Andor: Promise and Peril
I had planned to begin writing another article (which will hopefully appear soon), but this morning the new trailer for Andor dropped and changed my plans.
This is a series that I had been anticipating, prior to the release of Kenobi. While the show was announced some time ago, until the release of the first trailer I don’t feel the concept had caught on with the fan base. Part of this is likely due to the decline in quality in Star Wars, but a larger part might me due to the fact that we already know the final fate of this character. Because of that, the showrunners have to find new ways to create dramatic tension. To that end, it’s not been surprising to me that Tony Gilroy has been making statements that will generate controversy and get people talking.
Manu wrote an excellent article detailing some of this, but I feel it’s important to repeat this quote before we get to my reaction:
“There are certain events that happen in these five years that are important and need to be paid attention to. There are certain people, characters that are legacy characters, that the audience, the passionate audience, really feels that they have an understanding of and know. In some cases, they’re right. And in some cases, what we’re saying is, ‘What you know, what you’ve been told, what’s on Wookieepedia, what you’ve been telling each other…is really all wrong.” — Tony Gilroy
The fanboy side of me already feels the hackles on the back of my neck rising, but the more rational side of me is saying “This quote isn’t for the Star Wars fanbase. It’s for the casuals who don’t know who these characters are, Wookieepedia name-check notwithstanding.” I have earlier speculated that Andor could be a loose adaptation of the Dark Forces storyline – there are elements in both trailers that could support this idea. If so, my guess is that this quote is talking about Mon Mothma.
In the Legends continuity, Mon Motha was a more complex character than she appeared in Return of the Jedi. The leader of the Rebellion against the Empire, EU material showed that she could also be ruthless in service to mission objectives, and that other founding members of the Rebellion didn’t entirely trust her. Viewed in this context, if Andor picks up these story threads, Gilroys quote makes sense.
With that in mind, here is my description of the trailer, and my thoughts afterward:
We see natives of a planet (possibly refugees) observing a Star Destroyer and TIE Fighter escorts flying high above their ramshackle camp. There is no better symbology for the oppression of the Empire than Star Destroyer hanging overhead, and this image never gets old. We cut to what appears to be an open-pit mine, with a young Andor looking down into the quarry where he presumably works. If my speculation about the Dark Forces/Darktrooper project tie is correct, expect this planet to be strip-mined for phrikite – the refined phrik is used to create the Darktrooper endoskeleton and armor. In voiceover, he speaks as quick cuts of other scenes and times play: “To steal from the Empire? You just walk in like you belong. (Young Andor crawling into an imperial control center) They’re so proud of themselves…so fat and satisfied. (The Imperial Senate, a likely Imperial Security Bureau closed meeting, Imperial officers from Andors planet drinking as they watch something offscreen) They can’t imagine that someone like me would ever get inside their house. (Young Andor walking slowly into the imperial control center from earlier, then older again, standing in line with other imperial officers, in disguise.)
Cassian is then approached by a character played by Stellan Skarsgard, possibly the most intriuging element of this trailer to me. He appeals to Cassian, attempting to recruit him for…something. Intercut with this scene are other examples of Imperial control, and scenes of what look like Bracca or a similar scrapper planet. We see more of this character as he makes his way to Jedha in what looks like a very cool ship. Here he has a meeting with Saw Gerrera. Curiouser and curiouser. He seems somewhat uneasy with Saws partisans, but a deal is definitely being struck. The next scenes are a bit harder to suss out – with dialogue from another faction of characters, who look like security forces of some kind on either Andors planet or possibly the scrapper planet. I’m guessing they are Imperial collaborators or some type of planetary security force, and they seem to be trying to root our rebel sympathizers.
The next scenes move to focus on Mon Mothma herself, and on the cosmopolitan planet where she is at. Some are identifying this as Coruscant, and while I believe some of the scenes are, I think some could be Chandrila, homeworld of the senator. An Imperial shuttle lands at some other location, and we see a white-tuniced female (likely an ISB officer) moving through a corridor, then examining a holographic projection of a facility. This officer is seen arresting partisan sympathizers and interrogating them, likely attempting to get one of them to turn.
We cut back to Stellan Skarsgard, looking much different – robed and ringed, apparently a political figure of some importance. He is intercut with his wife or companion admonishing him, telling him that he’s slipping, while in another scene he welcomes Mon Mothma with open arms and laughs. He responds “I”m not slipping…I’ve just been hiding too long.” His very cool ship attempts to evade an Arrestor Cruiser, an original trilogy design that was never used and was supposed to make its debut in Solo, but was cut. Mon Motha speaks to another Imperial Senator – “As long as everyone thinks I’m an irritation, there’s a good chance they’ll miss what I’m really doing.” He replies “What are you really doing?” Quick cuts of several emotional and violent scenes, as a partisan intones “This is what a revolution looks like.” Several more quick cuts showing Andor and others running, or striking out – Andor says “I’m tired of losing.” All of this is intercut with more action scenes, a cut of an alien doctor injecting someone with something, and what looks like a well shot space escape scene.
The trailer ends wth the premier date – September 21st, a pushback of several weeks.
So what are my thoughts?
My first thought is that the show looks gorgeous. My second thought is that Lucasfilm is walking a VERY dangerous tightrope with this show. If my speculation about the framing of Mon Motha to the wider audience is correct, they might be able to pull it off, if they handle it correctly. Unfortuantely, Lucasfilm of late has had the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and I don’t have confidence in them to tell a nuanced story. I’m speculating that Stellan Skarsgard is playing Garm Bel Iblis or the Mickey Mouse Star Wars equivalent. In Legends, Garm was one of the founding members of the Rebellion with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, but Garm grew suspicious of Mon Mothma and eventually broke off, feeling that Mothma was drawing too much power to herself. This series seems to be exploring the forging of the Rebellion with Mon Mothma, Bail, and Saw Gerrera. My speculation is that in the course of forging this new Alliance, Mon Mothma WILL have to make sacrifices to ensure the survival and success of the Rebellion. If one of those sacrifices has to be the liberation of Cassian’s planet, that could sour Bel Iblis and cause him to break off. (For that matter, it would likely do the same for Andor, so this speculation COULD be wrong…) BUT…consider – did you notice that all of the natives of Andor’s planet that were shown in the trailer were people of color?
Do you believe that Mickey Mouse Lucasfilm could resist suggesting that the sacrifices that are made are predicated on the ethnicity of those being sacrificed? (To be absolutely fair, some of the Imperial officials seen in one of those cuts looked to be natives of that planet as well, so there are imperial sympathizers among the planets populace) But isn’t it weird that in Disney fiction, they seem to be trying real hard to set the Rebellion AND the Empire up as some kind of moral equivalent?
Be warned Disney – if this is the story you intend to tell, the mass cancellation of Disney+ subscriptions is what a revolution will look like.
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