ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - ANDOR Season 2 Episodes 10 - 11 - 12 BREAKDOWN - Star Wars Easter Eggs You Missed!

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

We dissect every Easter egg, reference, and subtle moment you might have missed in Season 2, episodes 10, 11, and 12. Uncover the secrets of the Death Star's origins, connections to the Clone Wars, and the real-world symbolism. From historical parallels to behind-the-scenes insights, join us as we explore the journey that leads directly into Rogue One.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The rebellion isn't here anymore. It's flown away. It's everywhere now. Hey, welcome back Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Erie, and this is all of the Easter eggs references and little things you might have missed in season two. Episodes 10, 11, and 12 of Andor. As always, if you have not seen every episode, that's okay. We are going to be spoiler-free in each section, and the episodes are chapter marked below. I want to start off by thanking you guys so much for buying all of our Andor parody merch like Fight the Empire. I have friends everywhere and free Gorman. Links for those are below. Now, after I talk about episode 10, I am going to go through

some of the Easter eggs that we have missed from past episodes that you guys have pointed out on our free-to-join Discord server. Again, all of that is chapter mark below. So the year here is 1 BBY, just a few months before the Battle of Yavin and a new hope. Tony Gilroy has said that this show will take us all the way up to Cassian's first mission that we see in Rogue 1. But a lot has happened in the galaxy between the different arcs in this series. So here's a little bit of what else has been going on in the Star Wars galaxy. At the very end of two BBI, Grand Admiral Thrawn had a team-up mission with Darth Vader where they traveled to the unknown regions to fight the Grisk. Immediately after, Thron returned to Planet Lothal to oversee the construction

of the new Tide defenders, an advanced starfighter with shielding. Now, this is important because if the empire would have had those fighters at the Battle of Yavin, the rebels could not have destroyed the Death Star. This was also the year when the huts fought a trade war with the banking clan paving the way for their dominance that we see in the original trilogy. Darth Vader failed in his last attempt to resurrect Padmay, and this is also when most of the final season of Rebels takes place. So Sabine Wren passes the dark saber to Bo Catan, which of course she'll lose to Moff Gideon in a duel, and years later she will reclaim in the Mandalorian season three. This is also when Ezra used the force to ask space whales to send him and thrown off to

another galaxy, a story that was picked up in Asoka Season 1. Also, in the year the empire was defeated on Lothal and the full rebel high command finally gathered together on Yavin 4. But most importantly, this is the year that open warfare begins against the Empire at the Battle of Scariff that we saw in Rogue 1. But that doesn't happen until after episode 12. Now we start in Luthan's back room with the big bell ringing. So this is the alarm that is a red alert.

It's Lonnie, the rebel plant in the ISB, letting Luthan know that they have to meet in person right away. And you know this is important because instead of meeting underground, they're meeting in broad daylight actually near the Senate building. So when Luthing gets ready to leave, he and Clea know that this is likely the last time they will ever see each other. Promise me if it doesn't look perfect, you won't engage. I think we used up all the perfect. And he takes his pistol because he already knows that after this meeting, he's probably going to have to kill Lonnie. He's probably known he would have to do this for years, but he still

had to string Lonnie along and promise him safety for his wife and daughter. Now, when Lonnie approaches the plaza, pay close attention to this shot. We see the buildings reflect on the side of the ISB building, making them look like they are on their side. Now remember, this is all CG, so this is a deliberate choice they've made. The slanted buildings are a way of unsettling us and letting us know that the world is about to be turned on its end. The show has employed reflections in creative ways all throughout the series, to show how the Senate is corrupted, the evil of the empire, or to highlight Cassian Spycraft. Lonnie tells Luthe that Dedra Miro has finally discovered his real identity.

Remember, Dedra was the first person in the ISB to suspect that there was a single-figure, coordinating between different rebel cells. Now, because it's so hard for a woman to move upward in the ISB, she saw this as her chance for recognition and a promotion. And after she was assaulted on Farrix, her mission became personal. Capturing Axis would have made her suffering worth it. And this is why I think she oversteps to arrest Luton herself, as we'll talk about later on. I loved how their meeting was filmed. So this idea of two spies meeting on a park bench is an old trope, probably best known from Oliver Stone's JFK. But this show reinvents that cliche by using the camera it to tell us so much about what the characters are thinking and feeling.

Notice how Lonnie and Luthin are both filmed from behind, to imply that they're both hiding information. And Lonnie is shot with no look room, which implies that there is something out of his sight that he can't see. And he's also alone in the frame, to emphasize that he feels isolated and vulnerable. He's also in the back third of the frame, traditionally a position of weakness. While Luthin is more in the center of the frame, a position of power, and we can see a bit of Lonnie implying that Luthan is feeling connected to him at this moment. The low angle from behind the bench also makes us feel like we are eavesdropping on their conversation slightly hidden out of frame. But then as Lonnie offers something huge, Luton says, so now we're bargaining. And then

the camera rests for a moment behind them from a distance as if giving Luthin time to think. And then as Lonnie opens up, the camera abruptly switches to the opposite side of the bench, breaking the 180 rule. What's a 180 rule? Well, the 180 rule states, that you always keep the camera on one side of the action, so people don't suddenly appear to switch places from the left to right side of the screen. But breaking the 180 line here is intentional because it signals that the power dynamic has shifted. Luthin has decided that he will wait to kill Lani until after he has this information.

And notice how the camera pushes in, as Lutthin pulls him further into his confidence. He promises him safe passage and actually names Yavin, which frankly is Lani's death sentence. Lutthin would never give up the base to an imperial, just in case Lonnie was a double-double agent. Lonnie says he is burned, which is a SpyCraft term that means his cover is blown.

