Star Wars Andor: A Review

Andor is generally considered one of the better Star Wars shows, especially in the Disney era. It’s remarkably different from almost everything else and it feeds the craving many Star Wars fans have for a “darker, more mature” look at that galaxy far, far away. I watched Andor Season 1 when it first released in 2022 and I watched the whole thing again recently as we get ready for Season 2 in 2025. I wanted to offer my critique of the show with the benefit of this second viewing.

Straight out of the gate, I’m just going to say that Andor is a brilliant show. It’s written like a contemporary thriller, focusing on the characters, the plot and the real human emotions that drive the story. Yes, it’s based in the Star Wars universe, and there’s no shortage of TIE fighters, stormtroopers and Imperial uniforms, but all of that just slips into the fabric of the story, never drawing attention to itself for its own sake. In a period of cultural history when Easter eggs and fan-service can be controversial, Andor focuses on telling a compelling story and lets the Star Wars stuff just be. This was a masterstroke, giving the die-hard fans what they love but also making the show accessible to a much wider audience.

If you liked Rogue One…

As an aside, Andor takes its cue from Rogue One, the movie that introduced us to the main character Cassian Andor. Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie ever made, in many ways for the same reason that Andor is so strong. Rogue One isn’t so much a space fantasy movie as a war movie that just happens to be set in the Star Wars universe. Now, Rogue One tacks very closely to established Original Trilogy canon, with loads of Easter eggs, a central role for the Death Star, and even CGI versions of Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia, but those are all just part of the supporting fun – at its core, Rogue One is an intense, personal story around Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor and Orson Krennic.

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Andor takes this idea and goes even further. There are no light sabers, no Sith, no Grand Adventure. The story is very close and personal, showing the drudgery and difficulties of life for the common people under the Empire. I’m not going to say that there are no legacy characters, because there are. But… those legacy characters are minor players from the saga – Cassian Andor, Mon Mothma – and since we know so little about them, there’s a lot of room for them to grow.

Building on legacy

Cassian Andor was one of the leads in Rogue One, so we got to know him and like him to a degree. But Andor is Cassian’s origin story and we learn a great deal more about his past. We see him when he’s young, drifting, and kind of a screw-up who owes everybody money, who lets people down and who is clearly heading for a wasted life. He’s a dreamer but lacks the focus to realize his dreams. He’s optimistic, but unrealistic in what the galaxy is actually offering.

How do you make a rebel?

Over the twelve episodes of the first season, we watch Cassian grow from a drifter into a rebel. Some of his suffering is is own fault, but he’s also a victim of Imperial tyranny. It’s an interesting dramatic twist that while Cassian chooses to actively assist the Rebellion, that isn’t what starts him down the path toward his galaxy-saving heroism in Rogue One. He finishes the job for the rebels, takes his money and tries to hide out. And, it’s pretty clear, had fate not intervened Cassian would have spent the rest of his life just keeping his head down and avoiding trouble. But it’s a random, unfortunate event – when he’s arrested for no reason and sentenced to prison without trial – that sets him on his journey. Unlike most stories, where the hero chooses their path, Cassian has it thrust upon him.

Diego Luna is brilliant in his portrayal of Cassian, showing us a tortured rogue who is both rather charming and also quite unlikeable. He’s selfish and opportunistic, but has a heart of gold hiding deep within his cynical soul. Excellent acting and writing in the early episodes show how all of Cassian’s friends like him and want him to succeed, but at the same time mistrust him and wish he’d get his life in order. It’s all very grounded, very believable and very relatable to contemporary life. Most of us have met a Cassian Andor at some point in our lives, and the reactions of his friends is something we can all understand.

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Cassian initially wants nothing to do with the fight. He runs from it even after taking part in the biggest Rebel action to date. All he wants is to find a nice, quiet corner of the galaxy where he can live in peace and comfort. This sounds like a lot of people in our society today: unassuming, decent folk who don’t want to cause trouble and just want to be left alone. Unfortunately, trouble finds Cassian, and he is forced to grow into the reluctant hero.

Hey, it’s that lady who briefed the Endor mission

At the other end of the spectrum is Mon Mothma, the senator for Chandrila in the Imperial Senate. This is a character who was first introduced over 40 years ago in Return of the Jedi, and who was re-introduced in Rogue One and Rebels. As the leader of the Rebellion Mon Mothma has always been an important character, but she was portrayed as a distant figure, a “big player” in the galaxy with whom our beloved heroes only interacted peripherally.

What a joy, then, to have Mon Mothma front and center, especially as the character is played to perfection be Genevieve O’Reilly. Through Mon we see the high politics of the Empire, the efforts to battle tyranny and the continuation of the struggles we saw in the Prequel Trilogy through the eyes of Padme Amidala. Mon has been fighting for justice for 20 years by the time we catch up with her in Andor, and the quiet sadness in her character reveals how her efforts are really just a long defeat.

Mon has clearly tried to maintain the moral high ground throughout her career, and we admire her for this, but the time is fast approaching when she’ll face serious challenges to her integrity – and as the audience we aren’t necessarily sure what we want her to do. To be a hero in Star Wars she should always take the high road… right?

