#andor is amazing

[dandelionjedi]

I've been meaning to spread some Andor love for a while. Huge thank you to the people at @andorappreciation for giving me a push to put my thoughts out into the world! I've loved seeing everyone's posts, and wanted to throw in my two cents. Warning: Long post incoming, continues after the cut

I think Andor is the best thing Star Wars has put out since the last 4 episodes of The Clone Wars show (which were amazing, and another thing I could go on about, but that’s not today’s theme). I’d say it’s the most consistently good thing Star Wars has put out, ever. Please keep in mind I am not much of a critic, but still. I’ve watched a lot of Star Wars stuff.

Please note the "consistently good". There's so much Star Wars stuff out there, it's hard to say what's the 'best'. And best is very subjective! I think Andor is noteworthy for having 12 episodes that all felt equally great. There were certainly some that stood out above the rest (One Way Out comes to mind), but none of them seemed worse than the others, or out of place.

Most Star Wars media has a "it was really good, but...". The original trilogy was all around pretty good, but I'm more of a prequel era person. That being said, I'll be the first to admit that the prequels had some room for improvement, especially in the dialogue department. The Clone Wars show was very good, but there were a lot of lackluster episodes in between the main plot. Rebels was good, but it was aimed at a younger audience, and doesn't quite stand up to some of the other shows. The Mandalorian was good, but definitely fell apart in later seasons (which I'm aware Andor could still do). I could go on. We'll need to see how they do with future seasons, but I have nothing but good things to say about season 1.

Andor was visually amazing, in a way that The Mandalorian and other recent live action shows haven’t quite gotten. I think some of it can be attributed to them shooting on more practical sets. One of the most breathtaking settings was shot in the Scottish Highlands. There were wide aerial drone shots that they never would have been able to get without being on location.

They also used color really, really well. Whenever the show was in Empire territory, everything was bright lights, hard lines, sharp corners. Black and white and gray, clean outlines without a speck of dust. Outside their control, everything became more natural. It was gritty and dirty, with lots of neutrals. On Ferrix, there were rusty earth tones. On Aldhani, beautiful green rolling hills. On Kenari, earthy greens and jungle vines. When Luthen goes underground on Coruscant, it immediately shifts from bright lights to soft shadows. Away from the Imperial color scheme, back towards the natural colors of the Rebels.

When you go back to Coruscant, in Mon Mothma’s house, you can still see the influence of the Empire. While the colors have shifted from black and white, everything else screams Empire. The same crisp lines and hard shapes. It’s pretty, but empty. Much like the life she lives. You can try to cover it up, but she’s still in the Empire’s home base.

Every location was visually recognizable. As soon as you see the screen you can tell where the characters are. And so much of it was new! No more sandy Tatooine, full of characters that all inexplicably know one another. Every location was new, or made sense to be added, but it still felt connected with the rest of Star Wars.

There were also so many amazing visual moments. The whole scene with the Eye of Aldahni was breathtaking. Tragic, poetic, and visually stunning. I loved watching Mon Mothma play her political game on Coruscant. There were a few shots of her completely alone in the frame that took my breath away. Cassian had a similar shot on Kenari, looking out over the quarry. Luthen in the tunnel. The prisoners on Narkina 5. The final march on Ferrix.

I also loved the costumes. Not even in a "look at the attention to detail" way, just an "I want that outfit. I WANT IT!!!"

All the characters were so well developed, even those that only got a little bit of screen time. Everyone had a personality, their own quirks and motives. Everyone contributed to the story in their own way, no matter how small. On both sides too, Empire and Rebellion. The one thing about characters I do have to say is I have my fingers crossed that Dedra and Syrill don't get together. Just, please no.

And the music. The bells. The native people of Aldahni. The funeral march. It was so, so, so good.

The dialogue was also spectacular, but if I were to talk about that it would pretty much be me quoting various lines and saying “Listen to that! Wasn’t it amazing? IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!!" So I’m just going to say it was ridiculously good and leave it at that.

The whole show is dark, gritty, and down to Earth. We know, going into it, how the story ends. We know pretty much everyone is doomed. But they still make us care. The ending was amazing, tying up loose ends, and feeling like a fulfilling ending, while still leaving plenty of story threads to pick up at a later date. The final scene, of the Death Star coming together, means we can't forget for a moment how the story ends, no matter how much we might wish otherwise.