Lonnie has stumbled on the Empire's greatest secret, the Death Star. And then he explains how everything for this entire series was all leading up to the Death Star. He says the energy program was a lie, which isn't technically true. The Death Star was about Palpatine wanting. Just not the kind of power everybody thought. He mentions labor camps,

like the prisoners with jobs that we saw in Narcena 5, and he mentions the actions on Jeddah. They're not looking for partisans on Jeddah. They need Kaiba crystals. So the partisans he mentions here, of course, are Saul Guerrera's forces that were stationed on Jeddah in Rogue 1. They have been attacking Imperial forces, but he notes that what they really needed are khyber crystals. You see, Jeddah was actually a very important world for centuries. People who followed different religions in the force regarded it as a holy city. And there was a massive Jedi temple there filled with khyber crystals. And of course a khyber crystal is what focuses a lightsaber's power into a blade.

Now the Death Star uses a massive amount of khyber crystals to focus its super weapon, so it's essentially a large lightsaber. Not only did the Imperial's mine all of the khyber from Jeddah, but the First Order also converted an entire planet Inlem into a super weapon, because this was the planet where Padawans went on vision quest to find their crystals. And he mentions that the true intention behind the Gorman Massacre was to strip mine the planet for the mineral calcite. And Tony Gilroy recently told the Hollywood Reporter that the meeting where the Imperials planned Gorman's destruction was based on the Wansi Conference.

This was the 1942 summit where Nazi officials planned the final stages of the Holocaust. He said the very first scene that Krennick has where he talks about Gorman, that's based on the Wansi Conference. Gilroy even said that they planned the final solution over a business lunch. And sure enough, the Imperials ate lunch at that meeting. And their meeting place, the Malthene Divide, was based on two well-known Third Reich landmarks. The Eagle's Nest, which was Hitler's private retreat in the Alps, and the Nazi run Hoffenwerfen Castle. And Liz Declan over at screen rant pointed out that the Ministry of Enlightenment at that meeting was a reworking of Hitler's Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. And she also

pointed out, and I can't believe I miss this, that the insignia here is actually the insignia for Project Stardust, the secret name of the Death Star. It even looks like the laser array that's formed when the weapon fires. And while we're talking about Gorman, over on our free to join Discord server, H. Wilson pointed out that episode 8 began with the call out to Casablanca, where the locals sang the national anthem to anger the fascists. And the radio broadcast was inspired by the final broadcast of nations as they fell to the Nazis, in particular announcing the fall of Warsaw. And Lonnie says, Awesome Krennick's been building a secret weapon for over a decade. Hey, wait a minute, if

it's been a decade, how can we saw it at the end of Revenge of the Sith? Oh, that's actually a really interesting point that I watched the Star Wars explained video about. The book, Rogue One Catalyst, talks about all the production problems in building the Death Star. In this show, we see labor shortages and the difficulty in procuring minerals like calcite. But also, Galen Erso was designing the thing as they were still building it. And even though they started 20 years ago, Krenik forced Erso to return to the project a decade before a new hope. And by the way, if you would like to join the Rebel Alliance, we have designed these new shirts for you. The I have friends everywhere, fight the empire, and free Gorman.

This is in addition to our other and-or parody merch, the Rebel Scum graffiti, painted over an Imperial Roundel, the stay on target to celebrate our victory against the Death Star, or if you're a monster who's on the other side and would like to celebrate the founding of our glorious Galactic Empire! Get your Happy Empire Day shirt, available at Empire Day Celebration kiosk or in our merch store where we design all the merch ourselves. Now as Luthin walks away, I love this shot with the camera overhead and tilted, continuing that visual language to tell us that the world is now on its side, and nothing will ever be the same. And afterwards, this loath cat finds Lonnie's body. And this is the same breed of animal that we saw all over Star Wars Rebels,

but this breed looks more like a typical Himalayan cat. Lutzen tells Clea to leave while he pours molten acid on their comms. Actually, you would think there would be some kind of automatic detonation or kill switch, but maybe they couldn't risk the empire discovering it. And then right in the middle of it, Dedra shows up. Turns out that she lied to here to when she said this. You can have all the glory. She wanted that glory like Luke wants a power converter. In Lutheran's shop, we can also see a few artifacts that have been in the background all season long. Here we see two Ryloth calicories. Now these are family art pieces that tell the story of your lineage. It's a calicori. A revered twilight heirloom. Pass from

parent to child through generations. And this is a masquer made Jedi Temple Guard, like we saw throughout the Clone Wars. And finally, at the top of this urn, we can see a statue of a Tagruda, the same species as a Sokatano. She enters and says, So calm here, peaceful.

Which she later throws back in his face. Hiding in the shelter of imperial peace and quiet. Now there is some excellent double wordplay in this scene. She asks if everything in the room is real, and he replies, Only two pieces of questionable prominence in the gallery. And the two things he's talking about are the knife and himself. But he keeps the knife of questionable origin around probably for this exact occasion,

in case he needs to take his own life to preserve his secrets. Then she reveals the Stolen Star Path unit from Season 1, episode 3. Remember, this box is the reason that Luthan met Andor to begin with. And when the police attacked, they were forced to leave it behind. And this unit is also why the Farik's case fell under Dedra's jurisdiction. She had been chasing this trail for years, and she couldn't resist returning the unit to Luthan so she can meet Axis face to face. And he answers with... Freedom scares you.

Which, by the way, is true. Dedra grew up in a government facility. She likes having structure and someone to make her choices for her. But even after what she saw on Gorman, she is still just following orders. And then, he tells her... The rebellion isn't here anymore. It's flown away. And this was always his mission, not to create a rebellion on Corrassant, but to spread that rebellion across the galaxy.

She says. Turn around or be stunned. And of course the stun setting was first seen all the way back in a new hope. There's one set for stun. But it's too late. Luthen has already tried to kill himself in the most inefficient way possible. They bring him out on a stretcher, not unlike the one used for Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. But this one has a little medical droid on him.

