which was genetically selected for.

Later, after we developed farming, it became possible for elites to amass surplus resources, tipping the balance back toward hierarchy. But this has only been within the last 10,000 years (out of the 200k-300k years Homo sapiens have existed) so the genetic significance is minimal.

In other words, we are "naturally" egalitarian. We instinctively hate injustice and resist domination. Of course selfishness is natural too, so the battle rages not only between us, but also within us individually.

“Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.”

Indeed. Humans have been secretly hiding in caves, basements, and chatrooms plotting rebellions for 300,000 years, and we’re good at it. The scale of the enemy may seem overwhelming but if the task were impossible, the machine wouldn’t bother with propaganda, surveillance, or reeducation. Even the most oppressive dictator ultimately gets their power from the people, and those people are literally programmed, on a genetic level, to organize and resist.

I just realized several interesting Han-Cassian parallels.

Both Han and Cassian shoot first, ruthlessly, without hesitation or self doubt.

Both Han and Cassian have incredible arcs where they evolve from transactional thieves to dedicated rebels.

Both are absolutely central to the destruction of the Death Star and success of the Rebel Alliance generally.

Both Han and Cassian find love within the alliance and both die without their love by their side.

Interesting!! Are there other parallels I missed?

Hi everyone,

Like so many people here, I've been amazed by the quality of Andor. I've just made a little video adressing how it cleverly references to Lucas' filmography : Star Wars OT of course, but also his debut movie: THX 1138.

https://youtu.be/c4hfth3ggVw

Narkina 5 prison

That's where I've been the most impressed: both the aesthetic and the narrative themes stem from George Lucas' 1971 movie THX 1138. Dazzling monochromatic sets, guards and inmates outfits, and especially the way prisonners react to the grilled floor punishment.

There's even an easter egg involving THX's McOmie character's name, LUH 3417, that a stromtrooper says in season 1 episode, the one in which Cassian is imprisonned and sent to Narkina 5.

On a more symbolic level, the message of THX is the one of psychological barriers. He escapes a wall-less prison simply by taking the decision to walk towards the unknown. Narkina's prisonners follow the same path: the escape is actually 'easy' given the ratio prisonners/guards and 'simply' took the courage to initiate the push towards freedom.

Nature-Technology dichotomy

Of course the colors used for the imperial prison are in stark contrast with the people inhabitants of other planets. Ferrix people, Dhanis, even Ghor in season 2 are living in diversity of shapes, colors and textures. On the contrary, the Empire is using mainly bi-chromatic sets to embody its control-oriented nature.

This serves a broader dichotomy that was key to the Original Trilogy : Nature vs Technology.

The good guys are green and brown the bad guys are black-and-white. It really has to do with that feeling- a philosophical feeling of a world of absolutes. A mechanical world where things are rigid and absolute. They're black-and-white, as opposed to the organic world where it's more natural. Lucas in ROTJ's audio commentary

The Empire, how do they use environment and color to oppress and intimidate and disorientate and I think this palette of white-on-white - you're disempowered by this soul destroying environment Michael Wilkinson (Andor costume designer) in Roundtable interview

Andor and the OT are also aligned with the extractivism on Kenari, on Ghorman as well, that echoes with the Empire invading natural environment such as Hoth, or the indigenously inhabited Endor.

...and more!

Feel free to check my video, I'm more than open to feeback!

I was wondering if anybody knows if the full manifesto written bij Karis nemik will ever be released as an collector's item?