I loved it. (You probably had no idea). I would highly recommend it, regardless of whether or not you’re a Star Wars fan, or have even ever watched a Star Wars movie. If you’re not convinced, just watch the teaser trailer. The teaser trailer specifically, it’s so good, I’ve probably watched it at least a dozen times. Those bells!

Some other random notes:

Brasso seems like a really nice guy. Just, kudos to him for being a really great friend. And him hitting the Imperial guy over the head with the brick was great.

LGBTQ+ in space!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!

I am obligated to point out the sheep. Real, live, sheep. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t those sheep the first normal Earth animals to make it into Star Wars? No fancy prosthetics, just normal sheep (that breed of sheep naturally has 2+ pairs of horns). They’re Hebridean sheep, by the way. In case you were wondering.

Also Bix is pretty and I want her jacket

Small note: I'd love to add some screenshots/gifs to this post, but I'm a little confused about tumblr etiquette for that type of thing. I know GIF making is it's own thing, that takes some effort, so do people not generally post gifs from shows that they didn't make? What about random screenshots from google? Probably overthinking things, but if someone could explain that to me I'd appreciate it.

One other small note: A lot of this is taken from a post I made on my Instagram account. I would be incredibly surprised if anyone sees both posts, but I thought I should mention that. I'm not linking my Instagram because I keep it separate from my fandom life, and I'd like it to stay that way. The Andor post was an exception.

[lightasthesun]

not the dudebros saying andor is a flop by star wars standards aagh. If by flop you mean interesting, groundbreaking, consistent storytelling then yes it's such a massive flop I couldn't agree more.

[stealingpotatoes]

hands you all this cal to announce i’ve FINALLY finished fallen order (by which i mean i finally picked it up again after those couple hours i played a few months ago and then finished the whole game in 2 days lol)

[koipepo]

"weaponized handsomeness to lure the unsuspecting" Cassian honeypotting imperial pervert sickos confirmed

[andorshitdaily]

For t-shirt Tuesday next week: Syril + Dedra + shirts

KEERO SHIRTS THAT GO HARD!!!!!

[andorerso]

guys I don't wanna alarm anyone but we may break 5000 fics before the end of the year 👀🔥

[darth-memes]

[gaymothperson]

One thing I love about Andor is how smart and savy Mon Mothma is.

Like she knows her driver is on the ISB payroll. She knows they don't think she knows, because everyone underestimates her. So she fakes an argument with her husband about gambling debts when no one is supposed to be listening. And they fucking bought it hook line and sinker. Because everyone overlooks her as some bleeding heart rich girl senator and not the revolutionary she actually is.

[psychomusic]

so. I've been reading some posts on the jedi order tag AND i won't talk about my opinion on "are jedi good or bad discourse" BUT i wanna point out some lore to everyone who's complaining about the jedi taking kids into their order: (in the EU) it wasn't always like this.

if you take swtor era (more than 3000 years before the prequels) there were many jedi who joined at an older age. like, for example there was a guy who broke his engagement to become one. most jedi remember their families because they were old enough when they decided to go.

THEN in darth bane's book trilogy (circa 1000 yesrs before the prequels) there is a passage where two sith lords are talking about taking bane, already an adult, to study at korriban. one doubted him because he was too old, ans the other told him he sounded like a jedi, and that ONE DAY jedi will have to accept only kids into their ranks if they really want to find "pure" people that can learn their lessons quicker.

one day!! so it wasn't always like that!! the ongoing wars with the sith, who corrupted and killed many of them, had pressured them into taking always younger people into their ranks.

also, consider a thing that this video explains super well: training to become a jedi is not like exercising, because there is a transformative lesson at the end of the training that changes everything. you can't just do as much as you can, but not finish.

the transformative lesson, as the video explains, is that through the force, everything is the same - from rocks and ships to life and death. at the end of the training you have to understand this fundamental truth.

yoda says "you have to unlearn what you have learned". during times where they were constantly killed off or corrupted by the dark side (and if you haven't learned this lesson you are more susceptible to this corrupting), younger people were taken in to actually finish their training (a training that was ultimately about being a good person AND that you could leave at any point if you weren't sold on that, too)

