I'm Slovak, and I absolutely love Andor.

I live in an environment where I haven't really been exposed to much information about the Palestinian struggle, for example. What I do see is Ukraine's fight, and I hate Russian imperialism. So when I first started seeing posts about Palestine on this sub, back when the community was still relatively new, I honestly didn't know what to think.

I think I had some pretty simplistic assumptions. Israel is a Jewish country, and as someone raised in a Catholic environment, I felt a certain sense of familiarity with that. I guess I subconsciously assumed that meant Israel was probably on the better side. And I struggled to understand how Palestine could deserve support if Russia supported it, too. I see what Russia is doing to Ukraine, so how could anything Russia supported possibly be right?

It was through this sub that I began to realise how short-sighted that way of thinking was.

The world doesn't divide neatly into one good side and one bad side. An imperial power can support an oppressed people for its own reasons, and that doesn't automatically make the oppressed people wrong or their struggle illegitimate. None of these things cancel each other out.

And I think there's another important lesson in Andor: fighting evil and fighting for justice doesn't guarantee that the system you build in its place will remain just forever. Even a movement that begins with the best intentions can become oppressive. The people who fight for freedom today can become the ones others have to fight against tomorrow. That's why I think justice isn't a destination you reach once and then get to keep forever. It's an ongoing process, a constant struggle to recognise when things are going wrong and to keep trying to make them better.

That's one of the things I find so fascinating about Andor. It's not just about defeating an empire. It's about the choices people make along the way, the compromises they accept, and how easily the fight for something good can turn into something else. The journey matters just as much as the goal.

So now I'm pro-Palestinian and pro-Ukraine. Not because I think either side is beyond criticism, but because I've realised that understanding a conflict requires looking beyond simplistic narratives about who's good and who's bad. I want to understand the circumstances, the people involved, and the forces at work before deciding what to think.

And honestly, this sub has helped me do that. It has made me look at things I hadn't considered before and question assumptions I didn't even realise I was making.

Sorry if I'm being annoying by posting this. I just felt the need to share my thoughts after seeing some of the posts here. 🙂

In this hypothetical scenario Dedra does the smart thing, rushes in, and stuns him immediately. Now, I think Luthen would handle it differently had the ISB shown up in full force and demand his compliance, he’d probably grab a blaster and shoot himself. But let’s say he couldn’t in time and was captured.

I find it very difficult to believe Kleya would just give up and leave the rebellion to its fate. So in this scenario would she attempt to rescue him or off him? And either way how would she do it?

Think about it. On one side, if they did nothing, the Ghorman uprising would have been successful and be a huge PR boost for any type of action against the empire, not only showing that even high class planets where dissatisfied with the empire, but also where willing to stand up against it.
On the other side, things went the way it ended up being, the empire showed their true colours to the rest of the galaxy, sending the message to all these different planets that it was either fight or death with no way in between, making the size of the rebellion much more bigger than it already was. And sure, they (the empire) got their fuel for the death star, but it wasn't even a month after they completed it that it was destroyed, and the second one was still incomplete by the time it was also destroyed. There truly wasn't a way out for them once they decided to use Ghorman.

I mean…hopefully my first…it’d suck if this is it…

Not China. Not the USSR. Not the Russian Federation. The United States. Lucas was very explicit about it. He was specifically inspired by the righteous resistance of the Vietnamese against US imperialism. Please keep that in mind while people try to associate the Empire with other enemies of the US, past and present.

We're fighting the largest empire in the world, and we're just a bunch of hay seeds in coonskin hats that don't know nothing... The irony is that, in both of those, the little guys won. The highly technical empire the English Empire, the American Empire lost. That was the whole point.

It was really about the Vietnam War, and that was the period where Nixon was trying to run for a [second] term, which got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships? Because the democracies aren't overthrown; they're given away.

https://youtu.be/fv9Jq_mCJEo

EDIT: An incredible amount of liberals had their feelings hurt by this post. Please comfort them in the comments.

Soundtrack: Palmo One

On October 23, 1956, tens of thousands of students and workers gathered peacefully in Budapest demanding basic liberties, an end to Soviet occupation, and the removal of the ÁVH secret police.

Two days later, on 'Bloody Thursday' at Kossuth Square outside Parliament, rooftop gunfire from the Ministry of Agriculture panicked Soviet tank crews in the plaza, who believed they were being ambushed and fired heavy machine guns directly into the trapped crowd. Around a hundred civilians were killed and hundreds more wounded on the stones, shattering any hope of a peaceful compromise and turning the revolt into a nationwide war for survival.

