Andor: "Ever Been to Ghorman?", "I Have Friends Everywhere", "What A Festive Evening"

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for Episodes 4-6 of season two 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!

"People fail, that's our curse." - Luthen Rael, "Harvest"

3 BBY*

Today we move to BBY* 3, our next stop on our journey to Scarif. Things are happening, but the biggest events are yet to come. The Empire feels ascendant, and the Emperor’s consolidation continues apace. The Rebels are coalescing, but they have a ways to go. No fleet, the groups of soldiers are still scattered and only beginning to coordinate, and no formal political leadership. What’s clear is that almost everyone, whether Imperial or Rebel, is tired.

And that makes sense. Our cast of characters are people, not droids. As such, they get hungry, and tired, and need love and rest and a sense that what they are doing makes a difference. Maybe some, like Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) and Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) and Dedra (Denise Gough), can mostly shut that off in the pursuit of their duty. But they are the exceptions and not the rule.

The end of the beginning has happened, and the beginning of the end is not yet in sight. We’re in the grind, the grueling hike up the mountain between the trailhead and the summit. It’s not the most dramatic moment in either the show or the conflict. But it’s a necessary part of the journey. 

As such there isn’t really a singular event to focus on. No “escape from Narkina 5” or “Aldhani Heist” or even “The Questionable Marriage of Mon Mothma’s Daughter”. Yes, there’s heists, and missions, and a party. We are heading to something big on Ghorman, but we don’t know exactly what. It’s a transition phase, so it all feels liminal.

But even in the liminality of this journey, there is clarity. We can reflect on where everyone has been, and look towards where they are going. Consider this a status update for our most important characters as they continue along their way into the ever moving future.

We have an hour, turn out the lights

As I wrote last week, Dedra has been put in charge of the ISB portion of the Ghorman operation. Which, for now, means fomenting a (hopefully) violent uprising to warrant a crackdown on the Ghorman people, giving cover for the mining operation that will almost certainly wreck the planet’s ecosystem and economy, if not render it completely uninhabitable. It’s a top secret project that herself, Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser), and maybe a couple others in the ISB are aware of. It’s also a big promotion, even if it looks like a demotion. 

Dedra in her usual way, doesn’t question the efficacy, or the morality of what she is doing. It’s the job she was given, and she will carry it out. She knows what the consequences are, she either doesn’t care or is able to compartmentalize them away. Keep on task, do the work, and get it done. It’s how she has survived, and even thrived, from the day her parents were murdered by the state for “criminality” and she was placed in a state home for children. What happens to those she is up against is not her concern. Only that she wins.

Despite heading up the most important assignment in the ISB, she can’t stop being concerned about “Axis”, the one that got away. It’s been assigned to her former assistant, Supervisor Heert (Jacob James Beswick), which gives her a sense of continued ownership of the problem. Therefore, she wants to be kept in the loop and be asked for assistance. Heert wants no part of that, and that displeases her. “Axis” means glory, while the Ghorman project gives her status within the ISB, but no glory, as it’s one of the tightest secrets in the Empire. Heert seems to get that perhaps seeking glory is not the best way to operate within the ISB, even if that might be somewhat disingenuous on his part.

As far as her relationship with Syril (Kyle Soller), it still is happening, although I can’t say it’s exactly what I’d call “close and intimate”. She’s recruited Syril in her plan, using him as an informant on Ghorman and to infiltrate the Ghorman Front, the nascent resistance group of Ghorman citizens. Throughout Syril’s visit back to Coruscant, she uses his awe at her job and where she works expertly. She had one chance to form a real connection with someone, and instead chose her job over that. It’s an interesting dynamic that contrasts with Cassian and Bix, who we’ll get into later.

“If I say this is the greatest day of my life, does it spoil everything?” - Syril Karn, “I Have Friends Everywhere”

And what of Syril? Officially, and to his mom Eedy’s (Kathryn Hunter) chagrin, took a supervisory role at the Ghorman office for the Bureau of Standards. It’s a career move that at its best could be called lateral. But that’s just his official story. Unofficially, he’s there to advertise himself as a potential Ghorman Front informant. Though Syril mostly wants to be a hero cop, he also likes the idea of being a kickass spy. He loves the “game” of it all. It’s the happiest he’s been any of the time we’ve known him.

