Andor Syril Karn

Kyle Soller - take a bow. Amazing addition to the Star Wars universe. You will very much be missed.

 

Reminded me of the famous “who are you?” in Lawrence of Arabia. Truth is, Syril doesn’t know the answer to that question.

 

I don't think he even is real fascist, he is what fascists use to gain and keep power, he is useful idiot. But yeah that is essentially what most sel-identified fascists are, but then there are the users, the handlers of fascists like in this case Dedra and Partagaz, who are the real fascists really.

I do disagree to a certain degree. (Depends on laws obviously) Law and order are inherently ethical concepts to begin with, they are meant to make ethics reality, but it's true that not all laws or all orders are ethical at all or worth following to in all situations. Corruption makes those in the power to make laws for their own benefit instead of common good and they cease to be ethical. In fascist societies law becomes tool of oppression so yes they are not ethical just because they are the law. But ethics is itself about certain order of things instead of chaos so I would say law and order are inherently ethical concepts, their purpose is ethical, but they often end up misused as tool of using power which in itself may or may not be ethical depending on the goals.

Syril is example of guy who is so obsessed with following law and order he cannot differentiate between these ethical laws and orders and unethical ones and naively believes they are the one and the same. But he also lacks knowledge what we as viewers have that Empire is inherently evil. From his point of view it was not since he lived in the world filled with propaganda that constantly said they are the one and the same. I think in fascist society many people would be Syrils, that's why his story is so sad and somewhat relatable.

He was IMO not inherently fully bad person. He was about to find out harsh reality there. Maybe to become a good person instead, but alas Andor happened and his obsession took over. I think he feels bit autist-coded in fact or OCD at least. And he has clear mommy issues (I kinda understand that) and obsession about following rules and authority, being disappointed he is not rewarded for being so obsessive. He does have anger issues as well as his attack on both Dedra and Andor proves this.

Maybe OCPD actually fits him better as diagnosis. He had rigid obsessive relation to rules and lacked insight that others used him for their purposes. And maybe he was also... just a bit stupid.

 

Absolutely.

He did a great job playing a character type I'm not sure we've seen in SW before: the grasper. Syril's been belittled (by his mom) and overlooked (by everyone else) for so long that what he really wants are influence and praise. That's his animating motivation. He gets closer and closer to attaining this goal - recall the "best day of his life" line - before realizing how empty his efforts have been. He's not helping the Empire stomp out agitators, and the object of his obsession doesn't even know who he is. He's a reverse-Luke Skywalker.

 

It was really interesting to the symbolism of him being in the square. Ultimately he helped and hindered no one, he was just there in the middle of it all but having no real power to do anything, stuck between two sides with no one even noticing enough to shoot at him. It was a tragic moment of symbolism.

 

Because for Dedra it is weird. Dedra exists in a liminal space where everyone in her career, including her, realise that the Empire isn’t about law, or order, or peace or any of the rest of it, it’s about getting one over on your coworkers, solving puzzles and getting a promotion; you only pretend otherwise for the sake of decorum and to pacify the plebs. You aren’t actually supposed to believe in it, and you certainly aren’t supposed to turn off your brain to the extent that you don’t on some level understand what it is that you’re doing.

But then she finds Syril. And he’s weird. And he stalks her. And he saves her life. And he’s the closest thing she’s had to a companion she can trust. And after she takes him in, he worships her the way she likes being worshipped. He doesn’t mind her controlling him. On some level he wants to be controlled. And when she takes the Ghorman assignment, it occurs to her that Syrils… earnestness might make it easier for him to infiltrate the Ghorman front. And it does. But then Syril finds out that she was lying and manipulating and gaslighting him and the plan was always to genocide/ ethnically cleanse Ghorman of the Ghor. And Syril puts his hands on her. Again.