Watching the Ghorman Massacre in Season 2, Episode 8, the mechanics are nearly identical. In Palmo Plaza, Captain Kaido boxes a peaceful demonstration into a central civic square, marches green Imperial recruits to the front line as sacrificial pawns, and orders a rooftop sniper to shoot one of his own men. Panicked troopers open fire on the trapped Ghormans, state media immediately spins the bloodbath as an ambush by outside agitators, and the dead recruits are paraded on the news as martyrs.

Even Dreena's frantic radio broadcast at the end of the episode ("This is Ghorman reaching for any open channel that can hear me... Help us! Is there no one who can help us?!") is a direct echo of November 4, 1956, when the Red Army sent thousands of tanks back into Budapest to crush the uprising. At 8:07 AM, before the transmitter went dead, Free Radio Kossuth broadcast its final plea to the world: "Help Hungary! Help the Hungarian people... Help! Help! Help!"

The human cost and political fallout complete the parallel. Over 2,500 Hungarians were killed, 20,000 were wounded, and 200,000 people fled the country as refugees. In the aftermath, Moscow's puppet regime arrested over 20,000 citizens and executed more than 300, including Prime Minister Imre Nagy, while blaming the violence on Western provocateurs. Yet just as the slaughter on Ghorman forced Mon Mothma to publicly denounce Palpatine on the Senate floor and unite the fractured rebel cells into an open Alliance, the brutality of 1956 permanently shattered the illusion of Soviet legitimacy in Europe and triggered mass defections across the democratic world.

Tony Gilroy built Andor out of real anti-totalitarian history, and 70 years later, Budapest in 1956 remains a clear real-world mirror for Ghorman.

Edit: Credit to u/HunMyy in the comments for an essential reality check on how real history differs from screenwriting. While Andor borrows the physical staging of authoritarian crackdowns (rooftop fire, panicked crowds, silenced radio distress calls), calling 1956 a direct blueprint oversimplifies the actual event.

In Andor, Ghorman is depicted as a calculated, top-down ISB false-flag operation designed to move a plot forward. Budapest in 1956 was not an orchestrated conspiracy. It was an organic explosion fueled by years of Stalinist terror, falling living standards, and severe economic mismanagement.

Crucially, fiction looks for narrative payoff, like Mon Mothma uniting the Rebel Alliance. The reality of 1956 was brutal abandonment. Civilians kept fighting against impossible odds while being encouraged by Western broadcasts like Radio Free Europe, only for Western governments to look away once the Suez Crisis erupted. The result was thousands killed in the streets, hundreds executed in postwar trials, 20,000 imprisoned, 200,000 refugees, and decades of subjugation, culminating in Hungarian forces being forced to participate in crushing the Prague Spring in 1968. Real history carries a much heavier, messier weight than any television script.

Or made their minds a sunless place?

Anyway, if Luthen Rael shares his dreams with ghosts, and ghosts aren't real EXCEPT for Force Ghosts, then he's communicating with Force Ghosts which make him a Jedi?! Mystery solved. 🙂

Cassian was not lying when he told Jyn that he had been in this fight since he was 6 years old.

In Season 1, we hear that Kenari was destroyed in an "imperial mining disaster" and that the atmosphere is considered toxic, yet Cassian's flashbacks already show the abandoned quarries and mining equipment. Many people interpret the mining disaster occurred during the Empire's reign, but it is very common for facist regimes to rewrite history, to legitimize their reign, as such, all words mentioning Republic were erased to be "Imperial".

My personal theory is that Kenari experienced an apocalyptic disaster that killed off the inhabitants of Kenari DURING the reign of the Republic, the disaster killed off all the working adults, eaving only the children alive in small pockets of civilization, these children went unnoticed and thus Kenari was deemed inhospitable, we see no adults of any kind, as the disaster happened recently, Cassian was 9 years old when Maarva and Clem took him

i believe the disaster occurred when Cassian was 6 years old. Leaving only his sister and the rest of the tribe alive.

But how does this relate to Cassian having been in the fight since was 6?

In Nemik's manifesto, he says "There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause."

Nemik sees joining the cause as something that happens unconditionally and unconsciously. Nemik views freedom as something so natural and so spontaneous, that it is simply something within all of us. Nemik sees it as simply a matter of when, not if, that a person realizes the purity of freedom.

