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Captain Cassian Andor (certified plant mom) preparing for departure to Kafrene.

ANDOR 2.12 | Jedha, Kyber, Erso

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Painting by Holly Warburton, A face in the crowd

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How my friends reacted to me when I suggested we watch Rogue One again after that heartbreaking Andor series and finale:

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Bix Caleen & Cassian Andor ANDOR ▸ 2.07

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ANDOR 2.11 "Who Else Knows?"

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Dedra's downfall is really fascinating to me, because it perfectly encapsulates how an oppressive regime will implement oppressive systems within itself. Dedra is an ambitious woman within a fascist and sexist system. Despite her work ethic, she is still up against that systemic sexism that her male coworkers don't face.

Her line about having to scavenge is a direct callout of how much more work she has to do to prove herself, but it still isn't enough. She still falls. Fascism still consumes her because that's what it does: it eats up anyone who doesn't perfectly conform to its systems and spits out whatever is left.

This is what the show is telling us through Dedra: that it is a failure to believe that success can be achieved through allying yourself to the current regime. No matter what you do, it will come for you. Dedra's ambition fails her and lands her in a Narkina-like prison, where she becomes one of the same detention numbers that she was praised for keeping so high in season 1.

There is no graceful fall for someone like Dedra. It is a sharp decline to ruin and obscurity.

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one of the hundred things I love about Andor is that in the end, all the villains were destroyed not in an epic showdown with the rebels or whoever but by the machine that they worked for. syril was a faceless casualty of the genocide he helped create. dedra was done in for putting ambition over conformity to the machine, and she took down partagaz, who essentially created her, along with her. even heert was quite literally killed by his own droid and his own men. all of them were crushed by the wheel they dedicated their lives to keep turning. it's just so deeply deeply satisfying.

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Andor 2.10 - Make It Stop

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Andor ended with such a bang, and one particular thing I like to point out is that every imperial who actually spent time thinking about what they are doing for the empire, the ones with an independent thought process, they are punished for it, it doesn't matter how much they have done for the empire, their minds aren't wanted. They ones that do survive are the ones who follow protocol to a tea, the ones who don't take risks.

They don't want intelligent people, because they are capable of seeing if they are doing something wrong, stupid people aren't always able to. Yes, these intelligent people are cruel nontheless, Partagaz and Dedra didn't back down, they didn't betray the empire, but just the thought in the back of their head is enough of a risk for the empire

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Andor Jedha, Kyber, Erso | 2.12

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Diego Luna as Cassian Andor ANDOR | 2.07

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“He built up this totem of Cassian, this kind of voodoo doll, and the fact that he wasn’t even a blip on Cassian’s radar is crushing to him. He’s so desperate to be remembered and to make a difference, and it’s a cut too deep by that point. He’s been betrayed by Dedra and the Empire, and now his one true obsession doesn’t even think he’s worth remembering. He’s heartbroken.” - Kyle Soller

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extraordinarily put.

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"He's a great cook." Diego Luna on Cassian Andor (2016) Andor Season 2, Episode 4 "Ever Been To Ghorman?"

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the way he's fighting back tears this whole scene 😭

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Andor Welcome to the Rebellion | 2.09

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i forgot to add that the force healer scene ruins the whole point of the show being about ordinary people making a difference with their own decisions. what i love about andor was that they managed to write such a compelling story with such a powerful message without ever mentioning the force... until that scene. i don't need to hear that prophecy. cassian and bix don't need to hear that to know his purpose. when i say cassian is special, i mean not in a "chosen one" way, but in his own human way. he doesn't need to be told that he's "more than a pilot" to do great things for the rebellion.

and i 100% agree with others who said that kleya's words about fighting for freedom should've came from bix. bix should've been the one to challenge cassian, not kleya. it would've hit harder for cassian when it's coming from the love of his life, not his colleague.

i'm disappointed by bix's arc in ep 7-9. look, i'm glad they didn't kill her off, but her arc is poorly written. it would've been so much more interesting if they showed us how much more radicalized bix is after succesfully killing dr. gorst. since she and cassian have settled in yavin and she seems to be doing well on her recovery, i imagine she'd get to do more things for the rebellion. she's a mechanic, but she's definitely acquired other skills since it's been established in ep 4-6 that she'd gone on missions with cassian, so with her new skillset i imagine she'd get to take on more missions to fight the empire.

she wanted to win, she said that in ep 4. we've been told that she believed in the rebellion, but we don't get to see her do anything except being a stay-at-home wife. don't get me wrong, i love that she gets to have a domestic life with cassian, but i wish we got to see how committed she is to the cause through her participation in rebel activities. real actions, not just words. it would emphasize her growing dedication for the cause, which contrasts with cassian's wavering faith.

their difference would be glaring when cassian comes back from the ghorman massacre. they should've had bix confront cassian about his faith after he told her that he wanted to leave the rebellion and run away with her. let her shake him up, like "seriously, cass? after witnessing a massacre? after losing maarva and brasso? after ferrix? this is not what maarva would've wanted," or something along those lines. that would hit hard for cassian. that would push him to reflect on his values. and bix already pointed out to him in ep 4 that it's not up to them anymore to protect themselves. she understood that they're part of something bigger. so let her be frustrated at him for (thinking of) giving up, let her express her disappointment. let them both come to the realization that they want different things. that would've been a more proper set up for bix to say "i choose the rebellion" and leave.

but instead of that, they have bix talk to a force healer who made her believe that cassian is destined for something greater than just a pilot and try to convince him to stay in the rebellion because of that. 🤦🏻‍♀️

and yes, that force healer scene bothers me, because it feels like it's only there to tell the audience that cassian is special and that cassian and bix are each other's home, just to make the breakup more painful. but you could omit that scene, and nothing changes. the breakup would still be painful, at least for me anyway, since they've been through a lot together –it's clear that they deeply love each other. and we already know cassian is special. it doesn't need to be spelled out to us.