{"id":94441,"date":"2025-05-10T02:44:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T02:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/10\/we-arent-ready-for-it-to-end\/"},"modified":"2025-05-10T02:44:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T02:44:35","slug":"we-arent-ready-for-it-to-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/10\/we-arent-ready-for-it-to-end\/","title":{"rendered":"We Aren’t Ready For It To End"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This week brought us three more new episodes of Andor<\/em>, and one step closer to next week\u2019s series finale. This trio was probably the most impressive and devastating yet, bringing the events on Ghorman to an incendiary head and bringing some character arcs to a sudden and permanent end.<\/p>\n

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THPS 3+4 Does Away With The OG 4’s Career Mode, Here’s Why<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you missed our conversation about last week\u2019s outstanding episodes, you can find it here<\/a><\/span>. Now, let\u2019s talk about three of the most compelling episodes of television in recent memory. <\/p>\n

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Zack Zwiezen:<\/strong> So I think these last three episodes are my favorite Andor<\/em> episodes of season 2 so far and maybe the entire series. From what happens on Ghorman, the stuff with Mothma, and the heartbreaking ending seen in Episode nine… it was all so good!<\/p>\n

Carolyn Petit:<\/strong> It was. In the past I\u2019ve taken notes as I watched, just so I had a few things to refer back to when we do these chats, but with this week\u2019s trio of episodes I was just so captivated and horrified by the slow, inexorable buildup to the events of episode nine that I totally forgot. I almost couldn\u2019t believe how good these episodes were. But let\u2019s start at the beginning. <\/p>\n

First of all, it was cool to get a glimpse of life on Yavin, to see the beautiful home that Andor and Bix share there. Now if I ever rewatch A New Hope<\/em>, I\u2019ll have a fuller picture in my mind of how important this place was for the Rebellion in establishing its foothold, and what life was like there when its members weren\u2019t off engaging in operations to subvert the Empire\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

Ethan Gach: <\/strong>We obviously need to start with the weird force healing stuff, which I\u2019m sure Zack can explain. It was an odd nod to the mystical side of Star Wars we never see in Andor<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: Hahaha. I did like the mention of Maarva hating Force healers, or at least hating one Force healer. You have to think that\u2019s a field inhabited to some degree by scammers and the Star Wars <\/em>universe\u2019s equivalent of manipulative woo-woo YouTubers. <\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: We see some of that in the Obi-Wa<\/em>n show, with the guy pretending to be a Jedi. I imagine fake Force Healers are a thing and I get why Andor is wary about them. Honestly, I love that modern Star Wars<\/em> is making it clear that the Force isn\u2019t something everyone believes in or understands. For many, its this weird magical thing they scoff at.<\/p>\n

As for Force Healing, we mainly see Jedi doing it\u2014like Grogu and Rey\u2014but it\u2019s been a thing in Legends and Canon for some time before that and anyone with a deep connection to the Force could in theory do it. But there\u2019s also debate that the person isn\u2019t really healing them, but instead the Force wants to make sure that the injured person is healed to continue on their important journey or purpose. The Force Healer even mentions that it doesn\u2019t always work to Andor.<\/p>\n

And we know Andor is going to do some important stuff in Rogue One<\/em>. So it makes sense that the Cosmic Force would intervene to make sure he\u2019s healthy and able to keep moving forward on his journey. And I think that\u2019s what the woman sensed.<\/p>\n

Did you all like the Force being included in Andor<\/em>? I\u2019ve seen some mixed reactions online<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: I don\u2019t mind it as this kind of fleeting bit of worldbuilding detail that informs our understanding of the characters. I think it helps that the actor playing the Force healer was so good, she really made the most of her brief time. <\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t want it to become a larger element or to overtly influence the story in any way, but here I saw it as a plot device that illuminated the fact that Cassian is feeling uptight and closed off in larger ways, and it also gave Bix something to think about.<\/p>\n

EG<\/strong>: And now Wilmon is back with \u201cOne Last Job…\u201d and Cassian is running out of time to decide if he\u2019s going to become a professional rebel or not. I at first thought the plan to go snipe Dedra was their own as payback for Ferrix, but it seems maybe Luthen is keen to finally bag the spy that\u2019s been tracking him for years before she can come back and finish the job.<\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: Yeah, I thought it was revenge too. And it might still be, but I agree. I think Luthen is trying to tie up some loose ends.<\/p>\n

I think the one year leaps between each three episodes has worked well. But it was used perfectly here to show us how much Ghorman has changed since we last saw it. Seeing the plaza filled with Imperial troops, blockages, and reporters spouting propaganda really showed how much progress the Empire has made in taking this place over and crushing the people.<\/p>\n