 

Ugh. I'm not sad that he died, because it's such a perfectly tragic end, but I'm sad we're not gonna get more Syril for the final 3 episodes. I remember from season 1 previews I thought to myself, I bet I'm gonna hate that twerp, but all that changed the moment he gave his memorably cringe inducing pep talk in episode 2. Just a fascinating character to watch and I loved every single minute we spent with him.

 

I think some viewers missed two crucial lines from Syril to Rylanz in season 2, episode 7:

Syril: I meant you [the Ghormans] no harm.
Rylanz: How can you say that?
Syril: I was here to trap outside agitators

Syril, quite literally, thought he was being a clever little Imperial soldier by infiltrating the Ghorman resistance in order to trap outside rebel agitators, in the misguided belief that he would be helping the Ghormans by doing so. That's what Syril thought he was doing on Ghorman. "Trapping" rebels.

And so when he sees Cassian he doesn't just see, on a personal level, the individual who started his slide into the pathetic moral state he finds himself in. He sees, quite literally, an outside agitator. To him, one of THE outside agitators. A critical figure in the Axis-directed network, and, of course importantly, the one who almost ruined his life.

And it's the combination of his petty personal anger at Cassian, his commitment to the imperial cause, his realization that the Empire was on Ghorman not to trap outside rebels but to destroy Ghorman and take its resources, and simultaneously, his commitment to taking down the real outside agitators, represented by Cassian, that leads him to attack Cassian with such fury.

This is, frankly, next-level writing. It's both deeply complex and elegantly simple. He's a fascist who thought he was doing small f fascism, and didn't realize he was doing big F fascism.

 

A perfect ending for one of the greatest Star Wars characters of all time. A character and performance I could not imagine in this franchise before that first season, I truly don't think Andor would have worked without him. The perfect, most pathetic little man. "Who are you?" What a way to go.

 

So...

...was Syril Karn someone that believed in the Empire and its ideals, even to the point of falling for the propaganda, or was he just a ladder-climber and someone that "engaged in a fantasy"?

I see him as primarily a tragic case of order-following and believing in the Imperial line hook, line, and sinker.

 

Syril believed in the rule of law, whether that be Pre-Mor Authority or the Empire in charge. As long as he believed the Empire was the legal authority, he believed his duty was to serve it. His journey shows he's actually a complicated character even if intellectually he's not that clever. He goes from being under his mother's thumb to being under Dedra's thumb, emphasizing he's weak. It's only when he sees the impending Ghorman genocide happen before his eyes that he sees through Dedra and understands he's been used, that's where he finally finds some cajones, we never know whether this changed Syril would've become someone because he sees Cassian and the anger at Cassian humiliating him takes over and leads to his death.

 

Would it be a good thing or a bad thing if the show revealed that Syril's dad left the family long ago to fight the Empire? I can't tell if that would work or not.

 

There was one parent-reveal plot twist that worked well in SW.
Since that moment, fans expect parent reveal plot twists to pop up like mushrooms everywhere.

 

Maybe Anakin is Syril’s father.

 

The above comment is so amusing. Quick thinking is good.

I agree with what SwashbucklingJedi said in that Syril isn't really a fascist. He's underdeveloped mentally due to his upbringing and he believed in the Empire's law and order, but not to the point of genocide. Dedra expected him to be a useful tool, but once he realized he was fooled, well, the man needs therapy. Well, so do most us with a crazy world like this, but the man doesn't understand boundaries or when not to use violence. This isn't limited specifically to any one type of individual sometimes. People who like fascists and imperials tend to act like this. They need mental help and rehabilitation (a la in jail).

In short, this series was like an Orwellian and Atwoodian mess, especially for the Imperial characters. They remind me of the antagonists I write. Even the Rebel characters are chaotic, and they don't remind me of my protagonists (good or antihero), but they are all very interesting. The show was suspenseful in terms of music and more. I didn't try to predict where it would go next, but if I did, I got a 7 out of 11 tries. Lol. So, it was fun.