Tripwire Reviews Andor Season Two Episodes Ten To Twelve

Victory At All Costs

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows reviews the last three episodes of Andor Season Two. Warning:a few spoilers ahead…

Andor A Star Wars Story Season Two Episodes 10-12
Make It Stop/ Who Else Knows?/ Jedha, Kyber, Erso
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Writers: Tom Bissell, Tony Gilroy
Stars: Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgaard, Elizabeth Dulau, Denise Gough, Alan Tudyk, Duncan Pow

The last three episodes of Andor really accelerate the action here in the road to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, set just one year before the events in the film.

Make it Stop gives us the secret origin of Luthen Rael (Skarsgaard), where we discover that he is a former Imperial soldier who decided to switch sides years ago, meeting Kleya (Dulau) and rescuing her as a child. It all makes perfect sense when the programme makers put all this in context. So Luthen destroys their transmitter and cleans up any loose ends that could lead back to the Rebellion, stalling the Empire long enough to force Deedra to get arrested by her own compatriots. This episode is possibly the most powerful of the second season as Luthen’s motivations for joining the Rebellion really resonate with the viewers. He is a brilliantly flawed character, in some ways even more intriguing than Andor as he risks everything to switch sides and we know just how ruthless the Empire is to those who betray them. So his final fate is sealed here, with Kleya on her way on an Emperial hospital to make sure that Luthen doesn’t spill the beans.

In Who Else Knows?, Cassian heads to Coruscant to rescue Kleya from the clutches of the Empire, assisted by robot K-250 (the voice of Tudyk) and Ruescott Melshi (Pow) despite the possibility that this mission could seriously jeopardise Andor’s standing in the rank and file. Dedra is interrogated by Krennic (Mendelsohn), and she is now a much diminished figure. Her fate seems sealed too here as she has gone around the chain of command; her ambition has been her undoing. K-250 is becoming the robot we see in Rogue One, a wild card for the Rebellion, while the road to Kleya’s rescue is exciting and nail-biting. The tension continues to ratchet up here with Gilroy and the programme makers displaying a deftness of touch that other Star Wars TV shows can’t even get close to matching.

The final episode, Jedha, Kyber, Erso, sees Cassian and co getting Marki off Coruscant with the aid of K-250, who has become an even more pivotal figure.Escaping to Yavin, Andor shares intelligence from Luthen about the Empire’s deadliest war machine, the Death Star which leads to the Rebels’ deadly mission to steal its plans. Mon Monthma is now the head of the Rebellion while Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt) is a little skeptical. Cassian leaves on his flight to the Rings Of Kafrene, which is where we meet him in Rogue One while we discover the final fate of Dedra and Bix at the end here.

So it’s taken three years and 24 episodes to tell the story of Cassian Andor, a Rebel figure whose future is predetermined. A little like Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul or the Star Wars prequel films, Andor is restricted by its very concept. However, Andor is the best reflection of the expression that the journey is more interesting than the arrival. It is all about the journey here, fleshing out Andor’s path in the Rebellion and the evolution of characters like Mon Mothma and Saw Garrera, adding to their resonance when we see them later. Andor works because it is a richer entry into the Star Wars canon with characters like Luthen, Mothma and Kleya flawed but ultimately heroic figures, prepared to do anything to defeat the Empire. The scene with Bix where we see she is living a more optimistic existence away from Andor makes the show’s conclusion even more bittersweet. And what of Andor himself? His fate has been sealed since the start but he has grown as a character here, fleshing out his motivations and what really makes him tick.

Andor has a great deal to say about guerilla warfare, totalitarian societies and the heart of human nature. It was intended as an incredibly ambitious dive into the world of Rogue One and The Rebellion and despite the odd moment which doesn’t quite gel throughout its run, Andor: A Star Wars Story is a testament to what you can achieve with a single showrunner’s dedicated vision and a script designed to push the envelope with what you can do with a sci-fi franchise TV show. Andor will be missed.

JOEL MEADOWS

Andor Season Two is on Disney Plus

Here’s our reviews of the other episodes

Tripwire Reviews Andor Season Two Episodes One To Three

Tripwire Reviews Andor Season Two Episodes Four To Six

Tripwire Reviews Andor Season Two Episodes Seven To Nine