Episodes 10 and 11 of Andor Season 2 were largely centered around Luthen and Kleya’s efforts to leak the information about the fact that the Empire was making a Death Star that was going to use kyber crystals from Jedha and Kalkite from Ghorman to literally obliterate planets. In the process, Luthen was arrested by Dedra, but he tried to kill himself to avoid capture and was hospitalized. Kleya knew that if Luthen survived the surgery, he’d be subjected to endless torture by the Empire. So, she broke into the hospital he was in and killed him. Heert was tasked with capturing Kleya, but she managed to reach Wilmon, who was in Yavin. Once Cassian learned that someone was using the old frequencies to ask for help, without even giving it a second thought, he left for Coruscant with Melshi and K-2SO. They even got to Kleya before Heert and the Imperial officers could capture her. However, a major issue arose when Kleya refused to leave, thereby allowing Heert and the officers to surround the safehouse that she was in, along with Cassian and Melshi. Did all of them manage to escape? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Cassian and Kleya reach Yavin.
Episode 12 of Andor Season 2 opens with Heert and the Imperial soldiers approaching the safehouse that Kleya, Cassian, and Melshi are in. As they finally decide to leave, the soldiers start attacking them. Thankfully, K-2SO notices that the building that Cassian and Melshi have entered is swarming with Imperial officers. So, it begins to make its way to Cassian in the most violently hilarious fashion imaginable, killing Heert in the process. By the time K-2SO gets to its friends, Kleya is severely injured, while Cassian and Melshi are still functional. They all board their ship and begin their flight back to Yavin; it’s so funny that K-2SO wants some love and appreciation from Cassian, but Cassian is unwilling to give it any because he knows it’ll get to its head. As the focus of the episode shifts to Yavin, we see Saw and Mon having a heated argument about where he is operating from. But, unfortunately, Saw is beyond reason. All the rhydonium that he has consumed over the years has rotted his body, mind, and soul. He thinks everyone is working against him. Even though he and Mon are fighting the Empire, he doesn’t want the Rebel Alliance to meddle in his affairs. However, Mon emphasizes the fact that there’s strength in unity, and if they continue to work separately, they’ll only be helping the Empire’s efforts to take over the entire galaxy.
If you have watched Rogue One, you already know what’s going to happen to Saw for not listening to Mon. In the movie, Krennic “tested” the Death Star on Jedha, thereby killing Saw, while Cassian, K-2SO, Jyn, Chirrut, Bodhi, and Baze barely made it out of there alive. Coming back to the events of the show, Cassian reaches Yavin and urges Draven to get the medical team to take Kleya to a doctor. Then he addresses the leaders of the Rebel Alliance regarding the information about the Death Star that he has just received from Kleya. Unsurprisingly, none of them believe a single word that’s coming out of Cassian’s mouth, because the concept of a moon-sized weapon moving through space and taking out entire planets sounds preposterous to them. Not much is known about the fates of Senator Tynnra Pamlo and Nower Jebel, but Bail’s refusal to pay heed to Cassian’s warnings cost him very heavily. As shown in A New Hope, his home planet, Alderaan, was obliterated by the Death Star, while his daughter, Leia, watched in horror. As for General Raddus, he died during the Battle of Scarif. Could these outcomes have been prevented if the Rebel Alliance had just listened to Cassian as soon as he uttered the words “Death Star”? I don’t know for sure, but I think the odds would’ve been in the Alliance’s favor if they hadn’t acted in such a dismissive manner just because Luthen was the source of all these details.
The Rebel Alliance Doubts Cassian
While walking Cassian to where Kleya is being kept, Draven tells him that his contact, Tivik, is in Kafrene even though he was supposed to spy on Saw, who is in Jedha. This is yet another Rogue One reference. In that movie, when Cassian met Tivik, the latter told him that a cargo pilot named Bodhi Rook had defected from the Empire and was on the run with a holographic message from Galen Erso, detailing the flaw that could be exploited to destroy the Death Star. After confirming that Tivik was the only one who knew about this information, Cassian killed Tivik and led a mission to Jedha to extract Bodhi and that message from Saw. Coming back to the show, Cassian gives Kleya the sad news that the intelligence that Luthen died for is not being accepted very positively by the Alliance. Still, he is doing everything in his power to get them to understand that the danger of the Death Star is imminent. Cassian meets Wilmon and shares the news of Luthen’s death; it’s a bittersweet moment, because Wilmon is glad that Kleya and Cassian are alive, but the shadow of Luthen’s passing and the construction of the Death Star loom heavily over them.