But his happiness isn’t just because he gets to play spy. He genuinely seems to enjoy living on Ghorman. The people, the lifestyle, the candy filled Ghorlectipods that double as an information transference method between him and the Ghorman Front. All of it is something new, something enjoyable. Syril doesn’t see Ghorman as a project to complete. He sees it as a vital part of the Empire. You see, Syril is a true believer. He doesn’t believe in the Empire just because it’s the job in front of him. He believes in the Empire because he believes in its principles as he understands them. Order and peace are paramount to him, and his interest in stopping the Ghorman Front is only because he sees them as a threat to Ghorman’s peace and order. 

That’s why, as far as he knows, he is working for Dedra. It’s clear that he is actually listening to the Ghorman who people show up for a meeting to air grievances as entirely without merit. He doesn’t think they should oppose the Empire, but he is also unaware of what the actual plan of Dedra and the Empire has for Ghorman. He’s very naive, and he’s absolutely wrong about those ideals. Make no mistake, he’s complicit with and comfortable with not interrogating the fascism that lies at the center of the Empire. But he also pushes back on the anti-Ghorman propaganda being fed to his mom by the Imperial media. Maybe that was all part of his act. But it doesn’t really feel like it.  

I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses for Syril. He’s totally still in the tank for the Empire. He does everything he’s asked to by Dedra, and relishes being at ISB HQ on Coruscant. But I also won’t deny there’s a little bit of an awakening of his conscience going on. Is there any hope for Syril Karn? We shall see.

Mistress of the Senate

After the “accident” suffered by Tay Kolma following his departure from her daughter’s wedding, it appeared that Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) troubles were over. The scrutiny over her finances seem to have abated, and as far as we can tell she’s backed off of her active support for the Rebels. Instead, with the assistance of her trusty aide Erskin Semaj (Pierro Niel-Mee), she has decided to try to enact change from within the system. The “emergency” that dictated the establishment of the Public Order Resentencing Directive (PORD) had expired, and it was time for the draconian laws to be rolled back. That meant doing the hard work of whipping votes and getting her colleagues on her side.

It didn’t go well for her. She kept going to Senators who seemed winnable, but they were all either indifferent to her evidence or clearly fearful of the Emperor’s power. Even Ghorman’s Senator Oran (Raphael Roger Levy), a friend and ally, was unwilling to give her his support. He was stuck in a tough position. He saw the pressure already being put on his people by the Emperor, and didn’t want to make it worse. Of course, if he knew the extent of the Empire’s plans for his constituents and their planet, he would act differently. But he doesn’t, so he took the least risky path based upon the information he had. Would I do any differently in his shoes?  I don’t honestly know, it’s a shitty place to find oneself. Would you?

By the arrival of the Senate Investiture (i.e. the opening of the Senate’s new session), she was over it all. Over the work, over her colleagues, over all of the lavish and meaningless parties dedicated to a dying institution. She was especially over the increasingly fascistic tone the Senate oath had taken on, walking out before it was even finished. Later that night, at a party put on by her daughter’s father in law Davo Sculdun (Richard Dillane), she openly debated Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) over some ancient conflict. It wasn’t something she’d pay for, discussing different views of history from the party line wasn’t illegal in the Empire. Yet.

Keep in mind, there’s no overt sense she’s ready to make the leap from being a passive Rebel to an active one. And she still has a few allies left in the Senate, such as Alderaan’s senator Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt**). For the time being, the only interaction she had with Luthen was a quick question about Vel (Faye Marsay), as she was worried about her niece. But it feels like she is beginning to understand there is no hope for change within the rotten Imperial system. She’s tottering on the edge of a cliff contemplating a leap of faith. If only there was something to happen to make her jump.

** Bratt took over for Jimmy Smits, who was unable to continue his multi-decade portrayal of the character dating back to Attack of the Clones due to a scheduling conflict.

“The mission is dinner. I think we can handle it.” - Bix Caleen, “Ever Been to Ghorman?”

Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) has had a rough few years. She was tortured by Dedra and Imperial Interrogator Dr. Gorst (Joshua James) in the run up to the Battle of Ferrix. She was sexually assaulted by a Pete Campbell-looking Imperial lieutenant on Mina-Rau. And she witnessed Cassian (Diego Luna) kill an Imperial soldier while on a mission sometime between Mina-Rau and where we join her at one of Luthen’s safe houses on Coruscant. Her dreams are melding with flashbacks to her torture and oftentimes Dr. Gorst is there and it’s just a lot. To push back on it all she is doing a lot of self-medication with some kind of blue drug. It helps her sleep, although Luthen, who seems to have his own experience with the drug, says the dreams will just come back eventually. It’s causing issues with her ability to work, which could eventually make her a liability to the Rebel cause.

Bix knows this and is quite aware of the stakes. During this time Cassian seems intent on taking care of her, sometimes treating her as if she is either too fragile to do anything, or too reckless. He often second guesses her wishes to go to the “good store” near the safe house, or take a walk in the park, despite her offering clear assurances that she’s not being reckless. And, like, given she is having pretty serious flashbacks and/or waking dreams, his concern is not without cause.

And yet, through all of the hardship, their relationship is blossoming. They are putting together a life with each other, and are loving and caring for each other. But she, maybe more clearly than him, understands that they are in a war. And whatever life they’ve found together can’t really continue until the war is won. 

And eventually, she finds her footing. Through a stroke of good luck, Partagaz tasks Heert and Luthen’s undercover agent Lonni (Robert Emms) to work with the Imperial Navy to set up a full program around Dr. Gorst’s interrogation methods. That means Dr. Gorst is on Coruscant, and the Rebels know exactly where. Bix takes the lead, rendering Dr. Gorst useless to the Imperial cause. On the way out she protects the mission by killing an Imperial guard who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It remains to be seen if it’s necessarily good for her healing process, but Bix is back in action.

“I have more questions than recommendations.” - Cassian Andor, “I Have Friends Everywhere”

Before he helps take Bix to her final appointment with the soon to be retired Dr. Gorst, Cassian is sent by Luthen to Ghorman to assist the Ghorman Front. It’s a big mission for Cassian, arguably the biggest we have seen him take on so far. He’s not carrying out a heist or gathering a piece of information. Instead he is acting as a representative of Luthen’s operation to see if Ghorman could be brought into play. He takes the job seriously, cultivating a potential ally in the Ghorman hotel bellhop Thela (Stefan Crepon), and meeting with various members of the Ghorman Front, including its leader Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel)***. He asks a lot of good questions, takes a tour of their planned heist, and gives those plans close consideration.

*** Richard Sammel and Thierry Godard (Lezine) played major characters in the French TV show A French Village. The show was set during the Nazi occupation of France during WWII, and was one of the many influences for Tony Gilroy when developing Andor.

Ultimately he is unimpressed. It’s not that he doesn’t think they can pull off the heist. But he doesn’t see how they get away with it, and is skeptical of its benefit to their cause. After all, the Ghorman Front lives in the same place as the heist. There is no safe house for them to flee to , without those they care about being a target of any retribution. It’s not that Cassian is unsympathetic to their predicament. He saw the memorial in the town square, and he gets their sense of urgency. He just thinks there’s not a lot for them to do at this point, and any effort they might undertake will just cause them useless pain. 

It’s an honest assessment, and one that makes sense. But it’s not the assessment the Ghorman Front, particularly Rylanz, wants to hear. As Cassian heads to meet Luthen on Steerguard to catch a ride back to Coruscant, Rylanz lets Luthen know about his unhappiness.

“It will burn…very brightly.” - Luthen Rael, “What a Festive Evening”

Suffice it to say Luthen and Cassian disagree over Ghorman. And the crux of their disagreement is that they are both right. The difference is their differing perspectives. Cassian looks at the Ghorman situation as a soldier might, thinking more about tactics and merely within the narrow scope of the planet and its people. He thinks they have waited too long to put together a resistance to Imperial encroachments, and that their desire to catch up will lead them to be reckless. He is skeptical they can succeed at hurting the Empire or winning anything that amounts to a victory. He just doesn’t want to see them get hurt pointlessly.