Later in Season 2, Cassian is comforting the Imperial worker at Sienar, who's never because she's never done something like this before, she's scared. Cassian tells her

"you made this decision a long time ago, the Empire cannot win, you are simply coming home to yourself"

the first blow that was struck to Cassian was when his entire civilization, including his original parents, died on Kenari.

that's when Cassian enlisted the cause, His course was set from that day on.

Cassian lost his people, then he lost his sister, he lost his father on Rix Road. He attacked those troopers in retaliation. Went to prison, Ran from the army after being sent to Mimban, lived a life of scavenging, lying, thievery, then one day he got into trouble he couldn't talk his way out of, he robbed the Empire, took his cut and left. He tried to run away, but the Empire's claws stretch long and wide. He was sent to Prison, and Cassian realizes on Narkina 5 that he'd rather die fighting than giving them what they want.

"Remember this. Try." - Nemik.

It's specifically Narkina 5 that makes Cassian realize the Empire must be defeated, as Chirrut tells Cassian in Rogue One "there's more than one kind of prison Captain, i sense you carry yours wherever you go." And he does.

Because that's when Cassian finally comes home to himself, and realizes that he's already enlisted in the cause long ago.

And after everything, when Jyn Erso and everyone else is getting ready to go to Scariff, Cassian tells her

" Welcome home. "

A lot like the Sith, they work in the shadows through politics and intrigue ("I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them." - Luthen). Luthen like Palpatine with Maul, adopts someone from a young age and molds them into a tool for their cause.

But in the end Kleya (the apprentice) kills Luthen (the master) not for power like Sith, but out of altruism for the cause, carrying out the will of her master.

And more

I’m sorry, I’m sure this has been answered but I can’t find it. Why not let Kleya burn the comms in the shop while Luthen escaped? Why risk allowing Dedra to capture him? There’s no guarantee that she would be incompetent, she could have come in and seized him in 2 minutes instead and the whole rebellion would have been at risk. The writers are so good but they couldn’t come up with a better way to get a confrontation between them?

Does anybody know the location where they filmed the prison steps in season one, episode 10…
They show them twice: once when Cassian and Kino are running up to Level 8, and then with the prisoners chanting “one way out” spiraling up the stairs… you know the scene.
It’s such a dizzying shot… was curious if it’s a place you can visit?

via @ franrey.bsky.social

Oh no

https://www.instagram.com/p/DeuN2_kDJQS/?vrfl=MXRnZ2tsd253dXo3Zg==

https://youtube.com/shorts/hb6A2N4woCk?is=9grkfgDxm9PZce2-

I know this sounds silly. But this short has been something that's helped me. Every time I'm feeling overwhelmed by everything happening, and I don't want to work out or take action to make it better, I watch this and other andor clips. This one in particular gets me motivated, especially for workouts.

However, when I went looking for it, it had disappeared. Not only from a search, but from my favorites, posted by the original creator. Then I find it reposted, save it again. It disappears again. Now obviously, there could be a copyright strike against that particular video. But there's so many other ones that have not been taken down consistently in the same way.

I genuinely think this is the wrong kind of inspiring for the tech oligarchs. For the same reason it works for my workout inspiration, it fired me up to action. And they don't want that. They want complacent misery about everything happening, or they want complete ignorance, but they do not want people fired up to action.

Andor was such a breath of fresh air, and resonated with so many people, because it acknowledged how easy it was to slip into complacency. The shows lead is not "fired up for the cause" until the end of the Narkina 5 arc. Until things happened directly to him AGAIN. Until he realized there was no escaping the empire. Luthens speech here is the epitome of this idea. It's him explaining everything that he sacrificed. Not just the obvious stuff, but things like "calm, kindness, kinship".

Luthens is a flawed character, but he's flawed because of what he's had to sacrifice in order to do what needed to be done. Same with Saw Gerrara. It's easy to condemn their actions from the safety and security of your couch behind a screen. But the show makes it very clear, the rebellion wouldn't have survived had it not been for their actions. In the last episode, Casian literally chastises the rebellion for not respecting Luthen's sacrifices, despite his flaws.

Rebellion takes sacrifice. Rebellion takes action. And the information blasting we're getting is to make us complacent. Hopeless. Well I am not complacent. I am hopeful, for all of us. And I really love the idea that somewhere out there is a tech billionaire's crony despondently telling their overlords "it just keeps spreading, doesn't it?".

Anyone know/have an idea how old Nemik was supposed to be? I think the actor was significantly older than the character was portrayed. (like late 20s??). The character's behavior suggests he was supposed to be 'just a kid'. (or a fandom consensus as to his age)?

