Andor Andor Episode 2.04 Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Spoiler

Interesting. I was wondering if they were going to change the Ghorman Massacre. Seems they have but have kept Tarkin sitting a Star Destroyer on a bunch of protesters in canon as a separate incident.

 

Am I to understand the Legends version of the Gorman Massacre happened already in 19 BBY and they’re just getting massacred… again?

 

Eerie how some of the events at the start of the episode are similar to current real-life events.
Bix is clearly on the brink of complete mental breakdown. I wonder what drug she's taking to cope.
I want an episode entirely devoted to Saw Gerrera.

 

In the declassified video for this arc, Tony refers to the Tarkin massacre as a small one.

 

'I love the smell of it'

Saw at his usual insane best. I love how all the pieces are moved around. A strong sense of foreboding in this episode.

Poor Ghorman is getting strangled and its such a shame, beautiful planet.

I feel so sad for Bix, obviously she's doomed but she's already dead on the inside.

 

Now this is podracing. Literally. Security guards watching podracing. Masterful Easter egging there. Great episode. My favorite of the three, I think.

 

It's like the Defenestrations of Prague. You can't have just one.

 

dp

 

I love the way this episode introduces us to Spy Syril.

 

A good nice set up episode for this new arc and our first massacre with Grand Moff Tarkin refference. Syril peaked this episode.

 

I want to live in an apartment on Coruscant and go to the little corner market. It’s really cool to get a glimpse of how normal people live on Coruscant and just makes the planet feel more real.

 

I honestly believe that Coruscant exists now. I’m sure of it.

 

The Mother is terrifying.

 

Could Eedy be Plagueis returned?

 

Off topic but one of my all time favorite Wikipedia lines is this from the Defenestrations of Prague page: “there have been further instances of defenestrations in Prague’s history, but they are not usually referred to as ‘the Defenestration of Prague”

 

Is that alien language just French?

I knew there was something unearthly about it.

 

As I said in another thread, it's like the French equivalent of Prisencolinensinainciusol.

 

I actually like how silly Eedy, Syril, and Dedra are. They are not healthy individuals, but you can see how human they are despite this. I wouldn't want to go down their roads, but I get it.

As for Cassian and Bix, they are more relatable. Honestly, despite being rebels, they're very logical compared to the bad guys. Obviously. I mean, all of the good guys (Mon, Cinta, Vel, and Kleya) are all very rational individuals like Bix and Cassian. Even Saw starts out as normal normal than Luthen. As to Saw, I actually have a lot of sympathy for his background, given how he lost his sister to war. He blamed the Jedi and the Republic, but he's more reserved about it. He's the sort of guy who would be an introvert or at least shy. TA1994 calls him an asocial person who was forced to become more outgoing because of war and PTSD. So, yeah. Luthen, by contrast, seems like he hates the Empire for no reason. His monologue from near the end of the first season hints at a reason. But I still like to believe that he used to work with Jedi intelligence or even for them before he become this secular spy. Not like he had a lot of Force training, but some, and he doesn't really use it in his show. Rather, he's utilizing his cynical wit and strategy. To me, Thrawn is a better tactician than a strategist. Luthen is the opposite: better strategist than tactician. I think that Mon will assert her leadership over the Rebellion soon. In my view, it's something that she and Bail Organa quietly started. Later on, however, she had re-assume control over the disparate Alliance.

Anyway, this is all good prequel-to-original trilogy work here. Much like Galen Marek's story and old EU stories, we get more feminine power and energy. Accordingly, I appreciate it. Kinda reminds me of my own writing, as this series is more analogous to an espionage series or even a crime series. I like Suzanne Collins, Gillian Flynn, the late Stiegg Larsson, Maya Angelou, Tolkien, Margaret Atwood, Lois Lowry, Karen Traviss, James Luceno, and George Orwell. If I had to name my favorite authors, those would be them. I appreciate these writers on Andor as much as I do for the Harley Quinn series. Different kinds of shows, but both entertaining, gothic, and educational in different ways. Different strokes. But that series is more humorous and sarcastic. Three awesome first seasons, a bad fourth season, and a pretty good fifth season. Andor is great from start to finish, I'd wager, and I don't see anything in this episode to prevent that prediction.

 

It’s not French. It just sounds like French. Obviously deliberately. I would have preferred something less on the nose, but I respect the choice and the commitment to it.

 

So you’re saying it’s Canadian French.

 

Ghorman is known in their language as Quebecooine.

 

This show is just outstanding. I'm in such awe.

Love:

• The sets and architecture. Its all so brutalist. alien, beautiful, elegant, modern, and yet still, somehow, ancient looking.
• The cast. Everyone just feels so right in their parts. It all seems real, and natural, in that kind of 70s ANH way.
• The Imperial Meeting room. Makes me nervous every time that guy starts walking around the room. Evil bureaucracy at its finest.
• Saw. Love this character. Love that he's so traumatized by the Clone Wars. And Forest Whitaker does just an amazing job with that little scene. Smelling the fumes, reliving past memories.
• Finally some nice aliens.
• The Ghorman rebel/resistance meeting room and its perfect symbolism for WW2.

 

Bayooine is the home planet of the Cajun and Creole rebels.
"Rebels have riches. Hooo! I garontee."

 

Solid episode, primarily thanks to Syril Karn getting the most narrative traction since the first Ferrix arc of season 1.

Seeing Syril play the double agent here is really compelling stuff, and there's some palpable ambiguity to his true feelings as he builds his authority in Ghorman. The world building of the planet is solid, and I dig the idea of the French Resistance being the key influence for the Ghorman Front.

I do like that we're finally getting to see what Cassian and Bix's relationship looks like in a period of relative downtime for both, although I really would have liked to see what was clearly a dramatic circumstance that occurred just prior. While I do appreciate the idea of Bix's trauma from Dr. Gorst having long term ramifications, I wish we saw more of how that manifests with her as a Rebel agent, and not just the recurring nightmares. Also, I do find it a little convenient that Luthen's safe house is right on Coruscant, but that's more of a nitpick.

Seeing Mon Mothma in action as a senator was pretty cool, but it was also kind of a rare moment for the show where the political maneuvering felt like a big exposition dump and had less emotional momentum. Of course, the argument could be made that it demonstrates that Mothma's role as a senator is becoming less and less impactful.

And seeing Saw Gerrera's crew on D'Qar is really cool and had a nice bit of synergy with the sequel trilogy. Whitaker always brings it, and there's some clear nuance here with him being just a little more unhinged than when we last saw him two years earlier in season 1.

7/10

 

Nope not… it is spoken with a regional french dialect cadence and inflection but is in no way French and it is very disturbing for me as French is my second language and my brain keep thinking it must be understandable to it but it is not