In my opinion, I don’t think Luthen even disagrees with that assessment. But he sees Ghorman’s role differently from his perspective at the center of the Rebellion. Regardless of whether or not the Ghorman Front is successful is immaterial. The point is that they are in play and are actively fighting the Empire. Ghorman is not some backwater like Mina Rau or Ferrix. It’s wealthy, influential, and has name recognition amongst the elites of the Galaxy. It’s a bright star between the Galactic Core and the Outer Rim, and if it goes up in flames, it will burn brightly. Luthen’s concern isn’t as much with the people of Ghorman, as with the people who might rebel after Ghorman. It’s the perspective of a leader looking several steps ahead.

But their differing perspectives aren’t just over Ghorman. They also disagree about the best way to handle Bix. Cassian cares about Bix and wants her healthy and safe first, and mission ready only when those are achieved. Luthen wants everybody involved to put the mission first, and everything else is secondary. They can sleep, and love, and heal when the Empire is but a smoldering wreckage scoured over by scavengers. It’s a bleak philosophy, but one that is likely necessary for the role he plays. Y’know, the whole “share dreams with ghosts” thing.

Luthen is ready to do whatever it takes to move the flag forward for the Rebellion. He put Lonni in an intensely precarious situation at the ISB. He agreed to put a listening device on Davo Sculdun in an artifact that was slated to be reappraised, which could put the entire operation in trouble. He imparted on Kleya the same duty, who literally bloodied her hand to remove the device (with Lonni’s assistance), right under the nose of Krennic. And he required it of Bix, Cassian, Vel, and Cinta (Varada Sethu).

Luthen is committed, but he is disciplined. And he’s not without an understanding of risk, unwilling to move unless certain he can move the fight forward. He may have been disappointed by Cassian’s findings. But it wasn’t only the play he had. You see, as conversed with Cassian on the way back to Coruscant, Vel arrived on Ghorman. The heist would go forward.

“Tactical expertise is not our strong suit.” - Carro Rylanz, “I Have Friends Everywhere”

It’s time to talk about the Ghorman Front. We’ve seen them as pawns in the games of both Dedra and Luthen, but they deserve their own discussion. They see the Imperial “annex” going up just off the Palmo town square, and it’s not hard to see that it’s a new armory being built. Beyond that, the Ghorman notice the Imperial is tightening their control over their trade, commerce, and lives. They see the effect of news media’s emerging anti-Ghorman bias, and how it’s clear the galaxy is being asked to see the Ghorman as arrogant troublemakers. And in the countryside, there are rumors of even worse things happening, things that hint at the potential destruction of Ghorman itself.

Something’s gotta be done, and the Ghorman Front is gonna do it. They aren’t huge, have limited resources, and no experience. All they have is each other, and a deep hatred of the Empire that stretches back to the Tarkin**** Massacre a little over a decade earlier. Maybe if they pull off this heist, they can show the Empire what for and, i don’t know, Palpatine will change his ways and cackle in friendship to the Ghorman people?

**** Yes, that Tarkin played by Peter Cushing in Star Wars

The Ghorman Front was an organization that pulled from all walks of Ghorman life. It involved elites, sure. Carro Rylanz, a council member for Ghorman and the head of the House of Rylanz, one of the major twilleries in Palmo, was its leader. And his daughter Enza (Alaïs Lawson) also played an important part in the organization. But also part of the group were workers like Samm (Abraham Wapler), a vendor of souvenir ghorlectipods (and Syril’s main contact point with the group). Instead of being an ideological project, the group could best be described as a planetary resistance group. Their self-determination to run the planet, their society, and their economy as they see fit was the underriding motivation. The restoration of the Republic or the establishment of a new form of intersystem governance and/or economic system was not their primary concern.

They may be eager to do something, but they aren’t delusional as to their abilities. They understand they don’t have the tactical expertise to pull off the heist. But they do have an inside man (Syril), who got them the plans and shipping manifest for an Imperial transport convoy. And they have a plan. All they need is some help. They had hoped Cassian would be that helper. But he did his thing and refused, so Vel will get it done instead.

