Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers Show, I’m your host Jared, aka the Jar Jar Binks
of the Heavy Spoiler’s universe, and meesa muy muy excited to talk all things Andor,
or at least the first three episodes of this new Star Wars series, that sets up, you guessed it,
Rogue One, A Star Wars Story. Ohh, you didn’t know that? Well now you do. Anyway in this video,
we’re going to discuss the general set up of Andor, some of the new characters at play,
what that ending means for the rest of this season, some potential theories of
what may happen down the road for Mr. Andor, along with our general thoughts
of these first 3 episodes. Are there going to be lightsabers? Do we want lightsabers?
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With that out of the way, thank you for clicking this,
now let's get into the first three episodes of Andor.
**BUMPER HERE**
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General Set Up
Alright, so like I mentioned earlier, the character of Cassian Andor is featured as
one of the main players in Rogue One: A Star Wars story, where we see him,
and his crew working for the rebellion, tasked with stealing the DeathStar plans. They
accomplish this goal, transmitting the plans to the rebels, annnnddd then dies. **Spoiler
Alert Umbrella Academy Clip** What? Come on, you know that's what happens, don’t act surprised.
So with their fate not necessarily warranting a sequel, the Andor series takes us back to
the inception **clip here** of the Cassian Andor character that we see in Rogue One,
as this series starts in the year BBY 5. Which means 5 years before the battle of Yavin,
which is the big battle at the end of A New Hope, which is the movie that comes
after Rogue One. Hey, I’m just making sure we’re all on the same page here.
At this time the galaxy is over imperial control, however we do see that the Empire has almost
outsourced some of their jurisdiction to corporations. In the show’s case,
the planets of the Morlani system are patrolled by the Pre-Mor corporate authority agents.
Essentially they are corporate rent-a-cops, going through the daily motions, wanting to
sweep things under the rug if it’s going to cause them too much of a hassle or paperwork,
so umm the show is definitely approaching the corrupted power angle in an interesting manner
Anyway this is very much a younger, inexperienced,
technical, but a bit sloppy Cassian than what we saw in Rogue One. He is that scoundrel type,
pulling different jobs, owing multiple people credits, hanging around scummy,
underworld establishments. He has an attitude of sticking it to the Empire, stealing from the rich,
fat pigs they are, because they are too arrogant to ever think someone would try
to cross them. The framework of what he becomes in Rogue One is very much present
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Characters at play here
Now aside from Cassian, these first three episodes introduce us to a handful of other
characters that may be in play for the rest of the series, either helping Cassian, hunting him down,
or a combination of the two. The most influential so far being a new character named Syril Karn.
Karn appears to be this boyscout type deputy inspector for the corporate authority. Seen
to have made his own alterations to his uniform, he is organized,
plays it by the book, wants to climb the ranks, but does have this innocence to him.
When talking with Sargeant Linus, he seems to agree with taking a more aggressive approach to
patrolling the planets in the sector, very much like what we know the Empire to be,
but he completely cowards when faced with actual field work and the casualties that come with it.
Bix Caleen who seems to be an old friend of Cassian, potentially a love interest at some
point, with her having a bit of a questionable past as well. Working at a salvage yard,
she has contacts who smuggle in and out goods, and skims credits off the top here or there.
Maarva Andor is the adoptive mother of Cassian. She appears to be a compassionate mother,
with again a questionable past of smuggling and looting of her own. In her younger years,
we see her looting a crashed Galactic Republic freighter on the planet of Kenari,
where she meets a young Cassian or rather Kassa at that time.
There is also B2EMO or B2 for short, that is a salvage assistant ground mech.
Even though it’s a droid, it has a quirky personality, and cares for the Andor family.
And lastly is Luthen Rael, who turns up to be the buyer Cassian is trying to unload the
untraceable NS9 Starpath unit with. Luthen has a bit of mystique about him, can he be trusted,
is he an imperial spy? So far we aren’t entirely sure, but either way we know he has some deep
pockets, offering to buy the starpath unit from Cassian, but also sees something more in
him. Offering Cassian a way out of his trouble, but there is something he needs from him first.