Gorn is the first of the fallen heroes to be toasted to in the moving finale scene between Vel and Cassian, and I think that says something about the impact of a character with very little screen time (11 minutes and 32 seconds, to be precise) but whose story resonates strongly. In contrast to all the others on the Aldhani team he is a currently-serving Imperial - their man on the inside. As such, his role is similar to Lonni’s. In addition to all the personal risk involved in working for the rebellion they are also necessarily having to live a lie every day, one of the hardest sacrifices that does not directly involve death or loss; not only concealing their true identity but having to participate in acts that go against everything they believe.

In the clip Vel tells Gorn about the newcomer, “Clem”, and Gorn reacts with the same anger and suspicion as the others. He also reveals that he cannot stay long and has only occasionally been able to visit the team out here. He also shares the news about the visiting Colonel (Pettigar).

Gorn, powerfully played by Sule Rimi, is a commanding presence in his first scene not just because of his status and natural charisma but also because of his completely understandable anger. Just like the others, he is very unhappy at the last minute introduction of this stranger to the team and also just like the others he directs most of his aggravation at Vel. One purpose of all this is to show the natural division between Cassian and the others in order to build the arc here about learning to trust and work as a team, something Cassian is clearly reluctant to do (I suspect bad experiences in youth prison). So just as Cassian earlier said “Working with other people is never easy” here he gets to echo Gorn’s general sentiment about trust. When Gorn expresses reluctance at working with someone who “has my neck in their hands”, Cassian responds: “I know the feeling!”.

There is natural and mutual suspicion between the newcomer and the rest of the team and at the centre of this is Vel. Knowing that Cassian is a mercenary has her resentful and suspicious but at least it provides a reason why he wouldn’t turn traitor … but she can’t even share that possibly mollifying knowledge with Gorn or the rest of the team. It all creates strong dramatic tension when the heist plan in general is built on the importance of team work but is also going to involve personal betrayals.

So the scene also shows how fragile the heist team are and once again how Vel is struggling to keep them together. She already has reason to resent Luthen for overriding her authority and her having no say in the matter and it’s interesting that she lets slip here “On that we can agree” to Gorn saying that he should have been consulted. When Cassian comes forward to be introduced Gorn doesn’t directly address him at all but immediately points out a more practical weakness: “Wounded, on top of it!” So the mutual fear and suspicion increases.

The threatening language there evokes the choking imagery often associated with the Empire. For Gorn, every day must feel suffocating. Vel eventually tells Cassian (and therefore the viewer) the reason why Gorn is in the fight: “He fell in love with a local woman… lost a promotion and then lost the woman. Then he lost his taste for the Empire”. We’re given no further detail. But we don’t need it. In scenes on each side of this particular revelation Gorn is forced to listen to the racist comments of his underling Kimzi and then his superior, Commandant Beehaz. Their callous and dismissive attitude to the Dhanis must hurt Gorn’s soul every single minute of every single day.

In his final scene, Gorn gets the catharsis we’ve been hoping for. Beehaz recognises the voice of his Leiutenant and Gorn can for the first time casually command him with “Quit gawking and get pushing”. “You’ll hang for this,” Beehaz responds. Gorn’s reply is perfect: “Seven years serving you? I deserve worse than that.” His death comes minutes later and it’s so fast and unceremonious that it’s very easily missed. Just like in real life. No-one shouts his name or says “no” as he falls, as Vel does for Taramyn, and I think that’s sad and telling too: quite naturally, Vel was closer to Taramyn because of living together in a group for five months. Gorn was an important member of the team but I don’t get the sense that he was a friend or a beloved comrade. All another part of his sacrifice, of course. Furthermore, just like Lonni he would have had to oversee operations that went against his principles. Oppress the Dhanis. Burn his decency, as Luthen puts it. So yes, serving the Empire in order to bring it down was only going to be worth it if it involved a monumental act of sacrifice in the hope of making a difference.

TLDR: “Everyone has their own rebellion” is one of Vel’s greatest lines and it’s said in the context of Gorn’s story. Gorn is the kind of hero of the rebellion whose commitment is a necessarily lonely one. He probably knew he was going to die in the course of this operation. For him, it was worth it. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he didn’t try. It’s a message many of the rebels come to live by including, of course, Cassian himself. When I hear his Rogue One monologue now I very much picture Gorn.

Next: Perrin Fertha