Star Wars: Andor – The most mature Star Wars ever

A story about the birth of the rebellion, its future hero, and how Cassian Andor became the rebels' best spy. The Star Wars: Andor series delivers an unexpectedly mature look at the origins, politics, and logistics of the famous rebellion that, as we know, toppled Palpatine's Imperial regime and gave rise to iconic characters like Luke, Leia, and Han Solo. It serves as a prequel to the brilliant Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, perhaps the only good Star Wars feature film from Disney.

Some time ago, around 2005-2006, while still under Lucas's leadership, news emerged about a planned Star Wars series that wouldn't deal with Skywalkers, Jedi, Sith, or the Force at all. The Star Wars: Underworld project was meant to focus on the Coruscant underworld and the outer rim of the galaxy—on spies, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and smugglers. It was also intended to outline the birth of the rebellion against the Empire, all set between Episodes III and IV.

Due to the Lucasfilm and Disney acquisition, this project never materialized, although some parts of the already written script appeared in other Star Wars series, particularly the animated Rebels or even in The Mandalorian. Some ideas regarding character development even surfaced in the 2018 God of War video game, but I'm digressing.

Disney subsequently released several controversial sequels to the Skywalker saga, along with various series and spin-off films, of which only Rogue One, Rebels, and The Mandalorian really stand out. While each series or film focuses on standalone stories of new characters, some also flesh out the stories of characters we already know well. For example, Solo: A Star Wars Story tells the tale of young Han. The Rebels series follows Episodes I-III, and The Clone Wars highlights the ongoing rebellion and concludes certain plot lines. The Mandalorian goes its own way. And the Obi-Wan and Boba Fett series simply expand on the stories of the characters in their titles.

However, these series and films have one thing in common. Even if some don't seem like it, they essentially have a clearly defined line between good and evil. The Force and the light or dark side appear to some degree, and the villains are always total idiots from head to toe who suffer the most casualties. Even if some of these works are great, they are essentially one-off snacks, and you shouldn't expect any deep reflection from them.

I was curious to see what Star Wars: Andor would bring, because Rogue One is one of the most mature Star Wars films ever, and also perhaps the first film where the Empire isn't just a bunch of dim-witted stormtroopers who can't hit a target from a meter away.

Andor pulled it off

And it brings even more. The entire foundation of the series shows both good and bad decisions on both sides, bringing greater humanity to the individual characters. The overall picture is more believable, intimate, darker, and definitely thought-provoking.

The first season consists of twelve episodes and can be divided into several standalone story arcs. Although the title suggests everything revolves around Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), whom we met in Rogue One, the opposite is true. The series revolves on several levels more or less around four main characters: Cassian Andor, Luthen Rael, Mon Mothma, and Dedra Meero. There are more key characters in the story, and you'll likely have a slightly different ranking, but let's break down at least the four mentioned, for which we have space here.

Cassian Andor's story is perhaps the most straightforward. It aims to show his path to the rebellion and how he becomes the rebels' ace spy. However, this path is arduous and begins with one small mistake that triggers a bureaucratic-security juggernaut within the Empire's ranks. In the first story arc, Cassian becomes a wanted man on his home planet of Ferrix and, together with local friends and family, tries to get help. He connects with the mysterious Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), who is linked to the budding rebellion and recruits Andor.

The entire first season shows the transformation of Cassian Andor on several levels, yet the series keeps its feet on the ground and doesn't allow him to become a clearly defined superhero. Quite the opposite. Andor often reacts based on his feelings; you can see his inner conflict and love for the friends and family he left behind on Ferrix. Right at the beginning, he finds himself in several places he didn't want to be, showing the viewer his anti-hero side—it's clear how terrified he is of what's happening around him. Throughout the series, he toughens up a bit, but even at the end of the season, I don't see him standing out in any extraordinary way.

Luthen Rael is a character who hides his interests very successfully, posing as an eccentric antique collector on Coruscant. Here, he has the space to hatch plots right in the shadow of the Imperial Senate and collaborate with those who want to disrupt the Empire's operations. His main partner becomes the well-known Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), who, from her position as a senator, finances the rebels. Unfortunately, she gets bogged down in financial problems and has to make certain concessions herself to hide her interests well and not jeopardize her position or her family.

In the series, we also finally see how the Empire's intelligence services work and the procedures the ISB chooses to solve the growing problems with the nascent rebellion across the galaxy. Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), an ISB officer, begins to successfully solve the puzzle of who is responsible for certain rebel actions, taking the initiative in gathering information, including about Cassian Andor. I am very happy for this layer of the series, which shows that there are capable people on the Empire's side who don't act in black and white.

In a general view, Star Wars: Andor has no global impact on the known plot. However, the style of storytelling, the grounded nature of the plot, and the brilliantly written characters make Andor the most mature Star Wars ever. In the case of some parts of the series (even though they are brilliantly written), one might argue that they don't belong in Star Wars and could easily appear in another sci-fi. For example, the three-part sequence taking place in prison, which was absolutely phenomenal and in its own way hardened Cassian Andor as a leader.

The story could easily have been flat and boring here, but perfect characters (especially the great Andy Serkis as Kino Loy) make this part of the series the best of the entire first season. Even though the series can be quite talkative and often lacks any action, when Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Andy Serkis, Genevieve O'Reilly, or Denise Gough appear on screen, they steal all the attention, and I enjoyed how they played their characters.

Star Wars: Andor is a truly mature series from the Star Wars universe, showing humanity, energy, love, and the world under the rule of an Empire that, for once, functions as it should. It is the answer to my desire for a great Star Wars series about ordinary people who want to change something, about an Empire that commands respect, and instead of the constantly repeating battle between light and shadow on the level of magic, or the mysterious cosmic Force, or with the help of lightsabers. I'm glad that while watching, I didn't have to perceive that any other Star Wars existed. Even though I know the previous works well and have seen them several times, I enjoyed this immensely. I'm looking forward to the next season.

author Honza Kohoutek