And as he leaves, the camera lingers on these rock relief drawings depicting the hand signals of three force beings, the father, sister and brother. Now we saw these beings in the Clone Wars and then Ezra used the force to manipulate a mural of them and rebels. So it's likely these artifacts came from a similar Jedi temple, maybe after the Empire destroyed it. Oh, and this helmet was also worn by the Wookie General in the Battle of Kashik that we saw in Revenge of the Sith. So the Imperials clear out the shop and the Fondor, which, by the way, I just noticed for the first time, is parked at the docking bay of the rear of the store. Meanwhile, Clea retreats to the safe house, which has fallen

into disarray. It looks like no one has lived here in years, furthering the feeling that the rebellion's time on Coruscant is coming to a close. And then we have our flashback to how Luthan and Clay Amet. I'm going to guess 15 years or so before this. Great de-aging on Stellan Scars Guard, by the way. So Luton is serving in the Imperial Military, and we know this because the soldier who comes on board the ship is wearing the same infantry uniform that Hans Solo wore in the movie Solo. Shout out to Theodysius Calhoun on Blue Sky for letting me know that the police on Gorman and Farix are actually wearing the same Swamp Trooper Armor that we first saw in that movie.

May you live to be a thousand years old, sir. From the snippets we get, we note this is not really a battle. It's a slaughter. He cleared that other basement. He wants that whole street out there on fire. I count three more settlements to go. The early days of the Empire were filled with encounters like this, like when the Empire forced the people of Aldani out of their homes. And this was also meant to symbolize the real-life Highland clearances,

when the English forced Scottish people out of the Highlands and erased their language and culture. Appropriate since they filmed Aldani in those same Scottish Highlands. But Luton's past also reminded me of when Cassian talked about his service on Memben. And who did it turn out we were fighting? ourselves. Now, knowing that Luthan was trained to serve in the Imperial Army also explains why he knows how to use the weapons of his enemy against them. Also notice he's drinking from a flask, like the one he gave Andorb with Mednog in it back in episode 4, season 1. So we see the scene purely from Claya's point of view as she's stowing away on the ship. Luton is helpless. He's

suffering from PTSD, saying to no one, this is where his journey starts. He's helpless, shouting into the void, crying out for justice when no one can hear him. But Clea does hear him, and she does want the same justice. In many ways, she is what pulls him out of this hell and into the rebellion. And later, we see a small act of rebellion. He's rebooting the ship's computer, so it won't be available to strafe civilians from the air. And I think there's symbolism here with heroes like Oscar Schindler, who was able to save 1,200 Jewish people during the Holocaust. Right now, Luthon is surrounded by slaughter, but he's found one person he can save,

Clea, and in return for Lutthin saving her life, now she has to take his. Outside the medical center, we see this medical symbol that has appeared in various Star Wars media, but I believe the first time we ever saw it was in the Clone Wars movie. He is being kept in a white sanitary room, a visual callback to the prison on Narcina 5. And that prison was also a visual reference to George Lucas's first feature, THX-1138. Clea breaks in by splicing a locker. And man, this show, they could have just made lockers, right? We would have been fine with that. But instead, they give us these cool space lockers that probably cost a fortune to build.

Here we see icons of a few departments at the hospital. I'm guessing these mean brain, guts, and lungs. And there's also this cool detail of a lizard species with its tail sticking out from the back of a gam. Now, Dedra knew that she was wrong to go after Luthin. After all, this was not her assignment, and the Imperials put protocol above all else. But she thought that all of that would be forgiven when Luton started spilling his secrets. But now that he's near death, she has lost all leverage, and Partigaz orders her former assistant here to arrest her.

And while Klaia works to get closer to Luton in the present, we see how they grew close in the past. The two of them are at a small trade outpost, again, amazing production design here, and Clea turns out to be better at bargaining than Luthon. 20. 18's my max. Sold. This is also showing us how Luthin built his business. He started with nothing, bargaining for 20, and as the flashbacks proceed, their clothes get nicer and they make more and more money.

Now, the MVP of this episode is the old alien that Clea uses for cover. In these flashbacks, we also see how peculiar their relationship is. So he's always held her at a distance, even though these two, need and rely on each other. They decided that instead of living a happy life away from the Empire, they would spend their lives working to bring it down. In the next flashback, Luton is selling a Devoronian victory necklace, and Devoronians are of course this species that we see in the most icely canteena. And this is where we see a major turning point in their partnership. The empire is forcing civilians, including a boy Clea's age, into a firing squad. Luton wants to protect her,

but Clea is the one who makes the decision to stay. She's impatient and she wants to fight. Then they have an argument at another beautiful real-life location, at Zopvia Castle in Spain. He tells her, That means we lose and lose and lose and lose until we're ready. And notice how in this shot they're walking away from the stairs, away from the tower, and in the present, Claya is ascending the stairs to find Luthen. And, like any gamer knows, you can't pull off a stealth mission without a big distraction. Then we cut back to how she actually learned this technique.

The two of them are having a peaceful lunch surrounded by people who are blissfully unaware of the empire's atrocity. He tells her... Think about where you are. Now, I'm not sure if he's saying this because he wants her to be in the moment, or maybe they're on Planet Nabu. This would be a rich target because it is the birthplace of Palpatine and would send a symbolic message to the Empire. So he tells her... I'm only afraid of what I'm doing to you.

And he's admitting that he cares about her and he wants her to be happy, and he doesn't want to feel like he has dragged her into this life. So he gives her the decision. And when she demonstrates that she's ready, he pushes the button, for her, so she doesn't have to get all that blood on her hands just yet. Meanwhile, in the present day, she hits a similar device to draw Stormtroopers away from the hospital floor. And dude, what could our Stormtrooper helmets? The blaster just cuts right through it. You would think she'd at least had to have gotten him in the eye.

