Andor (SPOILERS possible)

[StBrianOfMinneapolis]

I hope Luthen isn't a Jedi, and is just a pissed off dude that is driving some of the inner workings of the early rebellion.

I agree. Though now I'm recalling my failed idea that Luthen was Vel's dad due to how he barked at her when he drops off Cassian. Mon mothma was definitely wary of Palpatine for a long time, but I wonder how Vel is devoted to the rebellion and committed to destruction.

[Nicklab]

His 15-year timeline mean's he launched his plan around order 66

I'm starting to wonder if he's a Jedi...

"I share my dreams with ghosts"

--His fallen Jedi, killed in Order 66?

"I'm damned for what I do"

--Yoda said, 'once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will'

"My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield"
"I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy."

Sounds like a guy very concerned he's acting Sith-like to me...

Maybe, maybe not - it's fun to speculate though!

There's also the matter of the Kyber crystal!

But I suspect that the show isn't going to go there, since one of the things that's at the heart of the show has been how ordinary people rise up to strike back.  Still, not all of those chosen by the Jedi went on to become padawans with a Jedi Master.  There were the younglings whose talents were deemed insufficient for further training that would go on to be in the agricultural corps.  They still would have been trained at the Jedi Temple up until that age of selection, so they knew Masters, Jedi and other younglings who went on to become padawans and eventually Jedi Knights.

It was stunning to learn that Luthen had a mole within the ISB.  What I really appreciated about this subplot was the espionage tradecraft - Kleya finding the first mark, and then the second that indicated that Lonni Jung wanted to meet with Luthen.  This was clearly worked out - how Lonni was in plainclothes and working his way into the underworld of Coruscant.  The concealment of the commlink.  And the contingency plan if the meeting was a trap.  Luthen had clearly been keeping tabs on Lonni, too.  Knowing about his daughter being born despite them not having met in a year.  And making the veiled threat about the safety of his family.

The prison break was fantastic.  As was Kino Loy's change of heart.  Andy Serkis played this so unbelievably well.  From the moment he let the entire 52 D unit know that no one was getting out, to the moment he commanded them to attack the guards, his speech to the entire prison, and then the heartbreaking moment when he told Cassian that he couldn't swim.

The characterization of the guards as functionaries who were scared, and the slimy toadies in the control center showed just how tenuous the hold of the Empire really was.  As for how Cassian and Melshi get off of Narkina 5?  I guess we have to wait until Wednesday to find out.

[Dave]

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Holy crap is Luthen a badass.  I loved the look on the Star Destroyer commander's face when he got his ass kicked by Luthen. 

And was that what I thought it was on his belt that Two Tubes and crew inspected?!?!?!

I loved all the spy stuff with Luthen, and that he absolutely didn't want Cassian to fall into the hands of the Empire.

Something tells me we'll have a serious showdown next week back on Ferrix for the season finale.

I was bummed to see Melshi and Cassian split up, but I guess we know that they'll get reunited at some point, hopefully soon.

[Muftak]

Luthen used a collapsible walking stick when he was on Ferrix. .

[Dave]

So that was a collapsable walking stick and not a lightsaber?  It did look like it was wood, but it did look like a lightsaber hilt too.

[Jeff]

So that was a collapsable walking stick and not a lightsaber?  It did look like it was wood, but it did look like a lightsaber hilt too.

Yeah, I went back and rewatched Episode 3 and that collapsible stick / fake blind guy cane he had on ferrix is the same as what he had in the last episode. 

Of course, just because it's a collapsable cane handle now doesn't mean it wasn't his old lightsaber hilt.

[StBrianOfMinneapolis]

So that was a collapsable walking stick and not a lightsaber?  It did look like it was wood, but it did look like a lightsaber hilt too.

Yeah, I went back and rewatched Episode 3 and that collapsible stick / fake blind guy cane he had on ferrix is the same as what he had in the last episode. 

Of course, just because it's a collapsable cane handle now doesn't mean it wasn't his old lightsaber hilt.

Its funny you guys are going this route. I'm starting to agree and think Luthen being a gray jedi is more likely given how he seems to know everything. He definitely has sources, spies, and technology working for him but he still seems to know everything except for the rats nest inside of Saw's mind. I'm starting to think he has a Palpatine level of reach into other people's heads.

Also Kleya and Vel having a rivalry seems to be real. I went back and watched their conversation in episode 7. I recall Kleya was firm, but now I see it was a pretty similiar icy tone there as in episode 11. Apparently Vel is not supposed to just show up like that, which she did in both episodes.

[Matt_Fury]

I want a show on Disney+ focused on Luthen's backstory.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

That business with Luthen and the Imperial cruiser was some of the best Star Wars ever.

[Matt_Fury]

Hell, I like to pause whenever they are in Luthen's gallery and look at all the crazy stuff in there!

[Dave]

Hell, I like to pause whenever they are in Luthen's gallery and look at all the crazy stuff in there!

'

Last week's Starwars.com gallery of Episode 10 pointed out a Naboo headdress similar to what Padme wore.  I also noticed a Gungan electroshield this week too.  I know previous galleries pointed out a Wookiee warrior shield too.

[Jedi Idej]

It begs the question how Luthen was able to amass all of these. artifacts

[Matt_Fury]

Hell, I like to pause whenever they are in Luthen's gallery and look at all the crazy stuff in there!

'

Last week's Starwars.com gallery of Episode 10 pointed out a Naboo headdress similar to what Padme wore.  I also noticed a Gungan electroshield this week too.  I know previous galleries pointed out a Wookiee warrior shield too.

My eyes went to the Jedi Temple Guard mask this week.

[Muftak]

I was more perplexed by what was going on with B2-EM0 this week than Luthen's heritage.

In the early episodes, the very clunky and odd bit of data about Bee needing extra energy to lie was delivered, they made a little joke out of it. In this episode, they made mention of the fact that he has been charging constantly ever since Maarva died, they showed that he's actively charging with the indicator light on his face blinking, and he wouldn't even leave home when it was requested of him.

Is this a hint that Bee is lying about something? Is Maarva up to something/was up to something and now he feels obligated to finish it, or potentially his apparent grief is his clumsy attempt to act normal knowing that Maarva's death was faked?

I have not been hypothesizing what will happen with this show because it has been so curveball-filled and I have been enjoying just letting it play out, but this all seemed to unfold in a very "payoff" way to that odd lying fact from the earlier episodes, so I got intrigued, but I haven't seen anyone else mention it around. Maybe I'm crazy.

Also I absolutely loved the Cantwell-class Arrestor, specifically since they gave it that class. I remember seeing the model in one of the early 90's NF Star Wars books. (Lucasfilm Archives or something?) and thinking how different a take on the Star Destroyer it was. Never did I expect to see one made to fit the universe...and from what I understand this was just fortuitous for the show, since the 3D computer model used was built up for the Solo movie but the scene got cut (It is still in the film, but just barely in the recruitment hologram on Correlia.) So it was unique, and ready-to-go, and already paid for! Good budgeting! Now get Colin's Landspeeder into a show, somebody!

[Matt_Fury]

So that was a collapsable walking stick and not a lightsaber?  It did look like it was wood, but it did look like a lightsaber hilt too.

It's a pepper grinder.