Created by Tony Gilroy
1.11 “Daughter of Ferrix”
Written by Tony Gilroy
Directed by Benjamin Caron
Starring Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O'Reilly, Faye Marsay, Denise Gough

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by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

The previous arc of this season saw everyone looking for Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) while he was tucked away in the prison on Narkina 5, safe and sound from everything except the prison itself. One of the biggest questions I’ve had, as we get closer to the end of the season, was how and where things were going to wrap up. Checking back in with Bix (Adria Arjona), Cinta (Varada Sethu), and Ferrix in general as been the strongest clue that this season will end where it started, allowing us to see the Imperial takeover of the planet and what happens when one person attracts the attention of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB). This episode further points in that direction with the death of Maarva (Fiona Shaw).

It’s a shame to lose her off screen, if only because Fiona Shaw gave a great performance as Maarva, but she remains the show’s beating heart. Seeing how the Ferrix community comes together afterward, even to take care of B2EMO (Dave Chapman), is heartwarming and also provides the most emotional stakes of the season so far. I’ve come to care about all the characters, but seeing the change in Ferrix over these episodes has provided a foundation for the fight against the Empire that is mostly philosophical in the movies. In this way, Andor functions similarly to The Clone Wars show, filling in gaps and doing worldbuilding in ways that are outside the scope of the films. Now, with all eyes on Ferrix, including Syril’s (Kyle Soller), Cassian must decide what to do after learning of Maarva’s death. The Empire couldn’t hope for a better trap, and Cinta, working for Luthen’s group, is also keen to track him down.

Seeing the results of the breakout, Cassian and Melshi (Duncan Pow) scramble the beaches of Narkina 5 looking for a way off world. For a moment it’s out of the (electric) frying pan and into the fire as they are caught in a literal net by two aliens who resemble Unkar Plutt’s species in The Force Awakens. I thought they might represent trolls in the fantasy sense, driving a hard bargain to get our two ex-cons off world, but Gilroy reverses that expectation. The Empire makes allies of us all. Also, I was very relieved to see Cassian retrieve his money and Nemik’s manifesto from Niamos.

Speaking of which, his meeting with Lonni last episode sends Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) back to visit Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). While Saw has changed his mind on helping Anto Kreegyr, so has Luthen. He rescinds his offer and reveals that the ISB is onto the plan. While Saw immediately understands the strategy, whatever trust he has in Luthen seems to evaporate, and only by playing on the guerilla’s growing paranoia does Luthen walk away from the encounter. Saw’s presence is the only thing about Andor that feels especially prequel-y, but not in a bad way. With his previous appearances in Clone Wars, Rebels, and Rogue One, Saw is an important link between the prequel and original trilogy eras of Star Wars, and tracing his evolution to its endpoint continues to be a great way to track the cost of Rebellion. Luthen’s return to Coruscant gets a little complicated by the appearance of an Imperial cruiser, delivering a really fun battle sequence. We see the cruiser lock onto the Fondor, Luthen breaks free. They send TIE fighters; he shows off some fancy weapons and flying. This cat and mouse skirmish is a perfect microcosm of Luthen’s fight against the Empire—if they want to catch him, they will need a better mousetrap.

On Coruscant, we see Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) bring Vel (Faye Marsay) up to speed on her developments in moving money around. But the most interesting thing in the scene is their observation of Leida (Bronte Carmichael) and her friends doing a traditional Chandrillan ritual. There’s a lot of repetition about binding, and knots, and Mon comments that Leida and her friends are super enthusiastic about tradition compared to her and Val’s generation. There’s a lot to potentially unpack there. While I generally think of the Alliance to Restore the Republic (Mon and Leia’s political wing of the Rebellion) as a restorative revolution–reverting from fascism to the previous representative Republic—it could be that Leida, being too young to remember anything before, sees Palpatine’s rule as in alignment with even older ways. This also adds to the contrast between Mon and Bail Antilles, Leia’s father, and their approach to their Rebel activities/support. In an effort to protect her family, has Mon encouraged them to be complacent? While the other storylines this week are extremely tense and compelling, this was the thing I couldn’t stop thinking about from this episode.