And this device on the bed that is monitoring Luthin's life signs is similar to the one that we saw over Grogu in episode 3 of the Mandalorian. And the machine that's keeping him alive is very reminiscent of Darth Vader's cybernetics. Except Vader was created surrounded by darkness, and Luthon ends his life surrounded by light. And this is all intercut between her first murder and what may be her last. And then we end with this sad image, Luthan, alone, unmoored, no parade, no statue. The man who built the rebellion, and all along the way, he knew how this would end. I burned my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And before we go into episode 11, I want to talk about some Easter eggs that we missed in previous videos.

Some of these are so cool, I just had to tell you guys about them. Liz Declan over at ScreenRamp pointed out that these Thai fighters in the opening episode are strikers, ships that are built for atmosphere that we briefly saw in Rogue 1 over Scarf. And also from ScreenRamp, we see a mastiff cooking over a fire at Dakar. These, of course, are the desert dogs that we first saw in Attack of the Clones. And Cassian's rifle on Gorman is a Blastek, A280 CFE convertible heavy blaster pistol, the same one that he used in Rogue 1 when he nearly killed Galen Erso. And the Mission Impossible voice that gives Cassian his fake ID,

Your name is varying sky. is voiced by Star Wars veteran Sam Whitworth, the voice of Darth Maul, and a short trooper in season one. You need to calm down, sir. And here, Partagaz says, Clinics had the lab in Edo working overtime all year. And that is the location of Galen Erso's lab in Rogue One. And in episode seven, Cassian has his signature U-wing, which of course he also flies in the movie Rogue One. On the Senate floor, Bail mentions the Emperor's Ruling Council,

who were first mentioned in the Star Wars holiday special. The following live broadcast is recommended by the Imperial Council. And we saw them return here in return of the Jedi. This is basically Palpatine's Inner Circle, which includes Grand Vizier Masameda, aka Blue Guy from the prequels. Andy Leesk from our Discord said, I just realized the first and last time we see Brasso, he's helping somebody with the cover story. And actually, when that happened, I thought the guy had sold them out,

but I didn't put together that Brasso was covering for him. Sorry, Brasso, I owe you an apology. And El Mirando on Discord also pointed out this obvious Easter egg that I missed. In episode 3, this little girl is playing with a puppet of an A-T-T-S-T. Also, Tasty Potato in our Discord pointed out that these aliens are the tectanese, the refugee aliens from the 80 series Alien Nation. And another user, Usland pointed out that this is appropriate since that show is all about aliens in a clash struggle, just like on Gorman. A commenter, Knight Griff, pointed out that the Chandraolin Wedding song that Bon Mothma dances to is similar to the music that we heard in Space Miami. Now let's move on to episode 11.

We began with a dead stormtrooper that Clayah just killed, note the blaster wound and the helmet. And then we followed the ISB agents as they tried to reverse engineer who infiltrated the hospital and how they did it. Now there's a small mention here that the car bombings outside killed several ISB drivers. And remember, last episode they intercut Clayah and Luthin killing tank drivers on this bridge with her, detonating the charges of the hospital. So this shows us why this moment was on her mind. It reminded her the first time that she ever made the decision to kill. And I also love the small scene where they threatened the hospital administrator to get him to back down.

Arrest him. This is an ISB crime scene. If you're slowing me down, you're a suspect. In just a few sentences, we see how the empire rules. It can threaten to arrest people at any time unjustly simply because they got in their way. The empire rules through fear. Then we go to Dedra being held prisoner. Now first, we see her on the monitor with the R. Besh that reads, serial, stop, stop, input, followed by clear or flag.

So this is so when they interrogate people, they can note if they are innocent or require further supervision. And then Krenik enters the cell in this brilliant framing. So throughout most of this sequence, she is always filmed from above or she is kept in the lower third of the frame. Artistically, this represents a position with the least power. Compare when Krenick leans in and looms over her to her leading over Bix in season one. The power dynamic has shifted.

And in this frame, DEDRA is placed front and center while Krenick is looming over. her with his eyes cut off. So this dehumanizes Krennick and shows how she is perceiving him, not as a person but as a voice that is looming over her. And later he points his finger straight at the top of her head like he's drilling into her brain. We learned that she knows the Emperor's greatest secret. Death Star. Now when you consume a lot of Star Wars media you really get a feel for just how hard the Emperor worked to keep the Death Star a secret. The Empire committed genocide against the Geonotians who built the Death Star.

They spent years creating an elaborate cover story to destroy Gorman and this was all also the empire could keep the Senate at bay long enough to finish their ultimate weapon. And after it was done, the first thing the emperor did was dissolve the Senate altogether. Dear Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the emperor has dissolved the council permanently. Dejra unravels all of these threads, explaining how Lonnie was a busybody who talked to everyone. And this is true. We see him gain favor with Legrette and Heart a few episodes ago as he was gathering info to feed to Luthen.

And Crennick confirms that Lonnie stole Deidre's files. And that's how she found out about the Death Star. Several Intel bundles were forwarded to my office by mistake. I should have reported it. And I love this so much. The reason Dedra didn't report this was because she wanted to use the information to catch access. She wanted personal glory and promotion. And this is the environment that the emperor created.

He wanted his officers to be afraid and undercut one another. That is, after all, the way of the Sith. But his method of management backfired because of Deidre's fatal human flaws. Krenik mentions all of the critical Death Star information beginning with Erso, the designer of the Death Star, and the father of Jen Erso. He also mentions the Jeddah scavenger files. Because, as I mentioned earlier, this is where the Empire mines some of the Khyber that powers the Death Star Super Laser. The sad part of this scene is that Dedra was actually great at her job.

