Contains spoilers for Andor, Rogue One and other completed Star Wars projects!
I've talked about this before, but when I watched Rogue One initially I was impressed with the bravery of the story they told and delighted in some of the fan service. It was a decent film, but I wasn't obsessed. There are a number of people that claim it as their favorite Star Wars film, and I can see it to an extent. But there were two things that bothered me: Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor.
Let me start with Cassian because it'll be the bulk of this article, anyway. When we met Cassian in Rogue One he was on a mission for the Rebellion on a planet we've never heard of and upon getting the information he was after, outright kills the informant when things get dicey. When we meet him in Andor he is on a personal mission on a planet we've never heard of seeking information when he outright kills two police officers who harass him and get in his way.
Parallels like that occur throughout Andor, although most are more subtle. But the point is it seems like the man he is in Rogue One is the same as he was at the beginning of Andor. Quiet, determined and not terribly emotive. A true loyalist to the Rebellion, willing to sacrifice his life and kill without blinking an eye for the cause. But that's not the Cassian we meet on Morlana One. He is a self-serving thief looking for any information about a long lost sister. He had no business on that planet really, he was breaking rules that he felt didn't apply to his situation.
Cassian spends most of Andor season one like that, trying to be self-serving and discovering that it only ends up hurting everyone around him. It's only when he helps (and we discover that his true nature is inherently selfless over the course of the series) that he realizes he has value and a talent for getting things done that is incredibly rare. That's when Luthen enters his life, the architect of the Rebellion who sends him down a path that eventually leads to Cassian's final fate stealing the plans to the Death Star and helping to save the galaxy from tyranny.
Sounds epic when phrased like that, but Andor also serves as an exploration of character and redemption, defining the whys for his motivations and showing us that he is far more than just a quiet guy who kills without hesitation. One thing we learn is that he wears his heart on his sleeve; those little facial ticks are not just random, they convey his raw emotions in subtle and important ways. In other words, getting to know Cassian in Andor allows us to see far more about what he is feeling in Rogue One.
So when we get to that finale, when he is injured and watching that wave of destruction come at him, we can picture him remembering Maarva saving him as a child or wondering where Bix finally settled down. As a gut punch coda to that moment, we also learn that he has a child he will never meet. Talk about emotional context – Cassian's story and character background would be more than enough to make Rogue One carry more weight and substance.
Of course Andor wasn't really about Cassian. While he is the main character to an extent, it was also an ensemble. We get to know other players in the Rebellion quite well. Namely Mon Mothma, who really only appeared before in one scene in Return of the Jedi, a deleted scene in Revenge of the Sith and a handful of appearances in animation. Yet in Andor she is given a family and an arc and her entire character is fleshed out and given complete and full motivations for her actions.
But more broadly, the real star of Andor is the Empire. The show serves as a showcase to demonstrate the cruelty, ego, arrogance and corruption of an authoritarian regime. Andor completely recontextualizes everything about the Empire, and as a consequence, adds so much weight to the entire franchise. I imagine the ripples of that context will be felt beyond just Rogue One, but I haven't rewatched the original trilogy yet so I'll see. It's difficult to explain without the experience of watching the series, but seeing first hand how monstrous and utterly immoral even the rank and file soldiers behave within the Imperial military quickly defines the need for a Rebellion.
So imagine my surprise when suddenly Jyn Erso, who always felt like she had little motivation for any of her actions in Rogue One, felt like a full character who has been struggling within this horrible system her entire life. We meet her as a prisoner, and after Andor, we know full well how prisoners are treated. Yet she isn't indoctrinated into the Imperial way of life; she is angry and resentful of everyone who failed her. Hell, we even got more time with her father figure, Saw Gerrera, and his actions suddenly make a lot more sense in the film. That simple lift of purpose extends to every single soldier and pilot in the film, and really helps to deepen their sacrifices, because the cause is worth dying for.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the job of a prequel should be to expand and inform on a property. Perhaps give it a bit of weight and background, strengthening the greater narrative. The prequel trilogy did some of that, and has improved with time. Yet Andor might have done more for the franchise than anything we've seen before, because it has shown us what they are fighting against. And that was exactly what a prequel should give us in the end.
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.
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