Andor: "Daughter of Ferrix", "Rix Road"

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for Episodes 11-12 of season one of Andor ahead! There shouldn’t be any spoilers from later on in the series, but there will be spoilers of other Star Wars movies and TV shows, so consider yourself warned about any Prequel or Original Trilogy spoilers!

“But I’ll tell you this. If I could do it again, I’d wake up early and fight these bastards…from the start!” - Maarva Andor, “Rix Road”

An Obituary for Maarva Carassi Andor

Maarva Carassi Andor, Ferrix City, passed away peacefully in her home the other day. Like so many of her fellow Ferrixians, she and her husband Clem made a living off of scavenging damaged and lost equipment. Nineteen years ago, on the doomed planet of Kenari, she and Clem found and adopted Cassian. Later in life, she retired from scavenging, but continued to be a pillar of Ferrix City’s community. She was heavily involved with the Daughters of Ferrix, even becoming the organization’s president for a time. 

She was preceded in death by her husband Clem. She is survived by her son Cassian, and her trusty droid B2EMO. She is also survived by her many friends and neighbors, and by the Daughters of Ferrix.

As per Ferrixian tradition, she has already been cremated. Her ashes have been mixed into a funerary stone, and will be placed on the funerary wall with Clem, her relatives and members of her community that have already passed on. In honor of her life, a memorial procession will be held tomorrow on Rix Road in Ferrix City. All are welcome to come celebrate and remember her life. However, Imperial authorities have requested only so many can be in attendance, so get there early.

Though overshadowed by later events during the tumultuous years before the Battle of Yavin, Maarva Andor’s (Fiona Shaw) funeral procession, and the subsequent battle of Ferrix should not be overlooked as a pivotal event on the road to the Galactic Civil War. For pretty much every major living character we’ve talked about so far* it was a crossroads where they all came together before separating again. But most weren’t there for Maarva. Rather, they were there because of her adopted son, Cassian (Diego Luna).

* Mon Mothma (Geneviéve O’Reilly), Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), and Lio Partagaz (Anton Lesser) were not on Ferrix

First, there were the Ferrixians. Bix (Adria Arjona) never left Ferrix. Still held at the hotel in the city as a prisoner of the Empire, she would not take part in the memorial procession. For days on end Dr. Gorst (Joshua James) tortured her, and yet she held out, never giving them all the information they needed. Yet when the Honor Guard band started playing, she still had enough wherewithal to put her ear to the window in her cell and hum along. 

Likewise, Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) never left Ferrix. One of Cassian’s closest friends, he took care of B2EMO after Maarva’s death. He also had a prominent place in the Honor Guard, marching in front of the band with B2EMO as they proceeded down Rix Road, carrying Maarva’s funerary stone.

Next, what about the Rebels? Vel (Faye Marsay) and Cinta (Varada Sethu) both were on Ferrix the day of Maarva’s procession. Cinta never left, while Vel had made a trip back to Coruscant. There she had a testy interaction with Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) when she let her know about Maarva’s death. She also visited her cousin Mon, who confided in her about her precarious financial situation. As for Cinta, she watched Maarva’s house while also avoiding Corv (Nouf Ousellam), an undercover Imperial agent. Cassian had yet to show up, so there they sat, waiting to find him and kill him. No loose ends.

As for Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), he came to Ferrix to make sure the job was done. Not necessarily because he didn’t trust Vel and Cinta. But because Cassian was not yet a Rebel, and that was a problem. Luthen gave up Anto Kreegyr to keep the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) off his scent, and had visited Saw Gerrera to make sure he wasn’t a problem as well. On top of it all, he was almost caught by an Imperial patrol. With ISB supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) on his trail, there was no margin for error. If Vel and Cinta couldn’t get it done, he would have to do it. Cassian had to die.

As for the Imperials? Dedra was on Ferrix because Cassian was, in her opinion, the key to catching “Axis”. Maarva was dead, and the logic followed that Cassian would return. But unlike the Rebels, she needed him alive. Because it didn’t matter what Cassian knew if he wasn’t alive to spill it. Without her focus on catching Cassian, it’s possible Maarva’s procession, and the subsequent uprising, would never have happened. 