She found crucial evidence that a moff's aid was a rebel plant, and if she hadn't cut through the red tape, they never would have found Luthin. Wait, it's a moff. It's the governor of an imperial sector. And then we go to another scene where the ISB is tracking down information. We begin with this security officer, and I love this shot. where he is framed by monitors. Again, notice how he occupies the lower third of the frame in a diminutive position. But my favorite moment in this episode might just be this incredible

human reaction he has when he's trying to angle his fleeting connection to get ahead. My cousin actually has an application in with the ISB. And as they dig for Clea, Clia digs for the radio. Now, the team and I were talking about how this series SpyCraft is actually filmed like a 70s conspiracy thriller. Our own Lee Mazio pointed out how Cyril walking through the crowd a few episodes ago is filmed from a distance, like the opening of Francis Ford Coppola's great spy thriller, The Conversation. Now, as she uses the space equivalent of Morse code, we slowly fade to where this signal is going,

to the rebel base on Yavin IV. The Rebel Alliance has now become a full military operation with its own red tape. Wilman, who is still with Drina, the member of the Gorman Front, takes his radio to interrupt Cassian's probably last happy day on Earth. He now has a new friend circle consisting of K2 and Melshi. Now, remember, he and Melshi escaped Narcina 5 together,

last season. And I missed a small detail here. At the end of episode 9, Vell recognizes his blaster. Who belongs to this? I think that's mine. And I forgot that Cassian gave him this weapon after they escaped Narcina 5. And Cassian got that weapon from Aldani, the raid that he and Vell were a part of. So it's very cool to see how their story comes full circle in this moment. Now notice as they're playing space dominoes, every single shot is moving from left to right, with the camera always in motion. Now, this is because this is a fairly static scene. They're playing space dominoes, but the constant movement gives this a sense of electricity and fun. And this is intercut with the ISB looking at an image of Clea, which also moves from left

to right, but much slower and deliberate. And afterwards, the camera during their meeting is either very slow push-ins, pans, or static shots. This is subtly contrasting the slow, deliberate pace of the Empire with a quick, frenetic pace of Cassie and Andor. This is a dynamic between the Empire and the rebellion that's been present in Star Wars since the very first shot of the franchise, a big ship bearing down on a little and overtatowing. After Kyrnick threatens Heert's life, he asks,

What's the charge? Now remember, Heert is very young and inexperienced. He used to be Deidre's aide, so I love this little detail that he is still concerned with proper procedure. And Partagas comes up with the perfect solution so easily, it's like he's done it a hundred times before, and he's bored that he has to repeat himself. She's diseased. She escaped the hospital with an infectious condition that threatens everyone with whom she may come in contact. It is a perfect cover because it means that Everyone who sees Clea will report her immediately. And when he's with Krennick, the two speak frankly about a secret that they had been keeping for a long time.

You were supposed to be ready by now. You sound like Tarkin. And as we saw in Rogue One, Graham-off Tarkin was overseeing Krennick's project, and then he took it from him as soon as it ran its first successful test. And when Krennick protests, Leo cuts through the shit. Save the sermon for Palpity. And then they settle into this amazing silence. They both know how screwed they are and how bad they messed up.

Best of luck to us both. And then they resumed their cover stories. You have a plague to stop, and I was Jew and Scariff. And Scariff is, of course, the research facility where the Death Star plans were kept in Rogue One. Back on Yavin, they finally get Clay a Signal. And Cassian, like Dedra, violates protocol to go retrieve Luthin. Now, like we talked about in our last breakdown, everyone on this show has to sacrifice something for the rebellion.

And for Cassian, it's his independence. This is why he sneaks off at his U-wing without trying to get permission from high command. He knows that Draven, the general from this episode, who we first saw in Rogue One, would say no. This is also a great episode for showing us the still existing divisions within the rebellion. Like we heard in season one, the rebellion started off as a collection of people with different agendas. The Protestant Alliance sectorist, human cultist, galaxy petitionist. Luthan coordinated between them while Bail Organa crystallized various groups into a single fighting unit with an organized military structure. Lutthin was never part of this formal rebellion, although he did so.

support it while also working outside of its limitations. And this is why Clayah was reluctant to go. I know about Yavin. I know all about it. I know what they think of Luthan. Like we saw on Road 1, the rebellion was cautious about attacking Scaref. But Luthan was an accelerationist who wanted

to goad the empire into overreach. But Wilman makes it clear who really built Yavin. The truth is none of this would be here without Luthorne. So the episode has a ticking clock. And I love this shot of Clea, with the objects in the foreground so out of focus that she looks like she is surrounded by darkness. She's isolated, alone, and the dark is creeping in. Meanwhile, in Deidre's cell, she tries to loosen her collar from her neck.

Now, like I've pointed out in the past, this is a reaction that she's had after being attacked on pharix. But Joanna Robinson, a friend of the channel, had a great post on blue sky about this moment and the metaphor of the Imperials choking. When Cyril first gets his new job, his mother comments that his collar is too high, after he had it tailored. What is it that you hear my collar saying? Look at me. I don't believe in myself. I am desperate for approval. Cyril is someone who strives for imperial structure, so he has a custom collar meant to fit around his neck, like an obedient dog. And in the same episode, Luton says,

The Empire has been choking us so slowly, we're starting not to notice. And Joanna also reminds us of Darth Vader's favorite method for discipline. The rebels hit in 14. Bluze! That's what I'm talking about. So all of that crystallizes with Dedra. She was raised in an imperial kinder block, and she has devoted her entire. life to the empire and she craves its discipline. And yet, this world is slowly choking the

life out of her. Now, when Heert visits her, pay attention to the framing. She is placed in the lower right-hand corner. Using the rule of thirds, this is the part of the screen that commands the least amount of respect and power. Again, contrasts this to how she leered over Bix. And throughout the conversation, Heart is heard but not seen. Dedra is alone in the frame to show how isolated she feels. Even in the reverse shot, Heart is kept in shadow and away from her. But But after he asked for advice, the camera is suddenly on a close-up so we can see the emotion play across his face. And then, as Dejra feels more empowered, the camera pushes in on her, so gradually she is in a more empowering part of the frame. And afterwards, she is back to feeling alone and hopeless, so the camera films her from above

and the same angle as Te Colma having his meltdown at the wedding back in episode 2. And this is appropriate since both of these people were feeling confined and alone. Really amazing work from director Alonso Riaz Palacios and the DP Damien Garcia. Back at the shop, we learned that Luton and Clea were using an imperial signal to send out their own signals. They had the antanite. It's ingenious. They spliced it into a metro tower next door. They've been using Imperial broadcast para for who knows how long. Which means that Luton was being literal when he said this. I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them.

