Bix and Cassian’s ‘Andor’ relationship has me watching ‘Rogue One’ in a new way
When Rogue One came out, I instantly thought that in another world Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso would have been in love with each other. Then Andor gave me Bix Caleen and Cassian and that changes some things.
After my screening for Rogue One, I tried to look for fanfiction for Jyn (Felicity Jones) and Cassian (Diego Luna) almost as quickly as I could. In the second drop for Andor, we got to see how Cassian and Bix’s (Adria Arjona) relationship changed between seasons and now I have a completely different read on Rogue One.
To be fair, maybe in those final moment between Cassian and Jyn, he felt a love for her and my initial thoughts on the scene was not out of left field. But to know that Cassian did have love prior to going to Scarif means that I’m going to watch Jyn and Cassian die in each other’s arms and we don’t know what could have been different between them.
That part never changed. We always knew that there was the “what ifs” of Cassian and Jyn’s story. It is interesting to unpack the film differently now though. That’s what makes a series like Andor so brilliant. We can watch Rogue One on its own but with Andor, we have a deeper look at the creation of the Rebel Alliance as well as seeing who Cassian was prior to Scarif. And that now includes his relationship with Bix.
I was a big Jyn and Cassian girl prior to Andor. But seeing the difference between his relationship with Bix and how it has grown throughout the seasons and how his relationship with Jyn has grown, I think that it is very clear which is actual love.
A love born out of time vs. a need for companionship
Cassian and Jyn were staring down the end of their days. Scarif was being blown up and there was nowhere to escape. They had only each other and the skyline shrinking around them. It gave us a glimpse of how Bail Organa and Breha Organa died on Alderaan as Leia watched from Vader’s ship. But it also was two people who knew that this was the end.
They took comfort in each other’s arms and hugged one another when their time came. That’s not love (even though many of us thought it could be). Maybe Cassian thought it was and we still have time left in Andor with Bix and Cassian. So much can happen in the time left from Andor season 2 to where we find Cassian and Jyn in Rogue One.
But I do think that having Bix and Cassian be together on Andor does change how I’ll view Rogue One but I do think it is for the better. It’s still a tragic end but not necessarily one that makes me feel a loss for what could have been for these two. Cassian had love in his life and Jyn did what she sought out to accomplish. That’s kind of beautiful in a different way.
(featured image: Disney+)
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