FIRST TIME WATCHING: Andor S1E8

Saw Gerrera is the guy who took in Jyn Erso, the daughter of the guy who puts the flaw into the Death Star. You saw his end in Rogue One.

Saw Guerrera (Forest Whittaker) is an interesting character because he’s a Rebel who’s capable and 100% committed to the downfall of the Empire, but not 100% committed to the Rebel Alliance 😅 he’s an anarchist, ready to destroy the system with no regards to what takes its place. His paranoia prevents him from being able to work effectively with other sects of the Rebellion, and his mental state only deteriorates further as we see him in Rogue One Fun fact: he’s also a character that originates in the Clone Wars animated TV show

I understand the sentiment of finding Cassian the least interesting character, but I think that’s partially intended as he’s kind of used as a vehicle to show the beginnings of the Rebellion as a whole with characters like Mon Mothma and Luthen. And it is interesting how he always seems to find himself leading back to it - something that’s explored more in S2

Lol the utter disregard for the Andy Serkis reveal. Yes, girl! Give us nothing 😂

It will really help when Natalie realizes that this tv show takes place BEFORE the 1977 Luke Skywalker Death Star movie. Shes not there yet...but she's close!

I forgot this arc was 4 episodes instead of 3. Even the one day between Natalie's Ep.7 and this reaction seems unbearably long, because the arcs are intended to be binged. I remember when Season 1 of Andor debuted, I was on a month-long European vacation, so when I got back, I had the first 7 episodes to binge, then I had to wait a week for this episode. The heist episode was great, but this is when I got hooked. I remember this feeling of having to WAIT for episodes 9 and 10. I understand Natalie can't release the reactions in arc-long video, but I sincerely hope she's watching each Andor arc in one sitting, because I can't imagine self-imposing a day or more gap, especially with the current arc. I'm just going to go ahead and re-watch the next two episodes. I CAN'T wait!

That guy you remembered is Saw Gerrera. You’ve seen him in Rogue One… which takes place AFTER this… Soooo you’ve already seen the spoilers.

So I want to start letting Nat know: There's an after credits scene at the end of Episode 12 (the finale). Want to let you know early so you don't miss it.

Nat, to answer your question the planet "Segra Milo" that Luthen goes to when he meets up with Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera) is not a call back. We've never seen that planet before in the movies. The planet isn't really significant except that Saw is hanging out there. The reason why all the prisoners are barefoot is so they can be shocked more easily by the floor. Cassian was shocked when he arrived and they mention that him and his entire table was shocked for coming in last place later in the day. So he had the misfortune of being "fried" twice. They mentioned that they have different shock settings, some for punishment, and one setting that instantly kills.

Luthen sought Cassian out because he was able to steal that Imperial star path unit from a highly secure Imperial armory.

I’d honestly be in favour of a rogue one rewatch episode post Andor. If not a full reaction a quick vid talking about how it watches after getting to know Cass and all the rebellion groundwork. I was always mixed on RO but the watch after Andor S2 was the most I’ve ever enjoyed it.

I also found Cassian to be the least interresting character in this show.

You’ll definitely want to do a Rogue One rewatch after you finish season two, it’s the natural conclusion of the series, without it the ending would feel incomplete.

Honestly, Natalie, you're doing great at keeping up with everything happening. Andor is fantastic, but it does require a lot from its audience to keep track of all these threads. Just rewatching S1 here, there are ties to S2 I didn't even know were there

Season 1, Cassian doesn't seem like the main or focal character in the traditional sense compared to Luthen, Mon and Dedra. However he serves as an important lens into seeing the regular people who have to live in this world and how they are affected by both the Empire and the various people fighting against it. Following him let's us see the story behind the people of Ferrix, Aldhani, now Narkina V and even the likes of Syril.

The guy you recognized is Saw Guerrera, played by Forest Whitaker. He's radical anti-Empire leader we saw in ROGUE ONE who was carrying out terrorist attacks. Fun fact: This character has been with us across several Star Wars series, including the animated ones, so we've seen his progression to radicalism over the years. He's for sure the hardest of the hardcore.

The good news about this show is you really don’t need to know much about the rest of the Star Wars lore beyond “Empire bad, Rebellion good”. The show informs the viewer all that is necessary for this story to work. For instance, the character you recognized, Saw Guerra, does have a deep lore, but all you need to know for this show is he is the leader of a cell of rebels and doesn’t like to work with others 🤷🏻‍♂️. More will be informed, but organically within the show’s narrative. No homework required.

Worth mentioning since Rogue One was 9 years ago: Melshi is a character from Rogue One, he was the rebel platoon leader who joined Cassian and Jyn on their rogue mission to Scariff. This shows this is where they first met, both being inmates at Narkina V.

So “getting fried” for losing is the painful shock punishment. “Getting fried” for walking out of your cell is getting shocked to death. The guard that welcomes Cassian to the prison says there are 3 levels of shock and the first one you see him get is level 1 (which looks painful as fuck)

Just a reminder, there’s a pretty important after-credits scene in episode 12!

!!! Reminder, that the season finale has a post credit scene !!! also you don't really need to know any lore, you did recognize Saw Guerrera but Segra Milo is a new planet that has never been shown before, its best if you rewatch Rogue One after the show

Please watch Thunderbolts*

So Tony Gilroy described this season as “the education of Cassian Andor” which gives a bit of context on why he’s a less interesting character than many of the others. He’s more of a vehicle for us to learn about this setting and struggle.

There’s some comments in the recent episodes that have probably explained the timeline better than I can but this show takes place before A New Hope, the first Star Wars movie from the 70s. So, the Empire is the same Empire from the original trilogy. Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are in control, Luke Skywalker is around 15 years old at this point in the timeline. The only Disney movie that matters for this show is Rogue One, the one about the mission to get the Death Star plans before A New Hope, the show takes place five years before that mission and the season two finale leads directly into the events of Rogue One.

Surprise! Andy Serkis is in the show. It was such a trip for us first time watchers back in 2022 when we saw he was in this show haha.