Also notice there are carbonite slabs here, which would be an ideal way for Luthon to preserve artifacts and to prevent them from being stolen. And as they go into Khorasan, I love this tiny moment where Melshi just takes a few seconds to be. amazed at a planet that's also one big city. Incredible. Then K2 mentions that he was once on Corrassant and he marched in a parade. The emperor was there. Now it's strange that his new personality circuit seem almost proud of this, even though he has been reprogrammed to fight against the empire.

Also, military parades are a stable of fascism, especially when dictators tied them into their own personal glory. For instance, Hitler threw a massive military parade for himself on his 50th birthday. Then, as they land near the safe house, notice how we see these gorgeous, towering penthouses in the background next to these ugly, brutalist structures where the poor people live. Like the rest of Andor, it's reminding us that the rich get to live one way, and they don't even think about the rest of us. Now, the police are in a shuttle that looks like a cross between a sentinel and a Lambda class

Imperial Shuttle, and notice how we only see small parts of them, shots of their guns, shots of their feet, or in profile. This has a way of dehumanizing these officers, and furthers the idea that they are not people, they are just instruments of the state. Here it is going along with them, which is similar to Cyril going along with the troops to ferrics back in episode three of season one. Show force, boost morale. Nothing like seeing an officer on the mind.

And one of our commenters, Kuala 8838, pointed out that the secret knock that they use is the same one as the community alarm on ferricks. This is a cool way of showing how Cassian and Bix brought a piece of ferricks with them wherever they went. Also, noticed that Cassian now has the same haircut that he had in Rogue One, as that movie is going to start just days away from this episode. Klaia quickly fills him in on the Deadest.

star, which makes sense. His first mission in Rogue One was to get more information about the super weapon. Initially, they made K2 stay on the ship, and I love how he pouts like a little kid. I don't like it here. But after the comms are shut, he struts in past these Arrubesh signs that read Tom Kip Towers. And there's a false alarm as the Imperials burst in on this retired couple who have Maylu-run fruits in their bowl here, and that is the fruit that we first saw in the show Star Wars Rebels. So Clea initially has a hard time trusting Cassian and the rebellion on Yavin. She resents him for leaving Coruscant for the jungles of Yavin IV. And what we're seeing here is that final small divide that exists between these sections of the rebellion.

Clea has been isolated so long, she's not sure where she fits into the galaxy without her father figure there to guide her. And now finally, here we are, episode 12, the finale of Andor, the greatest Star Wars show ever made. I'm so, so sad right now. This episode is essentially an epilogue to the series and a prequel to Rogue One, which picks up just a few hours after this ending. I highly recommend watching that movie right after finishing Andor because it enhances like everything about it. The first shot of the episode is Clea, framed with no look room. Like we talked about earlier, this always implies that the character is missing some piece of information or feels alone. In this case, Clea feels isolated because she doesn't know or trust the rebels on Yavin.

We learned that there have been some tension between the Alliance and Luton. So Clea now feels like she doesn't have a home anywhere in the galaxy. What a bitter ending. And Cassian is shot in the same way, but in the front third of the frame. So this tells us that he's also facing an uncertainty. For instance, he doesn't know the Imperials are closing in, but because he's in the first third of the frame, he has more power in the situation.

But most importantly, neither of them are ever in the frame together, creating a sense of shared isolation. Like boys in a bubble or planes in the sky. That's right. Now, you might remember that Clea and Vell were filmed in this same way when they first met last season. Now, remember this framing because we're going to see it progress along with Clea's story. Then, to highlight their loneliness, we see them in a wide shot together through the hole in the wall that

she just cut, showing us how the darkness of the empire is surrounding them and she feels small and alone. Back at the ISB headquarters, Partagaz is overseeing the operations. And when he realizes the comms are all down, he's all like, have you tried jiggling it? I love little human moments like that all throughout this series. It makes them seem like this is a war being fought by people and not with characters. And the police stormed toward the apartment. Now recently, I read a post and I really wish I remembered where that talks about how soldiers like this are actually the common type of unit that people would see across the galaxy. Stormtroopers were considered elite troops.

So, if you saw one of them, you knew you were in trouble. Now, when they hear them coming, Cassian tells them to leave the door open. This will draw them in and leave them an escape route. And if you saw Daredevil, then you remember he did the same thing in the season one finale. Then they throw in a stun grenade, which first appeared in the role-playing game the Bacta Heist, but it looks very different here. It's been reinvented to mimic the shape of a thermal detonator, and the stun shockwave that emits is like the shockway from the stun setting on a blaster

mixed with the flash grenades that we saw in the Star Wars Battlefront Games. The firefight in a hallway is similar to the opening of a new hope. Again, it's like poetry, sort of they rhyme. Except this time, the big scary imperial machine is working for the rebellion. Kay storms in, snaps here its neck, and then uses his dead body as a human shield. I love this show. Meanwhile, Part of Gas is drowning in his own lie as citywide units are spread too thin, looking to clamp down on an infectious disease that he made up.