“It’s been a long year” - Cinta Kaz, “What a Festive Evening”

Vel won’t be alone however, because Cinta is here to help the Ghorman Front pull off the heist, at Vel’s request. You see, their multiyear separation was because Luthen saw more value in separating them rather than letting them be together. And though we aren’t privy to the details, it’s clear they’ve both had a rough time of it since they spotted each other on Chandrila. Especially Cinta. But for a magical but aggravatingly short time they were able to just be Cinta and Vel again. But only for a moment, and then it was back to work.

Vel and Cinta were soldiers, and they knew what to do. They played the part as the experts because they were the experts. And they were firm with the Ghorman front heist team, imparting that above all they must follow orders. Not arbitrarily or because they say so. But because following orders is how it all works. Discipline means you get in and get out and get the job done. Failing to follow orders could get someone killed. 

Fortunately, the Ghorman Front operatives were fast learners, and they had a good plan. The transports were disabled, and they were taking the goods without a hitch. It was all coming together.

But Samm didn’t follow orders to leave his blaster at home. And then a townsperson named Lezine (Thierry Godard), decided he didn’t want to listen to Samm to stay out of the heist area. Not because he was on the side of the Empire, but rather because he was a stubborn cuss of brick shithouse. It’s just one of those things that could have handled with a little bit of ingenuity if Samm had followed orders. But he didn’t, and they got into a bit of a struggle. And then the blaster goes off, and everyone looks to see what happened.

Cinta was hit. Cinta died. She was the only casualty. Not killed by the Empire in the act of doing something heroic. But because some little rookie Rebel disobeyed orders and a stupid thing happened. 

There would be time enough to grieve later. The heist had to be finished, and it was. And they got away. Samm was heartbroken at what happened. Vel had a few thoughts about his tears.

Not every death is in the pursuit of a larger purpose. I suppose you could say Cinta’s sacrifice was worth it, because eventually a whole bunch of Rebels danced with Ewoks. But it was a stupid, avoidable death. These happen in war. But that doesn’t change how stupid it was.

But beyond that, things were even less of a victory than the heist seemed. Though it was successful, it succeeded because Dedra let it succeed. With Syril (and other operatives) observing the operation she knew what was going on. No one besides her and Major Partagaz knew the ultimate purpose of this heist, and that made pretty much everyone’s view on the situation besides maybe Luthen’s ultimately pointless. Like Aldhani, it was a success. Unlike Aldhani, it was the Empire’s success.

“We’re the thing that explodes when there is too much friction in the air.” - Saw Gerrera, “I Have Friends Everywhere”

But the Ghorman heist wasn’t the only heist pulled off by Rebels against the Empire. And this one, unlike Ghorman, was done without the knowledge or assent of the ISB. Somewhere across the galaxy, the Rebel band of Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) made off with a whole bunch of Rhydonium, a dangerous yet essential fuel. He was able to do this because of young Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), who executed a complicated (and potentially deadly) process to illegally extract the fuel from the Imperial depot.

As mentioned previously, Saw Gerrera has been a Rebel for about as long as he has been alive. He has been at it so long, and never has the radical spark at the center of his fight grown dim. He cares little for love, has no compunction about lying or killing or dying for his rebellion. There’s no sense that he thinks pragmatically about spreading the Rebellion, or fighting it effectively, and he has no plan to win it. 

Because winning or losing is beyond his control, and mostly beyond his care. It’s all immaterial to him. There is only the fight. Being a Rebel means committing to the cause without a guarantee of victory. It’s a firm understanding that at its purest, rebellion is natural, it’s the explosion that happens when there is too much friction being applied and there’s too much fuel available to burn. It’s a commitment that every single one of our Rebels will eventually make, even if Saw (and Wilmon) are the only ones that necessarily see it that way. Call it a delusion or call it faith, it’s what sits at the center of any successful revolution. 

Saw Gerrera is not the Rebel who will win the war against the Empire. He’s too uncompromising, too unwilling to play nice with people who don’t see the fight just the way he does. But no doubt he’s the spirit of the Rebellion boiled down to its pure essence. To borrow an example from US history, he’s not Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, or Frederick Douglass. 

He’s John Brown.

Next Week: Mon Mothma makes a speech, and Cassian Andor asks Syril a question

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