credit: Andor
Leading up to the finale of the season, Andor has been building to a crescendo that has seen the lead character doing his best to stay a step ahead of the Empire, only to ultimately fail as he is tossed into a prison where people are treated as dispensable commodities rather than human beings. He’s had to fight for his freedom. He’s had to work with people who were ready to kill him simply because he knew too much, and ironically, this is how he came to be the person that was seen in Rogue One, someone who is going to kill others when they become too big of a liability, all in the name of bringing freedom to a galaxy that, honestly, doesn’t appear to know what to do with their freedom when they have it. The Empire is undoubtedly evil despite the fact that many who work for it consider their job to make a difference, but the Rebel Alliance has been revealed as a group that knew little to nothing about how to band together in the beginning and is far more ruthless than they appeared to be in the initial trilogy.
credit: Andor
Knowing how to feel about Vel is still tough.
Too often in situations like this, it feels easy to state that someone like Vel is just another rich individual that has a guilty conscience and wants to make a difference by striking out against the oppressors that are doing so much damage. Vel doesn’t come off as that likable, to be fair, even if some happen to think that she’s a stern but capable leader. Her role in the rebellion isn’t one that feels as though it’s meant to be vindictive or cruel, but the fact that she was bound and determined to find Cassian is enough to make it appear as though she’s going to be the type of person who will do what she needs to in order to keep things rolling along as they need to. But on that note, Vel does come off as a character that some fans might not cry over if she pushes her luck a little too far.
Thinking of what Mon Mothma is going to sacrifice makes it clear that the rebels are bound to go to great lengths.
The difference between the Empire and the rebels is that the Empire is willing to sacrifice pretty much anything or anyone and chalks it up to being the price that one has to pay in order to keep the system functioning. People and materials become a part of the statistical data dealt with by the thousands of cubicle-bound individuals who have no other function other than the one job that they’re assigned. Trying to learn their motivations is tough since their allegiance to the Empire essentially makes them another number that is just waiting to be checked off on one list or another. The rebels, on the other hand, have very little that they can sacrifice in the way of people or resources, and yet they’ll do so because of the potential of a greater reward, the liberation of an entire galaxy.
credit: Andor
Luthen and Saw are both far more impressive in this series.
Both men are far more savage than a lot of rebels that have ever been seen within this franchise, and Saw set the bar pretty high in the Rogue One movie to be fair. The fanatical viewpoint that Luthen and Saw brings to this deadly battle is enough to make a person think that they would gladly sacrifice each other if they had to in order to spit in the Empire’s eye. But where it would appear that Saw is all about pushing straight ahead to show the Imperials what it means to oppress an entire galaxy, Luthen is doing whatever he can to keep striking from the inside, no matter who he has to put in harm’s way. Between the two of them, it feels as though the rebellion wouldn’t stop until the last asset was used, and they had to pick a blaster and take matters into their own hands. But the escape that Luthen executed when caught in a tractor beam was impressive enough to think that the spy had earned his stripes more than once.
The gritty nature of the Rebel Alliance as it continues to form is interesting.
Decades ago, when this franchise started, it was easy to assume that things wouldn’t go that far since it appeared that George Lucas was attempting to create something that everyone could watch without having too much trouble. But over the years, and to the surprise of many, Disney has managed to allow Star Wars to dig in the dirt a little to show what things are really like, rather than showing the happy, shiny side of everything.
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