Created by Tony Gilroy
1.12 “Rix Road”
Written by Tony Gilroy
Directed by Benjamin Caron
Starring Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O'Reilly, Faye Marsay, Denise Gough
All episodes streaming on Disney+

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

Well there it is, the best season of live action Star Wars so far. Don’t get me wrong—I love The Mandalorian a lot, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was also very successful in my eyes. The last season of Mandalorian, tying back to Original Trilogy stuff made me a lot less enthused, and the strengths of Obi-Wan might have played better as a movie. Only Book of Boba Fett has been a disappointment for me, and even so, the second episode of that is one of my favorite Star Wars stories. But I digress. 

My point is not that Andor is great because of how different it is, eschewing lots of lore-building and spiritualism for a more grounded spy/political thriller. Andor is a great show because it is trying to be the best version of itself. I don’t want every Star Wars thing to feel the same, feel like they need to tell the same kinds of stories, or blend in the same genre every time. I want them each to be the best versions of what they are trying to be. 

Anyway, there’s a lot of particular details in the finale, “Rix Road,” that make that distinction apparent. For one, the reason Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) heads back to Ferrix is out of guilt for not getting back to Maarva (Fiona Shaw) before she passes on, but what he does while on Ferrix is remarkable. More on that in a second. The opportunity is being used as a trap by the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), and Dedra (Denise Gough) is there to supervise. The local Imperials have set the stage, negotiating with the Daughters of Ferrix around the funeral arrangements, and the Imperials have forced a compromise in order to make the community feel like they got a win. 

Additionally, everything about Ferrix funeral traditions is thoughtful and filled with meaning. Maarva’s ashes are incorporated into a brick, with her name included. We also see the same was done for Cassian’s adoptive father, his brick now part of a wall. This is a way to not only memorialize people who have passed on, but show how they build the community in a literal, tangible sense. But before her brick can be used for building, or bashing Imperial skulls, Maarva presents a non-tangible message to the people: wake up and fight. She calls them to action, explaining how fascism takes up whatever space it can while people are not fighting back. It’s a rousing speech, and there’s so much added to it by watching Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) process it. Maarva is his foil—she inspires popular revolt by living a good life and being an active member of the community. Luthen works in the shadows, giving up any sense of happiness with others because he can’t trust them. They are both necessary to overthrow the Empire, however. 

And that’s why I love Cassian’s path in this finale. He’s not part of the mass revolt on Ferrix, not leading the crowd. He’s working in the shadows, making the hard choices and dealing with a different kind of danger and violence. But his goal is to save the people he cares about. So Cassian is using Luthen’s methods to live Maarva’s methods. Marie-Claire Gould of What The Force (the best Star Wars podcast) often says that Star Wars frequently presents us with a binary. Light or dark. Jedi or Sith. But it’s up to the characters in those stories to find a third way. To turn a binary into a triangle. Cassian does that here, and it is so satisfying. He walks the middle path, which plays to his skills and strengths (he’s a spy, not a general or political leader), and follows his heart. 

This whole season has seen him pulled in a few directions. Ditto Mon Mothma. They are both doing not great things in service of their cause because they believe it is right. How much of that can they take, and how will that shape them in the future? I can’t wait for the next season, and I hope we continue to follow many of these characters, too. Especially Syril and Dedra.