Andor (SPOILERS possible)

[P-Siddy]

Yeah, I had some questions, too, some the same as you, McMetal.  I only got to the first episode tonight and missed what the point of the ISB meeting.  I'll have to rewatch that scene again.

I guess I'm not as attentive as some because Rhydonium has been in Clone Wars, Rebels, Bad Batch and now Andor.  Not sure if it matters much to the whole story but with as volatile as it is, it might be why Saw gets the way he does (and bye bye Wil. Man.)

The Dedro-Syril relationship got me thinking.  With Syril on Ghorman, is it transactional?  Could he just be a pawn in Dedro's game of thrones?

Bix's character is rather tragic so far.  She's lost a lot of close people to her, tortured, and almost raped by the Michael Sheen looking Imperial, has PTSD, and now doing drugs.  Her plot could end in many ways, but I could see that she potentially becomes a liability and Andor has to make a hard choice (or maybe Luthen has her taken care of, which Cassian then takes him out).

maybe the next 2 episodes explain things?

[Jeff]

And where did we hear about Rhydonium before? Was it Rebels or Bad Batch or something? I knew it rang a bell somehow.

I guess I'm not as attentive as some because Rhydonium has been in Clone Wars, Rebels, Bad Batch and now Andor.

I remember it best from The Mandalorian, Season 2 (Morak Refinery).  That Morak episode did a great job showing how volitile it is and how the Empire has weaponized it as well as using it as fuel.

I read this morning that Gilroy did try to get Jimmy Smits but the scheduling just didn’t work. I hate recasting but Benjamin Bratt was a pretty awesome choice.

I also read this morning that Gilroy tossed Bail into Ep6 so we'd all react and talk about the recasting now and get it out of the way before we get into more Bail in the next arc next week.  Pretty smart move to get it out of the way in a short bit like the party.

[Dave]

The Dedro-Syril relationship got me thinking.  With Syril on Ghorman, is it transactional?  Could he just be a pawn in Dedro's game of thrones?

Bix's character is rather tragic so far.  She's lost a lot of close people to her, tortured, and almost raped by the Michael Sheen looking Imperial, has PTSD, and now doing drugs.  Her plot could end in many ways, but I could see that she potentially becomes a liability and Andor has to make a hard choice (or maybe Luthen has her taken care of, which Cassian then takes him out).

I'm thinking the same way on Syril and Bix.  Things will not end well for either.

I think there is a little something in the Dedra / Syril relationship, but when push comes to shove I think Dedra will chose the Empire and her career ambitions over Syril.

[Jedi Idej]

Watched about half of this interview with Tony Gilroy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3bT0TMeVs

Hard to believe he only took on "Rogue One" because it was a job (ie, not a geeky fan wanting to touch the Star Wars galaxy) yet was able to immerse himself in the lore so deeply to craft these wonderful stories.

Read somewhere that Andor s2 is his last foray in SW so he could move onto other things. But, hey, as they said in another franchise, never say never.

[Nicklab]

Syril seems to be living his dream of serving the Empire.  And when he made his report to Partagaz and Dedra, finishing with "This is the greatest day of my life" while he's in the same room as the woman he's in a relationship with?  Oooof!

Dedra seems to be using Syril as a field agent.   Considering the secrecy that Krennic is trying to maintain around the Empire's goals?  It seems like managing the situation from a distance is the way to go.  She's got too much attention on herself personally to be directing operations on Ghorman, but I think eventually she will be there.  One of the shots from the trailer shows her in the safe room Syril transmitted from when he was reporting to her.  And it seems like the ISB (or at least Dedra, Partagaz and Krennic) want to maintain a degree of distance to let the insurgency on Ghorman build.  Dedra spelled it out in the first episode while talking with Krennic - they're looking for Rebels to get worked up and do the wrong thing.  The Imperial authorities are looking for a reason to crack down on Ghorman and exert full control over the planet so they can strip mine it to whatever end - just so Krennic can get enough Kalkite to coat the reactor lenses for the Death Star.

[McMetal]

Yep, these are the droids episodes I was looking for..

Wow!

[Jeff]

Wow!

Agree.  A+.  No Notes.  This arc was fantastic.

[P-Siddy]

I just was thinking Syril is starting to get it and then, one moment derails it.

[GrandMoffNick]

Not only was this arc perfect, it makes all the previous arcs even better than I already thought.

[Matt_Fury]

Best arc of the series so far.

[McMetal]

I went back and watched the Secret Cargo episode of Rebels in Season 3 which occurs right after the final episode of this latest arc. It dovetails pretty nicely, Erskine is even there, which I had forgotten. They do mention something about Bail arranging her transport but that makes sense considering it was the original plan. And same actress doing the voice work, too.

[Nicklab]

Genevieve O'Reilly has a long history with the part of Mon Mothma.  She first played Mon in scenes that were deleted from ROTS.  She reprised the role in ROGUE ONE in 2016.  Then she came back to voice act in seasons 3 and 4 of REBELS.  Then there was ANDOR season 1, followed by her part on AHSOKA.  And how she's playing the part in season 2 of ANDOR - 20 years after she first played the part.

The one bit of casting that's still a little bitter to accept is that Jimmy Smits was "unavailable" to reprise his role as Bail Organa.  He's played that part for a long time - most recently in the OWK series.

Beyond that?  This was an epic story arc.  And I don't even know where to begin with it all.  To see everything come to a head on Ghorman was startling.  The Empire went looking to provoke the catastrophe that ensued, all in the name of taking complete control of the planet so that it could be mined to oblivion. 

It was interesting to see what happened with Syril's character.  He was far more complicated than anyone might have guessed.  He seemed prepared to be an Imperial lackey, and he was thoroughly used by the ISB and Dedra.  But he seemed to have a moral compass that was guided by some desire for justice.  But then that all got thrown out the window when he came across Cassian, and he lost it.

One thing that I was glad did NOT happen?  We've encountered Imperial sharp shooters before, notably a former one in The Mandalorian.  And I'm glad he wasn't shoe-horned into the role of the shooter who took out an Imperial trooper in a false flag attack in order to give the rest of the Imperial troops an excuse to open fire on the Ghor.

[McMetal]

Re: Cassian and Syril, I am reminded of that Thulsa Doom line from Conan “I am the wellspring from which you flow”

Literally every good thing Syril has in his life is because of Cassian. if not for him he would still be stuck in that dead end security job alone and unfulfilled. 

[P-Siddy]

One thing I was thinking was, I'm surprised they didn't unpack an E-Web on those poor citizens... of course, that would have been gruesome.

[Dave]

Story arc three was awesome, and glad to see Ruescott Melshi show up at the very end, although I didn't catch the significance of the blaster that he had that Vel seemed to find interesting.  Can anybody fill me in on that?

One thing that I've been waiting to understand better is Cassian's quest to find his sister.  That seemed somewhat important in season 1 with him willing to take some substantial risks to try and find her.  I'm not sure if that was just a helpful plot device to get Cassian off of Ferrix, in to trouble, and on the run, or if we're going to pull that back in at some point.  I guess we're running out of episodes and if it was going to figure in to season 2 it probably would have already happened...

It was sad to see Bix leave Cassian so he could fulfill his destiny as a rebel leader.