I know the Cassian Andor series ended some time ago, and we are all looking forward to
the Bad Batch, being released next month, and the Mandalorian in March.
But damn…I miss the show.
What happened to the days when a series would release a new season on network television
every year with 20 plus episodes?
Those were the days…but now we live in an age of streaming.
Where series are more like weekly short films.
I wouldn’t say each episode of Cassian Andor was that.
But each episode contributed to a larger movie, at least that’s what it felt like.
To me, it did, anyway.
The Star Wars Andor series came out of left field with an amazing story, great acting,
and superb directing.
The sets and the filming that took place on location felt real.
There was limited use of CGI and it left us wanting so much more.
A surprise, to be sure.
Why?
Because we didn’t ask for this series.
Not that we should have ANY say in what we get in Star Wars.
Wait…of course we have our likes and eras we would like to visit and some of us get
a tiny bit disappointed when Star Wars takes us in a different direction.
Be that as it may, the Star Wars Andor series drew us in.
With characters like Luthen Rael, Syril Karn, Mon Mothma, Dedra Meero, and of course Cassian
Andor, it seems like there would be no room for another great character…but there is
one.
And that is the side character who changed the path Cassian Andor was on…Karis Nemik.
The young idealist in the fledgling rebellion during the Aldhani Heist.
And for a character with such little screen time, he had the biggest impact on the future
of our unorthodox hero, Cassian Andor.
Sure, Kino Loy did change a bit of the mindset of Cassian by teaching him that working as
a team often results in better odds than working alone.
But it was Karis Nemik who inspired Cassian Andor to be more than just a drifter who worked
with others only when necessity arose.
Think about it.
Cassian did work with the other inmates of Narkina 5 to escape the prison factory.
But when he and Melshi were in the clear, Cassian and Melshi went their separate ways
and Cassian went at it alone…again.
But after returning to Ferrix, for his mother’s funeral, Cassian retreats to his secret space,
where he reads Nemik’s words.
And understands what he has to do.
Moments before Cassian was lost.
He felt no real purpose in his life, other than trying to survive day to day.
But actually understanding what Nemik was saying, this time, he knew he had to act for
something greater than himself.
Others had tried to teach Cassian this lesson, but he had to learn through experience.
Luthen Rael tried convincing him that there was something greater than self, but Cassian
was only interested in the money from the heist.
While preparing for the heist Karis Nemik bent Cassian’s ear to the possibilities
of a greater rebellion and freeing the galaxy of tyranny.
But Cassian wasn’t ready to hear it.
He basically just looked at him like a young idealist and didn’t understand how the universe
worked.
Cassian’s mother told him, when he was trying to get her to leave Ferrix with him.
She told him she wasn’t leaving.
That she was staying around for the people of Ferrix and their rebellion.
Yet he ran anyway…and that led to his capture.
While in prison, he learned what could be accomplished if there were enough people with
the same goal banded together.
But it still didn’t sink in.
Even after escaping the facility.
Which could not have been possible, if not for 5 thousand like minded inmates joining
in.
But let’s go back a bit and understand why he wasn’t quite ready to hear what Karis
Nemik had to say.
During the Aldhani heist, there was a question put in Cassian’s mind.
Was it better to be alone or is there safety in numbers?
And all seemed to be going toward the latter.
But when the heist was over, and Arvel Skeen showed his true colors, Cassian abandoned
all thought.
To him, Skeen represented what this group was about.
Individual cut throats looking for their own payday.
There was no real common goal to these people.
Other than their own self interests.
Cassian Andor didn’t understand that Skeen was a loner.
That no one else on the team thought as Skeen had.
To him, they were all the same.
Even Nemik.
When Vel Sartha told Cassian that Karis Nemik wanted him to have the manifesto, Cassian
refused it at first.
But when she insisted, he reluctantly took it.
As idealistic as Nemik may have been, Cassian could see him as probably the only true soul
of the group.
But he wouldn’t pay it any real attention, due to the double-crossing Arvel Skeen.
But there was a turning point.
When Cassian returned home for his mother’s funeral, he found that his friend Bix Caleen
had been taken into Imperial custody for interrogation, and that the entire town was tense due to
the recent Imperial occupation and the heavy hand of the ISB.
Lost, Cassian retreated to his sanctuary and pulled out the manifesto.
It was hinted at that Cassian Andor would be content just finishing out his days in
hiding…until he really listened to the words of Karis Nemik.
“There will be times when the struggle seems impossible.
I know this, already.
Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy.
Remember this…freedom is a pure idea.
It occurs spontaneously., and without instruction.
Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy.
There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in
the cause.
Remember that the frontier of the rebellion is everywhere.
And even the smallest acts of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
And remember this…the Imperial need for control is so desperate.
Because it is so unnatural.
Tyranny requires constant effort.
It breaks.
It leaks.
Authority is brittle.
Oppression is the mask of fear.
Remember that.
And know this…the day will come when all skirmishes and battles, those moments of defiance
will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority, and then there will be one too
many.
One single thing that will break the siege.
Remember this…try!”
I know I didn’t say it as eloquently as Karis Nemik, but his words were profound.
And they were exactly what Cassian Andor needed to hear.
Before this moment, Cassian Andor felt overwhelmed.
He was so used to doing things alone, only to survive, that he was resigning himself
to the fact that hope was lost.
Because what could he do?
He was just one person against an Empire, and there was no hope of succeeding.
But Karis Nemik’s words showed Cassian that it only takes one person to crack the façade
and bring an end to the oppression brought on by the Empire.
That it’s easier to destroy tyranny than to destroy the reality of freedom being so
much more natural.
And that yeas, it may seem like you’re alone in the fight, but the galaxy is full of individuals
ready to fight and feeling alone.
That there are armies that will come together and back him.
All they need is one thing…one person to make it work.
That if you don’t try, you will never know the outcome.
So, that’s what Cassian did.
He used the skills that he had learned during his time of self-preservation to be stealthy.
His goal, to rescue Bix Caleen, then face the one who got him into this mess…Luthen
Rael.
To either die by his hands or come out on top.
But what he saw made the words of Karis Nemik’s manifesto seem so much more real.
It took one person to insight rebellion on Ferrix…his mother.
One person who was already dead.
One person, who even if she was alive, was in no state to fight an Empire.
But she tried anyway, and she succeeded…and now it was his turn.
Try to be the one to break the gates of tyranny.
Karis Nemik had to die.
It’s sad to say but his death played back in the memory of Cassian Andor.
He remembered the young idealist and realized he really believed what he was saying.
And Karis Nemik was also trying to be one to break the gates of the Empire’s tyranny.
As young, small, and inexperienced in the universe as Nemik was…he still tried.
And that’s something Cassian Andor could learn from.
One day I will do an entire video on Nemik’s words.
Break them down and show how profound they really are.
Let me know if that’s something you’d like.
Until then, This is Gerald, a Star Wars Fanatic signing off, wishing you all great health,
happiness, and peace.
Be good to each other.
Thank you all for watching and remember, this is the way…and positivity in the Star Wars
Community is the only way!