Mon sends Vel to talk to Cassian and see if he is actually telling the truth. After toasting to the memories of all those who they have lost in this war, Vel admits that she has been sent by Mon to check the credibility of the info he has brought from Coruscant. Cassian keeps reiterating the same thing over and over again, hoping that at one point someone will understand that Luthen might’ve been a flawed individual, but he’d never send those rebelling against the Empire down the wrong path. When I was watching the Ghorman massacre unfold, it crossed my mind that maybe things wouldn’t have devolved so drastically if Luthen had accepted Cassian’s advice and not sent Vel and Cinta to a heist. Cinta wouldn’t have died, and the Empire wouldn’t have gotten an excusee to fast-track the invasion of Ghorman. However, if you take that heist, Vel, and Cinta out of that equation, the massacre would’ve still happened. Luthen’s mistake only quickened the process. That said, Luthen didn’t do what he did with the intention of dooming Ghorman; his conscience was clean. He wanted Ghorman to stand up to the Empire. Is it his fault that he failed to anticipate the ruthlessness of Captain Kaido and Partagaz? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Partagaz Is Dead
Partagaz is seen listening to Karis Nemik’s inspiring speech about fighting fascism and actually being in awe of it. I mean, the space Nazi is surprised that despite inflicting unimaginable levels of violence on the galaxy, there are people like Nemik out there who are hopeful that the day will come when the Empire will fall. Before Partagaz can understand how it’s possible for rebels to, well, rebel in the face of such power, Lagret enters his office and asks him to come with him for his trials, as predicted by Krennic. But instead of going with Lagret, Partagaz requests that he wait outside while he dies by suicide.
Firstly, I really like the small moment where Lagret doesn’t allow the stormtroopers to rush into Partagaz’s office and instead chooses to take a moment to mourn his death. And secondly, I suppose Andor Season 2 is the first Star Wars IP that has portrayed suicide not once, but twice over the course of a couple of episodes, right? First there was Luthen, who didn’t die by suicide, but he certainly tried to, and now there’s Partagaz. Of course, it’s a sensitive topic, but by including mature stuff like this, the show is really underscoring the darkness of the situation. Remember the charred corpses of Owen and Beru Lars in A New Hope? That was horrifying to witness. The next time that Star Wars scared me was when Anakin Skywalker had his whole body charred on the volcanic planet of Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. Sure, later entries have had interesting twists and turns. But a suicide? That’s new for Star Wars, and I appreciate the fact that the higher-ups didn’t axe moments like this from Andor.
Bix Lives
In Andor season 2’s ending, Cassian thinks about going to Bix after all this is over, and Vel gives him the encouragement that he needs. While heading back to her residence, Vel finds Kleya loitering around aimlessly and takes her to her shack, where they have some hot beverage and mourn Luthen’s death. In addition to that, Vel tries her best to alleviate Kleya’s fears about not being accepted by the people of Yavin because they seem to hate Luthen. On that note, Vel leaves to meet Mon and convince her to trust the info that has been sourced by Luthen and passed on to them via Cassian and Kleya. Cassian reunites with K-2SO and Melshi, while Draven re-informs him that Tivik is in Kafrene and won’t meet anyone but Cassian. Also, based on the Star Destroyer hovering over Jedah, the mining of the kyber crystals, the fuel from Ghorman, and the repeated calls from Tivik, Draven is convinced that Cassian’s info about the Death Star is legit. So, Draven and Mon approach Bail and urge him to act on the intelligence they have gathered so far. Hence, the following day, Bail gives Cassian permission to go to Kafrene and see what’s going on. It’s supposed to be a triumphant moment as Cassian walks through Yavin and boards his ship with K-2SO, but it’s actually sad because we all know that this is the first step that he has taken in a journey that’ll end with his death. Or maybe this is the final one because he took the first step when he shook hands with Luthen?
Either way, it’s sort of heartbreaking, and I am really surprised that Gareth Edwards, Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, and every single person who has worked on Andor and Rogue One have managed to underscore the gravity of the work done by characters who are characterized as “supporting” while the Skywalkers hog the limelight for destroying the Death Star. Luke shooting through that vent was just one thing, but if people like Cassian and Luthen wouldn’t have stepped up, Luke would’ve been picking up power converters from Tosche Station for the rest of his life. During the closing moments of the show, we see Perin having an affair with Runai (not surprising at all; Mon deserves better), Dedra rotting away in an Imperial prison on Narkina 5 (she deserved something worse), Saw looking at the horizon of Jedah (which is about to be blown to smithereens by Krennic), and Bix standing in the fields of Mina-Rau with a baby in her arms. Do I really need to say whose baby that is? Really? I both love and hate that final shot. I love it because it stays on the screen for such a long time. I hate it because that’s the last we’ll see of Bix or any of the characters who survived the events of Andor Season 2. I wish this show could’ve gone on for longer than just 2 seasons. I wish aging wasn’t an issue. But such is life; we can’t have everything we want. So, now that you have watched Andor, go and watch Rogue One and let me know, through the comments section below, whether the viewing experience is enriched or soured by the show.
