Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a unique entry in the galaxy far, far away because it felt like the first Star Wars movie that wasn’t about the Skywalker saga. While the new entries in the sequel trilogy helped to continue the franchise’s themes of family and balance, Rogue One was a heist movie that just happened to take place in the Star Wars universe. This is a tone that Tony Gilroy has continued with Andor. The gritty series introduces Cassian (Diego Luna) as he enters the world of espionage for the first time.
In this week’s episode, “Aldhani,” Cassian makes his escape from Ferrix with Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard). Rael tells him that their meeting is not a coincidence; he specifically searched for Cassian to recruit him for a heist team that he is putting together. After Rael offers him a kyber crystal necklace as payment, Cassian meets a team on Aldhani with Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay). Although Sartha is skeptical about adding a new member to her team at the last minute, Rael says that Cassian is critical for the mission to succeed.
Sartha believes that their cause is just, so she’s not happy that Rael has hired a “mercenary” like Cassian. However, she’s forced to follow Rael’s commands, and reluctantly agrees to introduce Cassian to her team. He goes by “Clem,” the name of his adopted father (Gary Beadle), who was publicly executed for his crimes against the Empire. Although “Aldhani” ends with Cassian learning the details of the plan, it promises an exciting heist sequence in the next few weeks of Andor.
Sartha’s Team
Once Cassian makes his arrival on the planet Aldhani, he is introduced to Sartha’s guerilla crew, which includes Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu), Arvel Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther), and Taramyn Barcona (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr). Nemik had been asleep on guard duty, and receives a scolding from Skeen. Nemik is the only one that seems somewhat friendly when Cassian approaches. The rest of the group is apprehensive about adding a new member of the group at this stage of the heist.
After the team begrudgingly agrees to accept Cassian on to the team, the additional member Lieutenant Gorn (Sule Rimi) arrives by speeder. He provides some details about the Imperial presence on the planet that he has learned from monitoring the area. The garrison they are planning to attack is heavily fortified, and they are outnumbered. Cassian is somewhat of an outsider on this mission. He only served as a cook when he was at the Battle of Mimban, and he’s never worked within a proper militia force before. It’s the first time he’s been part of a real team since his childhood on Kenari.
An Economic Takeover
At this stage in the timeline, the Rebel Alliance has yet to have a major victory in the eyes of the rest of the galaxy. As Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) admits to Rael, the funds are scarce, especially with the Empire’s expansion. The Imperial Security Bureau announces that Preox-Morlana will have to cede control over the territory they control directly to the Empire. This makes striking the Empire’s finances a priority for Sartha and her team.
Rael explains to Cassian at the beginning of the episode that Sartha’s team is planning to rob the Empire of the quarterly payroll for an entire quarter. Not only would this cripple the funds allocated to Imperial weapons development, but it would provide the Rebel Alliance with the funds to update their equipment and technology. Rael appeals to Cassian’s hatred of the rich; Cassian had angrily discussed having to fight for resources on Ferrix.
Giving The Rebellion Leverage
Andor takes place in the year 5 B.B.Y. (Before the Battle of Yavin). At this stage in the galactic timeline, the Rebel Alliance is still a collection of different resistance cells that haven't coordinated any formal infrastructure. Both Mothma and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) are forced to remain in the Imperial Senate and mask their involvement. The Empire has worked to systematically pit different resistance groups against each other, creating massacres like the Battle of Mimban.
The Rebel Alliance needs small victories like the one planned on Aldhani in order to gain legitimacy. It’s not until the year 2 B.B.Y. that Mothma makes a formal call to arms in a broadcast played throughout the galaxy in the Star Wars Rebels episode “Secret Cargo.” Even then, it’s not until the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One that the rebels have the “first major victory” that is referenced in the opening crawl of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope.
At this point, Andor looks like it will continue to take a macro approach to the saga’s political conflict.