Apparently everyone's out running down the emergency disease one. Now, watching K2 tear through these guys makes me wonder, why did the emperor ever stop using droids? My guess is he drew power from the humans serving him, like he was able to feed off an entire galaxy of fear. And as they leave, I just want to shout out that Andor is wearing the coolest fuck-cote I have ever seen. I want that coat more than I want to be a Jedi. That's what happens when you get older kids. You don't want to be a warrior anymore. You just want a good coat. As they fly away, the Khoras on LAAT police gunship swoops in. Now we first saw these in the Clone Wars, but then again throughout rebels, the comics, and in the

Mandalorian. On Yavin, we see this X-wing with a blue stripe, marking it as a part of Blue Squadron. This wing was decimated at the end of Rogue 1, so they weren't at the Battle of Yavin. But they did fight on Hoth and at Endor. Inside, Saul Guerrera is speaking with Mon Mothma, who is now basically wearing the same outfit that she had on in Return of the Jedi and Rogue 1. But notice how she's not only dressed down, she's also no longer wearing makeup. And she's talking like a rebel, not a politician. Keep hijacking these transports and that will be the least of your problems. You have no idea where I am. Now, in the show,

Rebels, shortly after Mon Mothma formally declared the rebellion, Saul Guerreras sent her a pretty nasty message, basically calling her out for compromising too much with the empire. If you continue to allow this war to be fought on the empire's terms, not yours, you are going to lose. Pretty cool how they continue their adversarial relationship into this scene. Notice that he is now wearing his mask. And a few episodes ago, we learned that this is because he likes to huff a fuel called Rydonium, which is slowly driving him insane. Have you ever seen a man die from Rydonium? Maybe you're like Maybe you love the smell of it.

It's also making him more paranoid, like we saw in Rogue One, and of course right here. All your spies and infiltrators. You think I still be alive if I hadn't learned to bend them as I wish. It's the empire that's after you saw, not us. Bray, why are they fighting? Well, Saul was radicalized after his sister died in the Clone Wars, and then when the Empire cracked down in the weeks after the Clone Wars ended. He wanted to carry on an ultra-violent campaign against the Empire and civilians,

while Mon Mothma and Bail Organa are trying to garner sympathy from the Senate and other systems. Bail Organa is also wearing the same clothes that he wore in Rogue One when he was still played by Jimmy Smiths. Now, they're upset because Andor, being a loose cannon, has violated protocol. Particularly, we get the sense that Bail Organa doesn't like him. Bail and Luthan were essentially building two different alliance networks. Lutthin was building a spy network, while Bail Organa and Osokitano were uniting rebel cells into a more organized military structure. Bale might still see Cassian as one of Luthan's soldiers, and he would prefer it if he could just follow orders like the rest of them.

And then we see Admiral Radis, the Moncala who died commanding the profundity at the Battle of Scariff in Rogue One. And decades later in The Last Jedi, Leia's capital ship was named after him. He says, You're lucky Merrick's away. Now he's talking about Antok Merrick, the commander of Blue Squadron.

Later, we hear that he is away with General Jan Dodana, this guy in Rogue One, and also here in a new hope. Now as Cassian lands, we see an X-Wing from Rogue Squadron, Luke and Wedge's Flight Wing, and all of this suspense is because they don't know if Cassian's U-Wing has been compromised or even if there's like a double agent on board. This is why after they land, Draven orders K2 to power down. This is in case he's been spliced by the Imperials,

but it also saves the production a lot of money if he just stays on the ship for a while. No money means no animation. Cassian presents his information to the Alliance High Command that we first saw in Rogue 1, minus a few key members. But we do see Senator Pomlo. Now in the Bad Batch, we saw her oppose the creation of a new military to replace the clones. And in Rogue 1, she opposed military action on Scariff because it was too dangerous. The reason we never saw her in the original trilogy is probably because, as the war became more and more violent, her influence waned on the council.

And this is Senator Noor Jebel, and he is the Minister of Finance who also appeared in Rogue One. And during the debate, did anyone else laugh because Radis had no idea what was going on? Who's clear? And notice, this is also, of course, the same meeting table they used in Rogue One. Much like the Jedi Council table, they sit in a circle as a committee of equals. Now, when Cassian tells them what he learned,

they're right to think that it sounds ridiculous, but Mon Mothma calls out that they never did have access to any details or inspections about the Energy Project. And she told Orson Krennic as much when they spoke a few episodes ago. Oh, yes, I've been a guest at her committee. Several occasions. How pleasant to see you free of the witness stand. Now Cassian admits that the only source he has for all of this is Luthan's word,

and the command distrusted Luton. We're talking about someone who's been a thorn in our side. Remember, at this point, the rebellion was still. trying to leverage political power, like Cassio Tag says in a new hope. The rebellion will continue to gain a support in the Imperial Senate. But Luthin was an accelerationist who wanted worlds to burn just to inspire more rebellion. It will burn very brightly. But rather than listen to Cassian and hear an unpleasant truth, they send him off to bed without supper,

displaying the same bureaucratic inefficiency that will doom the new republic about 35 years in the future. Mon goes to see her cousin Vell, and it's kind of strange to see Mon in these surroundings, right? like we're so used to seeing her in these lavish estates and fine clothes, and now she seems to have fit right in as the leader of the rebellion. She has an inherent trust of Cassian, probably because he and Luthin are the only reason she is still alive and free. And she knows that Vell worked with him on the Aldani heist and can work out exactly how much to trust his intel.

And later, when she goes to see him, they list the people they've lost. Lieutenant Gore and Nemek, remember, he was the true believer who left Cassian in his journal that eventually convinced him to join the rebellion. More on him later. They also mentioned Taremont, but not Skeen, because he was going to betray the rest of them and take the money for himself. They also, of course, mentioned pharix, making me wonder if the empire cracked down hard on the planet after the season one finale. And of course, they toast the gore and the Donnies, who the empire displaced from their homes back in season one. Cassian says they've heard people claim that they were at Al-Dony.

And I like this little detail about how their heist that publicly kickstarted the rebellion has now kind of passed into legend. When Cassian tells Wilman about Luthan, he says, You made it worth it. And this goes back to how the rebels are always talking about the value of their fight. We have to win. Or how when Mon asked how she could repay Cassian, he said, Make it worth it. Everyone they've lost all the death.

It has to be for something. It has to be worth it. And like Andor says about Luthin. None of this exists without him. And we shift from that to Partigaz, listening to Nimick's words from his journal that we heard last season. Remember that the frontier of the rebellion is everywhere. The imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural.

Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks. Authority is brittle. Now, Nimick was the true believer in the Aldani heist. He fully believed in the cause. And Partagas says that they don't know where this recording came from and they can't make it go away. So this actually supports Nimick's words. Freedom and rebellion are a naturally occurring event.

And when he says tyranny requires constant effort, I think about all the ISB meetings that we saw in this room. how vigilant they had to be to stamp out any type of rebellion across the galaxy. I think in his final moments, Partagas knows that Nemek was right and that his entire life's work was futile. He has a power five blaster that we first saw here in a new hope, and that Dejramiro used last season, and he uses it to take his own life. But is that because he knows the emperor is going to torture him, or he'll go to prison,

or does he finally realize that his life's work was pointless? Felt tells Cassian that he should go see Bix, but he assures her that Bix could never be safe if she was with him. So this is a classic trope from Westerns. The hero is able to fight the bad guys because he's violent and he can't be civilized. But that same trait means that he can never settle down and enjoy the frontier that he has helped to tame. Clea wanders out into the rain, scared and alone, and how perfect is it that she is found by Vell. Back in season one, they seem to be rivals for Luton's approval.

They briefly spoke at Leda's wedding and Clea always had an air that she was better than Vell, who she regarded as a mere foot soldier in their war. She fully expects Vell to reject her, but instead she embraces her. She welcomes her into the rebellion and offers her her coat. Now, in their first conversation in season one, they were filmed to be isolated in the frame, lacking any look room. But now, they are filmed together in the same frame, over the shoulder. And instead of being filmed in profile, like in their first meeting, we can see more of their faces. So we can see the full scope of their emotions. They each also have look room, which is a way of implying that they have

an optimistic, bright future ahead of them. So the message here is clear. These are two women who no longer have to hide anything from each other. And Vell sums it up best with Luthin's code word. I have friends everywhere. You're here with friends. Now, throughout this episode, we keep hearing about Cassian's contact in Sal Guerrera's group, a guy named Tivik.

And Draven tells him that Tivik keeps calling and saying he will only speak to Cassian. Now, remember, this is the guy that Cassian meets up with on his first mission in Rogue One, and he meets him on planet Kofreen. And if you'll remember, that was actually the code word to access the Thai Avenger in the first episode this season.

The password tonight is Kaffirine. So Cassian's journey is coming full circle. The morning he leaves, he has one last dream of his sister, the woman that he never found. In fact, the search for her led him on this journey that takes him to his final fate in the movie Rogue One. The drops in the cup almost sound like a ticking clock. As we get closer to his death. And finally, Bail Organa comes to see him, to give him orders to follow Luthan's final lead. And this is a big deal that brings this season full circle.

In the first two episodes this season, Cassian was held captive by two ruffin. rebels cells that mistrusted each other. And the rivalry between Bail and Luthon was the last division in the rebellion. And now that division has healed. You and Luton would have gotten along much better than you think. After Cassian asked him why the change of heart, he says, If I die fighting the empire, I want to go down swinging. Which is sad because we know that he'll be dead in just a few days.

And then he gives us one last. May the force be with you, Captain. If this ends up being Bail's last line in this franchise, then it is perfect. Now, as Cassian prepares to leave, he takes time to water his plants, which is the kind of endearing human behavior that makes this show feel so real. And as our friend Joanna Robinson pointed out, Cassian watering the flowers is also a bit of a tribute to Marva. She cared for her plants, and now Cassian is carrying on that love and attention toward living things. He's wearing the same costume that he wore in his first

scene in Rogue One as he slowly leaves his home for his destiny. Now she is training troops, while Andor heads in the opposite direction from his friends. Then we get an end of the series montage, similar to how many prestige shows like the Sopranos or The Wire have ended. Mon Mothma is at a picnic table, like the workers on Mina Rao. Now, her story has finally come to a 180. She's no longer surrounded by phonies and bureaucrats. She is actually among her own people, others who long for the galaxy to be free. Meanwhile, we see Perrin, who is with Davos Skolden's wife, who drank so much that she's passed out on his shoulder with the decanter in her hand. I don't know if this means that Skullden got divorced or if Perrin is just sleeping

around because he's so depressed. Dedra is in the same type of prison complex that we saw and Narcina 5, where Cassian served last season. The irony here is that she sent hundreds of people to prisons just like this, and now she knows that her entire life was actually lived without purpose. She lived to serve an empire that would throw her away in a second. Clea looks out at Yavin 4, and a slight smile crosses her face. Now she's realizing that maybe indeed she has finally found a home. And on Jetta, Saul Guerrera looks out the same window where he will die in just a couple days,

and we see the Star Destroyer taking the last of the Khyber from the temple on Jetta. Krenik is in the final stages of assembling the Death Star. The super laser is still missing, but we saw it inserted at the beginning of Rogue 1. And on the U-Wing, K2 says, It's so much easier when I know what I would do it. Which is hilarious because we all know exactly where they're going, because we've seen Rogue 1 and we know how this story ends. And then, thank goodness we get to check in with B2.

I've been worried about him all season. He's got a little droid friend to play with, and he is happy. And finally, we end on Bix with Cassian's child. This last shot is perfect. It is the essence of the rebellion, new life, surrounded by nature, looking optimistically toward the horizon. Guys, this show was truly a gift. Tony Gilroy and his team have given us one of, if not the best Star Wars story of all time. And I want to thank them for making this show for us and thank all of you for watching our Easter egg videos all season long.

But we're not done yet. We have a lot more to say about this show in the coming weeks and days. And I also want to give a big shout out to our entire staff. It has been so hard to make these videos for three episodes at a time for the past month. and we could not have done this without our incredible staff of editors and researchers. Thank you guys so much. But let us know what you thought about the episode down in the comments below or at me on Twitter, Blue Sky Threads, or on our free-to-join Discord server.

Links for all of those are below. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe and smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie. Thank you.