Andor finale review: Star Wars story finishes with a battle cry of hope

We can say with utmost certainty that Andor has been nothing but a wonder for Star Wars fans throughout its runtime on Disney Plus.

Fans’ expectations for the drama have been sky-high since Disney Plus’s Star Wars series was announced. The announcement especially fueled the enthusiasm that Diego Luna would reprise his role as Cassian Andor following the conclusion of his story in the 2016 film Rogue One.

Andor has exceeded all expectations over the previous 12 episodes. It was not just one of the franchise’s best productions but also one of the year’s best series. The show was a complete package with tension, shrewd calculation, political intrigue, fascinating subtext, and sob-worthy moments. No contest.

The season finale was a suitable conclusion to a truly fantastic voyage that will remain with us for a long time as we wait for the second season. The second season, however, might not arrive until at least 2024.

We are pleased to wait and enjoy every bit of this magnificent experience while we can. The anticipation will be worth it because we know that season 2 will be the final one and will continue Cassian’s story until the commencement of Rogue One.

Andor’s already stacked roster of incredibly emotional monologues is bolstered by Fiona Shaw’s performance as Maarva Andor, speaking to the people of Ferrix from beyond the dead.

At Maarva’s burial, Cassian makes the perilous but inevitable decision to return to town. At the same time, the town has numerous people who are out for his blood, including Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), ISB supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), Vel (Faye Marsay), and Luthen (Stellan Skarsg ård).

Death and destruction ensue, and historical progress is accomplished… And we couldn’t be more pleased that a show like Andor exists in the Star Wars canon. It tells the story of the common people who made up the Rebellion on the ground. Their names may be lost to history, but their contributions were no less vital to the eventual defeat of the Empire.

Ferrix residents get ready for Maarva’s burial.

Maarva’s death devastated the people of Ferrix, even though her condition had been declining for some time.

Given Maarva’s indispensable role in the town, the ISB (Imperial Security Bureau) grants permission for a funeral procession. But the citizens of Ferrix have other preparations in mind.

When Cassian sneaks back into town, his friend Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) is there to give him the words of encouragement he so desperately wanted to hear from Maarva, including the encouraging line, “Tell him I love him more than anything he could ever do wrong.”

Ferrix’s citizens, in brick-themed attire, start their march. However, tensions rise quickly once it becomes clear that Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), the late Salman Paak’s (Abhin Galeya) son, has built an explosive for the event.

Mon Mothma sows the seeds to cover the money trail

Though Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) may be in hot water financially due to her generous funding of the Rebellion, she seems to have a cunning strategy ready to implement.

The Senator knows that she and her finances are under close scrutiny from the Imperial government, even through her driver.

Predictably, she accuses her husband, Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie), of gambling while they are in the car, and their fight is relayed to the Empire.

The Imperial officer who overheard the driver’s report remarked that Mon Mothma has recently made “interesting banking moves” and that “this would surely explain it” because “it seems like Perrin has attempted this before.” Accordingly, if this was all part of Mon Mothma’s ploy to deflect criticism from herself, she could have simply pulled it off temporarily.

Cassian is back in town and is a prime target.

Even though everyone’s predictions that Cassian would come back to town for his mother’s burial were spot-on, he still didn’t bother to show up there.

Cassian must move cautiously, as people on both sides of the conflict want to see him dead. For instance, Luthen wants him dead so the Rebel Alliance can guarantee Cassian’s silence after his engagement in the Adlhani heist. Dedra Meero also wants Cassian to be brought to justice for his crimes (in the eyes of the Empire).

After hearing rumors that Cassian had returned to Ferrix to pay respects to his late mother Maarva, a guy to whom he owed money betrayed him to an ISB officer.

Even so, Cassian avoids capture by his pursuers long enough to get to the hotel where Bix (Adria Arjona) is being held as a captive and tortured in the cruelest way imaginable.

Maarva uses her own funeral as a call to war.

Andor has had its fair share of moving speeches, many of which will stay with us for weeks, months, or even years. Episode 10’s Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) speech encouraging the captives to leave Narkina 5 had us in tears. That was before Luthen’s proclamation about everything he’s sacrificed in his life for the name of the Rebellion.

B2EMO, Maarva’s faithful and endearing droid, rolls itself to the center of the square and plays a hologram message from Maarva to the citizens of Ferrix as part of the burial ceremony.

‘I’m honored to stand before you. I’m honored to be a daughter of Ferrix. I’m honored to be worthy of the stone,’ she remarked, alluding to the Ferrixan custom of encasing a deceased person’s ashes in a brick.

‘Where you stand now, I’ve been more times than I can remember. I always wanted to be lifted. I was always eager, always waiting to be inspired. I remember every time it happened, every time the dead lifted me with their truth. And now I’m dead. And I yearn to lift you.

Not because I want to shine or even be remembered. It’s because I want you to go on. I want Ferrix to continue. In my waning hours, that’s what comforts me most.’

The message Maarva sent to the Ferrix people, warning them of the impending danger posed by the Empire, was certainly provocative. She said:

‘But we were sleeping. I’ve been sleeping. I’ve been turning away from a truth I wanted not to face. There is a wound that won’t heal at the center of the galaxy. There is a darkness reaching like rust into everything around us. We let it grow, and now it’s here. It’s here, and it’s not visiting anymore. It wants to stay,’ she states before the Imperial officers hear her message and begin to catch wind of what she’s saying.

‘The Empire is a disease that thrives in darkness. It is never more alive than when we sleep. It’s easy for the dead to tell you to fight, and maybe it’s true. Maybe fighting’s useless. Perhaps it’s too late. But I’ll tell you this – if I could do it again, I’d wake up early and be fighting. From the start. Fight the Empire.’

Brasso uses Maarva’s brick to knock out Imperial officials, and Wilmon throws his homemade explosive in the direction of the enemy, setting off a crate of grenades, all in response to Maarva’s stirring comments.

Deaths have occurred, but the citizens of Ferrix are no longer dozing off.

Syril intervenes to stop the slaughter and save Dedra.

Syril’s pathological fixation on his superior began after Dedra questioned him about Cassian’s escape.

Syril recognizes Dedra as being on Ferrix after sneaking back with his former Pre-Mor comrade Sergeant Linus Mos (Alex Ferns). He was there to assist her when she couldn’t get hold of her blaster as the demonstrators dragged her to the ground.

Syril grabs her and pretends to be a rioter, putting a blaster on her back and forcing her to move before explaining to her privately that he has saved her life.

We can practically hear the Imperial March playing in their wedding ceremony.