Star Wars: Andor brings us closer and closer to the Rebellion as we know it each week, and while we knew that Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) had been in this fight from a very young age thanks to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we never really knew why he was fighting in the first place. Many (myself included) thought that his connection to this fight came from what happened on his home planet of Kenari and Cassian being forced to leave his home and go from Kassa to Cassian Andor.
But in episode 7 of Andor, titled “Announcement,” we got to see the root of Cassian’s connection to the battle between the Empire and the Rebellion, and it isn’t exactly what I had thought it was. In fact, it’s so emotionally charged that I understand Cassian more and his willingness to die for the cause of it all.
**Spoilers for Star Wars: Andor lie ahead.**
On one hand, Cassian’s connection to the fight does come from leaving his home planet and his sister behind. That is true. But on the other, his dedication comes from an even more personal level and we learned in a flashback/dream that Cassian was having in “Announcement.” But let’s break it down by his relationship with both of his adoptive parents and how that relates to his own rebellious nature.
Maarva and Cassian
Cassian’s relationship with Maarva (Fiona Shaw) is something that the show was hinting at prior to this episode. She’s his mother figure and someone he loves very deeply, but it seemed at first like a relationship that was just Cassian taking care of her and then leaving again. This week, we got to see how much he wants to protect her and how much she wants to fight.
When Cassian returns from the mission on Aldhani, he instantly goes back to Fest to try to get Maarva (and Bix) to go with him. It’s then that he learns that Timm was who turned him in, but that doesn’t stop him from begging Maarva to go with him. But Maarva says something that truly and honestly feels like an emotional punch because she doesn’t know who is behind her sudden inspiration.
She hears about the mission on Aldhani and tells Cassian that if those heroes can stand up against the Empire, then she can do that there on Ferrix. She can fight back, and she can’t leave, but he can’t stay, and they have an emotional goodbye without Maarva knowing that he was part of the attack that inspired her to fight back again.
But she tells Cassian a story about how she would walk through town and ignore the square because she could still see Clem hanging there after all these years, but knowing that there were Rebels fighting against the Empire gave her the strength to walk through and know that the Empire would fall. It shows Cassian’s own desire to fight that he got from Maarva (who shares how much she has loved him.)
That brings us back to Cassian’s other inspiration for fighting: his adoptive father.
Clem and Cassian
We got to see more of Gary Beadle as Clem Andor this week, and it came with a price. After Cassian goes to see Bix, he has a dream about the last moment he saw his father. Clem tells Cassian that this isn’t their fight and they were simply there to watch the Stormtroopers raise a flag and go about their day, but when someone in the crowd begins to fight back, yelling, “Long live the Republic,” Clem can’t help himself and goes to try to mediate the fight.
It results in the Stormtroopers killing everyone in their path, including Clem—all because he tried to stop a fight from breaking out. That clearly not only fuels Maarva’s own desire to fight with the Rebellion but Cassian’s, as well. The two are in this fight to honor Clem and fight against the regime that took him from them, and it was an emotional journey to see Cassian’s roots and his own involvement in this fight.
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Star Wars: Andor has continued to be brilliant week in and week out, and it’s a must-see for not only Star Wars fans but everyone.
(featured image: Lucasfilm)