Even Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), one of the latest button pushers for the Bureau of Standards, showed up on Ferrix. Not in an official capacity, but courtesy of stolen money from his mother Eedy’s (Kathryn Hunter) safe. He and Sergeant Mosk (Alex Ferns) arrived by civilian transport to see if they could assist in capturing Cassian. Not to kill him or interrogate him. But to bring him to justice for his disruption of order that had ruined Syril’s law enforcement career. Syril would be the hero if it killed him, damnit.

That leaves us with Cassian. Was he back on Ferrix? Yes, but it wasn’t an easy journey.

“Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.” - Nemik’s Manifesto, Andor

When we last left Cassian, he and his fellow escapee Melshi (Duncan Pow) were still stuck on the gas giant Narkina’s fifth moon. Imperial patrols were on the lookout, and the Imperials had issued a reward for anyone who turned escapees in. It looked pretty dire.

Now the Empire was notorious for using and abusing the planets and moons they occupied. Whatever concerns about the environments of their planets the Empire had, they were subordinate to the needs of the Imperial Army, Navy, the ISB, and the oligarchs that undergirded the Imperial system. These powerful entities operated with impunity. But that didn’t mean the inhabitants of these places consented to it.

The Imperial prison factories on Narkina 5 had a disastrous effect on the moon’s wildlife. This meant a dramatic depletion of the fish that lived in the waters around the prison. As such, this wrecked the livelihoods of Narkinians, who relied upon the fish for diet and profit.

So when Cassian and Melshi found themselves getting trapped by a couple of Narkinian’s nets, instead of capturing them and turning them in for much needed cash, they let them go and gave them a ride to Niamos. It was a small act of insurrection, but very important, both to our story and to Cassian and Melshi.

After retrieving a hidden box with his things (including Nemik’s Manifesto), Cassian found out about Maarva. He parted ways with Melshi, who had a different path to go. He gave him Syril’s blaster, which he had taken back on Ferrix. Cassian returned home, to traps set by both foes and former comrades.

But all of that was not at the front of Cassian’s mind when he returned home. He was mourning his mother, and his father, murdered by the Empire so many years ago. He found a way to talk clandestinely with Brasso, who gave Maarva’s final words to Cassian. She loved him, unconditionally, and was confident that once he put it all together, he’d be a force to be reckoned with. Cassian wasn’t a Rebel yet, but he sure was thinking about it.

The night before the funeral procession for Maarva, a storm hit Ferrix City. Lightning and thunder was about, and there was a spark in the air that everyone in town could feel. Bix listened to the storm, uncertain of how many days she had left, uncertain of what was real or not. Luthen looks at Ferrix City, uncertain what the next day will bring, hopeful that it won’t be the end of the Rebellion.

Cassian sits in his ship, contemplating what to do. Does he leave, escaping the trap (or traps) laid down for him? Or does he stay, risking his life to save Bix from the hell she was in? It is here at last he listens to Nemik’s full Manifesto. Which means we finally get to hear it as well. It’s a brilliant piece of writing, one of the best summations of the idea of revolution in general, and the Rebellion specifically. It’s worth watching the scene:

He’s not a Rebel quite yet, but he’s no longer in this just for himself. He isn’t going to stay to fight the Empire. But he can try to do the one thing that might be within his power. He mourns for Maarva, but nothing good will come from his showing up at her funeral procession. But it is a distraction to give him a chance to save Bix. He may not succeed. But he can try. “Try.” is the final, and arguably most important line of Nemik’s Manifesto. It sits in opposition to Yoda’s famous line from The Empire Strikes Back of “Do or do not. There is no try.” What gives?

Well, in my opinion, this doesn’t contradict Yoda. In that scene in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda is talking to Luke, who is attempting to raise his X-Wing out of a swamp. It’s a task that takes extreme focus, and doubt needs to be replaced by certain confidence to do what seemed impossible. It’s exactly what a young Jedi in training needed.

But the rest of us are not Jedi. Our tools are limited, and success is not guaranteed. But we must try. Because it’s the only way we can do the things we must. From the first moment in Andor to the last in Rouge One, it’s the central idea that everything else revolves around. Whether we do or do not, we must try.