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Star Wars shades of grey

Mon Mothma’s main ally in the burgeoning Rebellion is a new character to the saga: Luthen Rael, played powerfully by Stellan Skarsgard. A Machiavellian figure who is fighting for justice against the Empire and who is willing to use any means to succeed, Luthen is another very realistic character. He wants to be a good guy, and the goal he seeks is one that Star Wars fans are all behind, but his methods are cold, brutal and calculating. He’s willing to sacrifice his own life, and indeed, his own soul, to achieve victory – but he’s even more willing to sacrifice other people’s lives for victory, too. He’s a lot like Saw Gerrera, but is even more effective because he understands how to manipulate people.

Just as we admire Mon Mothma trying to maintain the high road in her quest for victory, we admire Luthen’s dedication to victory at any cost. He’s not a nice person, but as an audience we can’t help but be drawn to him.

The Empire is represented by ISB Supervisor Dedre Meero. Denise Gough delivers a nuanced, compelling performance as the Imperial agent who is hunting Luthen and Cassian. But unlike many villain-protagonists, Dedre is no rebel-sympathizer undermining the tyranny from within. She is an active part of the tyranny, using all her impressive intellect and Imperial resources to further the Emperor’s goals. She’s ambitious, cut-throat, self-serving and kind of a bitch. In a lesser show she would have been a cartoon villain, but because of the writing and Ms. Gough’s outstanding performance, Dedre is a character who we are strangely drawn to. We find ourselves rooting for her even as she commits heinous acts for a heinous regime.

Just as we are drawn to Luthen the Machiavellian rebel, we’re drawn to Dedre the true believer Imperial. We should despise both of them, but we find we can’t.

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And finally, there’s Syril Karn. A junior officer in a local law enforcement detachment, he conducts a disastrous raid on Cassian’s home town that not only infuriates the local population but brings Imperial consequences down upon him. He’s an odious man – smug, ignorant, abusive – but his tragic arc somehow evokes sympathy in us. He loses his job, is forced to return home to his overbearing mother, and is questioned by Dedre and the ISB. And yet, despite all this, his loyalty to the Empire remains absolute. He breaks rules only to help the Empire track down Cassian and bring him to justice.

Just as many of us know a Cassian Andor in our lives, many of us know a Syril Karn, too. That person who seems just a little off, who you don’t like but you can admire for their work ethic and drive. They’re kind of sad, even pitiable, but somehow they find themselves in a position of power – which they abuse beyond all expectation. Syril is a small, insecure man who wants to be a big, confident man, and he’ll tear down whatever he needs to in pursuit of this illusion. He’s not the most dangerous character in Andor, but he’s perhaps the most frightening, because there are so many frustrated, desperate, amoral people like him in our world today. Ever wondered where the Nazis got their foot soldiers? Look no further than Syril Karn.

A message we should not ignore

One of the main themes in Andor is the fight against tyranny. In the original Star Wars, the Empire was just presented as a Big Baddie that our heroes were meant to defeat. But the tone of the entire Original Trilogy is one of light adventure, and while Darth Vader and the Emperor show us the darkness, their evil is centered around them as individuals, and is connected to the Sith. We never actually see the tyranny of the Empire in the Original Trilogy, other than their antagonistic military role against the well-organized, well-funded, well-equipped Rebellion.

Andor takes us much deeper. It tells us why people are forced to rebel. It shows us the dreary life of average folks under the Empire’s thumb. It shows us the random cruelty of petty officials. It shows us the unfair punishments dealt out by uncaring bureaucrats. It introduces us to Cassian, his adoptive mother Maarva, his friends Bix and Brasso, and we like them. They’re normal folks – not heroes like Luke Skywalker, scoundrels like Han Solo or leaders like Princess Leia. They’re just folks. And they are powerless under the abuses of an uncaring Empire.

In order for this show to work, we as the audience have to go through the pain and suffering and horror and loss of our characters. And it is not fun. It is painful. And, if I’m being perfectly honest, it hits a little too close to home. I’m writing this in early 2025, and I see around me in the world the rise of tyranny. Of governments elected to serve the people deciding instead to enrich themselves and their friends. Of disadvantaged people being crushed by a more powerful force simply for existing. I see an increase in anger everywhere, and a loss of compassion, understanding, or even the ability to have a conversation with someone you disagree with. And it feels like there’s nothing I can do.

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This is the feeling that Season 1 of Andor evokes in its audience. It’s powerful story-telling, wonderfully done. I would argue that Andor is the best-made thing in all of Star Wars. Is it my favorite thing in Star Wars? Hell, no. I mostly watch Star Wars for light escapism, not for a punch-in-the-gut reminder of the troubles in the real world. But I do think Andor is quite possibly the best bit of storytelling ever made in Star Wars.

For all those fans of The Empire Strikes Back, who want Star Wars to go dark… watch Andor.

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning, best-selling author and ghostwriter of science fiction and space fantasy. His newest novel, Light in the Abyss, is available here.