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Ending Explained
Now these first three episodes honestly play together like one big origin story movie,
covering how a young Cassian came to be where he is now,
and the journey that I am assuming sets him on a path to become what we see in Rogue One.
And the ending is playing out both of these stories at once. In the current time,
the corporate authority agents are hot on the trail of Cassian,
as he meets with Luthen about selling the Starpath unit. Through this conversation,
Luthen discovers Andor can be utilized for much more, offering to get him off planet if
he helps with something. Luthan is very vague about this, but with us knowing Rogue One takes
place 5 years after this, tells me Luthen is recruiting Cassian for the beginning of what
we eventually see are the rebels. Even going back to what Sargenant Linus said,
there are pockets fermenting. Meaning small groups of people are attempting to rise up against them.
**CLIP HERE**
And this is seen a couple of times in episode 3,
with all of the townspeople banging on the metal to distract the corpos,
while Cassian’s friend straight up ties salvage to one of their Tac-Pods, causing it to crash.
We’re seeing the seeds of the rebellion form, and I am positive Luthen has recruited Cassian
for the cause, but whether it be a Rogue One-esque job or not is beyond me. I could see them headed
for the outer rim, where they may be safer. As for Luthen himself, I want to say he is
a wealthy benefactor or potentially politician in the same vein as Bale Organa, wanting to end
the imperial rule much like others. There is the inkling he could be an imperial spy, and
there's some Mission Impossible mask reveal gotcha moment, but as of now I’d say it’s a long shot.
**NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS CLIP**
While the devastation witnessed by Karn, is probably going to drive him down the
path of aggression even more as we see this season play out. His story arc is
going to be an officer of the law, molded into a blinded, power hungry,
imperial officer, that has got to be the thorn in Cassian’s side as this story plays out.
As for the flashback timeline, Maarva is seen rescuing Cassian as a boy from the Republic
ships approaching the crash site. This helps to explain how he got to Ferrix, why the name change,
why his birth planet of Kenari was such a big deal, and why Cassian has been searching
for his sister. They were separated that day, because she stayed back at the camp,
while Cassian went on the hunt. For all we know, she could have been wiped out
by the Republic forces coming to the crash site, or she thinks Cassian died that day.
Now one little theory
**INSERT THEORY TIME SOUNDER**
I have to pay Paul $5 to lease that sounder by the way. But what a twist of fate it would
be if at the end of this season, Cassian is firmly implanted on the path of becoming the
rebel we see in Rogue One, only to find out after pulling off this Luthen job,
that his sister is still alive as a well established imperial officer.
What a shocker that would be for a season 1 cliffhanger. Let me know in 9ish weeks
whether or not it’s right, because this may be your reaction come the season finale.
**Insert VADER NOOOO Clip**
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Review
Overall I am really digging this Andor series. It genuinely feels like an immersive ground level,
dirty, dingy, crime thriller, pulling in several different characters, which I’m hoping each play
into the central story, while exploring their own storylines, and build out the world of Star Wars
more than “Hey look at that thing, remember that thing or character.” This feels new and honestly
brings Star Wars back to what I remember it being as a kid, especially the musical score setting the
tone of everything. Sure, the Mandalorian has had some great moments, but Andor is the first
time since maybe Rogue One that I have felt like “Ohhhh yeah, this is something special.”
And the fact they used practical sets here rather than the giant volume screens
used for the Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett, makes it that much more real. Yeah,
I guess real. It just feels like the character and everything is actually there,
and I am excited to see where these 12 episodes take us.
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CLOSING
Obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on the first three episodes of Andor,
and if this is a solid return back to the Star Wars world.
We’re currently running a competition giving away 3 copies of Thor Love & Thunder on the
15th of October. And all you have to do, to be in for a chance of winning, is like the video,
make sure you subscribe with notifications on, and drop a comment below with your thoughts on
Andor. We pick the comments at random at the end of the month, and the winners of the last
one are on screen right now. So if that’s you, message me on twitter at heavy spoilers
If you want something else to watch, be sure to check out some of our other cool videos over
there, whether it be our House of The Dragon breakdowns or Rick & Morty Season 6 coverage.
With that out of the way, thanks for sticking through the video, I’ve been Jared,
and meesa muy muy pleased, you made it this far. I’ll see you next time. Take care and peace