A Brief Interlude with Mon Mothma

Mon Mothma is alone. Not literally, as her husband Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie) and daughter Leida (Bronte Carmichael) live with her in their well appointed Senate housing. But physical nearness isn’t the same as emotional nearness. She’s isolated from both of them, in ways that feel more and more unbridgeable every day. 

But also, she’s pretty much alone on Coruscant in knowing the extent of her involvement with Luthen’s Rebel operations. Tay Kolma may know some of what she is up to, but not all of it. Luthen and Kleya know some of it, but not the full extent. By isolating her away from Ferrix, even the structure of “Rix Road” appears to highlight how alone she is. 

Mon feels the Empire closing in on her, and she is scared. But it doesn’t mean she is giving up. She throws her driver (and ISB spy) Kloris (Lee Ross) off her tracks by falsely berating Perrin for gambling in Coruscant**. A wise decision, as Kloris is an informant for Dedra’s rival supervisor Blevin (Ben Bailey Smith). More importantly, she executes her primary plan by introducing Perrin and Leida to the Sculdun family: Davo (Richard Dillane), his wife Runai (Rosalind Halstead), and their son Stekan (Finley Glasgow). Doing so is the first step in the betrothal process in a Chandrilan arranged marriage. Mon has betrayed her ideals, her husband’s good name, and her daughter’s agency. But she has not betrayed the Rebellion. It’s a choice, a decision. Mon Mothma is a Rebel, which always comes with a price.

** Canto Bight Mentioned (suck it haters)

Now, Back on Ferrix....

“You want to start a conversation? Find ‘Axis’.” - Lio Partagaz, “Rix Road”

Dedra won the battle to convince the ISB that ‘Axis’ exists and should be found. But she hasn’t won the war. It’s the whole reason she has a whole lot of Imperial soldiers and Stormtroopers on Ferrix to catch Cassian. In her mind, Cassian is the key to ‘Axis’. And she’s not wrong. But she’s so intent on catching Cassian that she doesn’t for one second consider that ‘Axis’ might also have aims on Cassian. 

Were she not so focused on capturing Cassian, she might have realized that even more vital operatives, like Vel and Cinta, were on the planet. She might have even found out Luthen was there. Dedra is quite good at sitting in the position of a theoretical Rebel, and assuming what they might do. But she is not as good at anticipating what the actual Rebels are doing right under her nose. To her, they aren’t really actors, complete with their own agency and goals. They are just prizes to be captured by her skills, her work ethic, and her indomitable will. It’s the next puzzle to solve, the next contest to win. It’s how she survived the hell of her childhood and conquered the pit of vipers at the Academy. And it is how she thrives at the ISB.

Likewise, Syril is only there to, idk, capture Cassian? He thinks an awful lot about himself if he thinks he (and Sergeant Mosk) can take down Cassian. Maybe he doesn’t think he’ll be the sole hero. Maybe his whole deal is that he and Mosk will notice Cassian, and be the hero that gives him to Dedra to apprehend. Luthen walks right by him, but that doesn’t matter. He doesn’t really know or care who ‘Axis’ is. Syril has two goals in his life. First, to be the guy who got Cassian Andor. And second, to impress Dedra Meero, the one Imperial to (kind of) take him seriously.

As shortsighted as Dedra and Syril are, so too is Luthen. He doesn’t realize the thing he’s been working towards for so long, an open and spontaneous Rebellion of people against the Empire, is about to happen. No one seems to realize this as the Honor Guard band steps off and starts playing. But it is brewing. Because this isn’t just Maarva’s memorial. It’s her posthumous battlecry. 

Stone and Sky

It’s far too easy to think that becoming a Rebel means being willing to kill. And at some point, that will happen. It’s the Galactic Civil War, after all. To fight a war means being willing to kill. 

But to commit to being a Rebel, you also must be willing to die for the Rebellion. It’s a familiar pattern in our story. The prisoners on Narkina 5 vowed to fight, and die if necessary, for their freedom. Nemik and Taramyn and Gorn gave their lives for the Rebellion. Salman Paak tried as long as he could to endure unimaginable hell when being tortured and interrogated by Dr. Gorst and Dedra. And of course, Maarva died from complications after falling down while spying on the Imperial presence in Ferrix City. She died a Rebel.