So where do we land on Syril and Dedra? I think these episodes seem to show that she genuniely cared about him. The kiss, the way she is worried about his safety, wants him to be kept in the building away from the protestors and chaos outside, etc. I got the feeling that in some twisted sick way she really loved Syril. She had a connection with him and maybe it was simply that she needed to have something to look forward to after doing what she did on Ghorman and being with him back on Coruscant was that end goal. (edited)<\/p>\n

EG:<\/strong> Yes I think it did a really good job of showing two different accomplices to fascism. <\/p>\n

The one is obsessed with fighting \u201coutside agitators\u201d and the other is just chasing the next carrot from their boss. They are both unnerved by what\u2019s going on, but more at the unpleasantness and because of how it complicates their self-mythologizing, rather than because of the actual evil and pain involved. She\u2019s like just forget about this genocide. A dozen more people were ready to pull the trigger if I didn\u2019t. But now we can go back to Coruscant and chill and maybe get invited to some fancier parties.<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: Yeah, that connection with Syril, strange as it was, was also the most genuine human thing in her life. Some part of her really was looking forward to that point where this was behind them and they were together again on Coruscant.<\/p>\n

I think the show navigates that line well. It doesn\u2019t ever make Syril or Dedra truly sympathetic (not yet, anyway), but it does explore how fascism strips those who carry it out of their potential humanity as well.<\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: Speaking of Syril, that moment when he sees Andor was perfect.<\/p>\n

Everything in his life is falling apart. The woman he loved betrayed his trust. The Empire he worked for is truly evil in a way he\u2019s finally understanding. His entire life is shattering and falling apart. And right at that moment he sees the motherfucker who sort of put all of this in motion for him. And he just loses it.<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: Right, it was another example, maybe the best one yet, of something I think the show has done a remarkable job of across all three episode drops we\u2019ve gotten: taking conflicts that exist on both a personal, intimate level, and on a larger, more political level, and weaving them together such that they really build up, complement each other, and then collide in ways that have big emotional payoffs in the climax to each little mini-trilogy. The personal is political, and boy does Andor <\/em>know it.<\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: Yes! We this happen in later when Andor saves Mothma. They are both struggling with personal conflicts and that directly ties into the bigger political conflict engulfing the galaxy. Lovely stuff.<\/p>\n

But back to the chaos at Ghorman. After Syril leaves Dedra, but before spotting Andor, we see the empire shove out some young soldiers into the angry crowd as bait<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: My heart sank as that happened. What a way to depict the utter ruthlessness of the Empire, deliberately sacrificing its own greenest recruits for this false flag operation.<\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: The moment that bastard sent them out, you knew what was coming. And then the Imperial sniper aiming at not the protestors, but the guards, and starting the most brutal and hard to watch sequence in a Star Wars<\/em> show or movie.<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: Right. The show wants us to know, wants us to feel the inevitability of it all, as the Ghors stand there beautifully protesting. It really was gutting, not to mention just exceptional television.<\/p>\n

EG <\/strong>The show has been jumping around so much this season, both in time and location, it was nice to finally see all of the tension erupt in one place for a prolonged period of time. Shame on the Ghormans for using their fellow citizens as human shields though.<\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: One of the best moments in all of this, going back to Carolyn\u2019s point about the show weaving smaller and bigger conflits together, is when Syril tackles Andor and they fight for a bit.<\/p>\n

From Syril\u2019s perspective he\u2019s trying to kill the asshole who ruined his life and put him in this place. He hates Andor. But from Andor\u2019s perspective he\u2019s like \u201cWho is this random dude attacking me?\u201d<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: It\u2019s amazing! \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

ZZ<\/strong>: You can see Syril in that moment realize that Andor never cared about him. Never knew about him. Nothing. He means nothing to him. And then he gets killed. No special death. No redemption. Just an angry dude who thought he could be a good person in fascist evil empire realizing how small he was. Then death.<\/p>\n

CP<\/strong>: Everything he\u2019s poured his energy into for all these years, and for what? To be hated by those he\u2019s seemingly learned to respect, like the Ghorman leader, and to be completely unknown to the focus of his obsession. I do wonder what the ramifications of his death will be in the final run of episodes, though. I somehow suspect that we haven\u2019t seen the last of his mother.<\/p>\n

Also, speaking of all the chaos on Ghorman, one little detail that I really liked was the hotel employee uttering that famous line, \u201cRebellions are built on hope.\u201d <\/p>\n

Very often I think one of the worst tendencies of contemporary Star Wars<\/em> is its impulse to explain everything, to fill out every mysterious space in its mythos, but this little nod resonates for me. It feels authentic and human, a little way of recognizing that every individual\u2019s contribution to the struggle matters. Like, I totally believe that Cassian would remember that, and remember his interactions with the man who said it.<\/p>\n