(remember that for the sith failure = death. like. that was the alternative for force sensitive kids. it's not like sith had any moral problem with taking kids away without consent. sith don't have moral problems: they believe that them being stronger in the force means they can do whatever they want as long as their strong enough to go and do it. there are MANY passages in many different star wars stories, even in different mediums, that say this out loud)

AND (this is more of a critical thought than just stating the lore) the fact that they started doing it out of necessity doesn't mean it's 100% good BUT you know. the whole set up of the prequels is that we're starting off the story in a period of crisis and decadence all around. most of the systems of the times were about to fall. OF COURSE they had problems. if they didn't, we wouldn't have the story to begin with.

that doesn't automatically mean jedi = bad and sith are better, tho. you wouldn't take the last, chaotic and decadent period to jugde something, would you? it's like deciding that the athenian democracy sucked because people at the times of Demosthenes failed at recognizing the new schemes in which the world was evolving into, and still believed that their city would be important as it had been in the previous century. They just didn't fucking expect the Macedons would conquer half the world known and more, and have the subsequent political power. Still, their experiences in the 5th century with democracy were very good, even better than ours on many fronts, if you contextualize a little. the jedi had flaws, and most importantly, they didn't fucking know the future and everything that ever happened, ever, so they made mistakes. that doesn't automatically make the system ill, or bad, or not-working. systems can have setbacks when the world changes. (just like athenian democracy had one when they lost the empire that was funding the democracy. they even had a tyranny for a while and then fixed the problems. that doesn't diminish retrospectively their democracy)

[dindjarindiaries]

I can't help thinking Andor was a curse in disguise. Ok, that's a strong word. But. I agree, Andor is stellar.. and that's the thing. Ever since that series came out, any other show that isn't exactly as good and exactly the same was critized unfairly harshly. Just look at The Mandalorian! Everybody loved The Mandalorian! Then Andor came out, and Mando was snobbed to a mediocre family show for amateur fans. Even season 1 and 2.

Andor is so far away from the other shows and movies in its tone and yeah, writing quality. You can barely compare it with anything else. It looks like it was supposed to be a more niche series, but ended up as a new standard that Star Wars must reach every time, and that's just... unfair.

You have a big point here, and it is because Andor is so good - but that's because Andor adopted modern methods of storytelling, which fit the tone of its respective story.

Andor took a step away from what made Star Wars Star Wars in the first place: a silly goofy space opera with aliens, laser swords, and nonsensical vocabulary. Andor was grounded because of the message it wanted to send; they wanted people in the real world to relate to that story, and thus it became almost like an HBO drama to help foster that relatability.

Star Wars at its core, however, is nothing like that. It does have relatable characters and themes, but in reality, it's beloved because it offers escapism into a world that could never exist. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and that's the point.

The Mandalorian has always toed this line, because at the time it came out, it was the grittiest and darkest Star Wars had ever gotten. After Andor, however, this is clearly not the case. Now that people have gotten a taste of what real-world Star Wars feels like, some want that for everything when... well, that's not what Star Wars is about.

Andor is a fantastic show, a fantastic show, but to me, it's never really felt like a Star Wars show for this reason. People who wish everything in Star Wars was more like Andor probably just aren't fans of the original, fantastical essence of Star Wars itself.

[petals42]

the most shocking part of seeing people's thoughts on Andor is realizing that not everyone was as obsessed with rogue one as i was?? there were people who didn't like it??? were they watching the same movie???? did they not see the "we don't all have the luxury of deciding when and where we want to care about something" scene??? have they not been in love with cassian for literal years at this point???

[hegodamask]

“You’ll hang for this.”

“Seven years serving you? I deserve worse than that.”

Sule Rimi as LIEUTENANT GORN in ANDOR (2022)

[mariamariquinha]

okay but Andor is becoming a favorite like ???? they went deep with that political analogies

[jyndor]

birds of a feather is so rebelcaptain coded lbr

like I'm sorry what???

literally what the fuck

lol kill me

[hydr0phius]

I CANT BELIEVE I WATCHED EP 1 OF ANDOR LAST YEAR AND LEFT BECAUSE IT WAS "BORING."

THE WRITING WAS SO GOOD AAAAAAA

That was the best Star Wars show I've seen in a while and I am SO FUCKING EXCTED FOR SEASON 2.

[juicyspacesecrets]

Happy Halloween!!! 😊😊😊

at this point don’t expect me to get anything out on time.....