She is dead, and she is being remembered. And she has a message to the people of Ferrix. It’s a beautiful speech, projected by B2EMO so everyone around the square can see her. She starts by reminiscing about the first time she saw a funerary stone as a young child. And then connects that past, that tradition, to her home, her community, and the present. 

Then she has a warning for the people: Ferrix has been sleeping. They have done business with the Empire because it was easy enough to take the money and look away. Because they persisted, and survived, and it all wasn’t too onerous. At first.

But eventually the Empire raised that price, and will continue to raise it, demanding a price that is too high. It will take away all that makes Ferrix Ferrix. Because that’s what fascists do. They isolate you, and destroy your bonds of solidarity with others, with your community, and even your family. Until finally, only the Empire remains, and you either submit or die.

But even then you have a third choice. You can stand up and fight. It may be too late, you may not succeed. But you must try and get up and fight. In whatever way available to you.

This message of what she is saying dawns slowly, at first amongst the people of Ferrix. And then upon Luthen, who realizes that he is seeing a call to arms against the Empire blossom in real time. And finally, at the end, when Maarva tells the Ferrixians to “wake up and fight these bastards” the Empire realizes what is going on. Brasso literally uses Maarva’s funerary stone to fight an Imperial soldier. At first, the Empire maintained its discipline, refusing to fire. Less out of mercy, and more because Dedra ordered them to not risk killing Cassian. But then comes Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), the son of the deceased Salman. He throws a bomb into the Imperial lines, and all hell breaks loose. 

For a short time, nothing happens, as everyone regardless of their affiliation takes stock of what just happened. And then an Imperial officer orders his troops to open fire. The “Battle of Ferrix” becomes a blood bath. Innocent Ferrixians get shot by Stormtroopers. Cinta kills Corv, and Syril saves Dedra, and Vel tries not to get caught in the crossfire. Some Ferrixians continue fighting, perhaps to defend others trying to escape, or just because what else can they do? But Brasso and Jezzi (Pamela Nomvete) get Wilmon out of there, along with B2EMO. They make it to a ship that Pegla (Kieran O’Brien) gives them to get off the planet. But they won’t be alone.

As the battle of Ferrix popped off, Cassian worked his way to Bix. The explosion created a pretty great opportunity to save her. She’s not entirely there, after all of the torture she has endured. But she is still alive, and Cassian gets her to the waiting ship in time. Bix and Brasso and Jezzi and Wilmon are Rebels, but they are also refugees. They will have to find another home for now. 

The Battle of Ferrix was not a long battle. Hell, it was barely even a battle. There was no victory to be had. The Empire held Ferrix before the funeral, and it held it after. In fact, there was almost certainly a vicious crackdown afterwards. Ferrix would not see freedom again for a long while.

But victory was not the point. Rather, it was to stand up and say “Enough”. The fight is not won in a day, and not every fight can be won. But Ferrix was another brick placed upon the back of the Empire. Eventually enough would pile up to break its back. Ferrix advanced the cause forward, and new Rebels were born that day.

Which brings us back to Cassian. He does not leave with the other Ferrixians. After leaving Bix with them, he instead heads to Luthen’s ship, who is preparing to leave Ferrix while he still can. Cassian knows that Luthen was there to kill him the moment he saw him at Rix Road. Instead of killing Luthen, however, he gives him an ultimatum. Kill him, or take him in. At long last, Cassian is a Rebel.

So this is where things are left, in the busy year of 5 BBY. The Rebels are coalescing into…well something. They aren’t quite a threat to the Empire, but they are becoming more than an annoyance. But the Rebels should beware. Somewhere in the galaxy, in a system that is a closely guarded secret, a massive construction project is underway. Here, a staggering amount of the pieces being built by prisoners at countless prisons like Narkina 5 are being put into place. They are tiny elements on the reflector dish that is part of the laser array of the Death Star. This project is unfathomably large, and will take up so many resources, many of which are only available by rendering entire planets unlivable. Will the Rebels be able to stop in time? Who knows.*** But whether they succeed or not, they are all going to try….

*** Yes, yes, we all know they do. We’ve all seen Star Wars****. But let’s play along as if we don’t, alright? **** If you haven’t, why the heck are you reading this? Please, leave a comment, I am genuinely curious!

Next Week: We join back up with our Rebels and Imperials one year later as we head on our way towards Scarif.