Excellent Star Wars Series Andor reached episode 8 on Disney+ Wednesdayand we catch up with the mercenary Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) following his sentence to six years in prison after an altercation with the wrong imperial soldier. It turns out that there is simply no escaping this terrible totalitarian regime.

On the galactic capital Coruscant, the rebel true believer Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) was tasked with killing Cassian so he couldn’t turn on the recruiter Luther Rael (Stellan Skarsgard). Vel doesn’t seem crazy about her mission, especially since Cassian played a vital role in her mission to steal millions of credits from the Empire.

It also seems to run counter to the philosophy of Luthen’s fellow rebel leader, Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), who isn’t mad at his willingness to shed innocent blood in their dark war against the Empire.

This episode was directed by Toby Hayneswho also directed episodes 1, 2 and 3, as well as 8, 9 and 10. He previously worked on Sherlock, Doctor Who and Black Mirror.

Andor comes five years before A thugwhich reveals the story just before the original Star Wars movie A new hope. Let’s see how life in prison treats Cassian, discovering all these delicious episode 8 SPOILERS.

Bright white hell

NARKINA 5 – Shipped to an ocean prison complex that looks a bit like the Raft in MarvelCassian continues to use the pseudonym Keef Girgo as he adjusts to life within its pristine white walls.

Guards have insulated boots while prisoners are forced to walk around barefoot, shocked if they don’t follow the rules or meet their production line goals (crafting ship parts, perhaps?). There are three possible levels of shock; we only see level one and it looks like agony.

The director of Cassian’s prison unit is Kino Loy (Andy Serkis in his second Star Wars role, after playing Supreme Chief Snoke in the sequel trilogy), who is quite mean and desperate to meet the Empire’s harsh quotas as he nears the end of his sentence.

You might also recognize one of Cassian’s dining companions — Ruescott Melshi (Duncan Pow) is part of the Rebel team that steals the Death Star blueprints in Rogue One. He has facial hair in this film and seems quite close to Cassian.

Cassian and Melshi will presumably escape this horrible prison together, but Melshi seems to have lost hope when they meet here – partly due to the bad new legislation of the Empire crack down on anything even slightly rebellious.

“Anyone who thinks they’re out of here now is dreaming,” he warns Cassian. “Those days are over.”

Solid first day really.

The extremist rebel

SEGRA MILO – As he tries to bring together disparate rebel groups, Luthen travels to this remote system to meet Saw Gerrera (Whitaker Forest), a character already seen in The Clone Wars, rebels, The bad lot and Rogue One.

He is the impressive but dangerous leader of the brutal anti-Imperial group known as the Partisans, and his violent methods put him at odds with the other rebels. Despite this, he maintains a good relationship with Luthen and the couple accuse each other of being responsible for Alhani’s robbery (Luthen never admits this directly).

He offers Saw a bunch of gear if he works with another rebel group, but the partisan boss isn’t interested – he’s eager to label all the other factions according to their different philosophies:

• Separatist.
• Neo-Republican (this seems closest to Mon Mothma’s approach).
• The Ghorman front.
• The partisan alliance.
• Sectorists.
• Human Cultists (I would watch a Disney Plus show on this intense sounding band).
• The Galaxy Partitionists.

In an engaging, landscape-chewing moment, Saw calls them all “lost” and asks Luthen where he stands.

“I’m a coward. I’m a man terrified of the Empire’s power growing beyond the point where we can do anything to stop it,” he says. “I’m the one who says, ‘We’ll die with nothing if we don’t put aside our little differences.'”

He wants the rebels to come together and pretty much dismisses Saw’s approach as the path to anarchy. It momentarily looks like the unstable Saw is going to assassinate Luthen on the spot, but he laughs and sends the recruiter on his way. Nice try, Luther.

Saw is also the adoptive father of Jyn Erso, Rogue One hero and future Cassian ally, but she and Saw separated themselves at this point in the timeline.

Now Playing:
Look at this:

Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser: What it really looks like…

29:28

In addition to Saw, we spot Benthic “Two Tubes”, a Tognath mercenary with a distinctive breathing apparatus. He was seen among the Enfys Nest Cloud-Riders in Solo (set five years before this show) and is among Saw’s allies in Rogue One. He leads the followers after Saw’s death in this film and meets Luke Skywalker and his friends in Marvel’s Star Wars comic series.

Imperial encounter

CORUSCANT — Imperial Security Office Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), newly empowered to investigate coordinated rebel activity, is determined to find Cassian and use him to reach Luther. They don’t have the identity of the recruiter but understood elements of his role and gave him the funky codename “Axis”.

Too bad they don’t understand that Cassian is already in Imperial custody.

She also tracks down disgraced ex-security guard Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), who continues to harbor a grudge against our hero. He’s been in his super lackluster new job at the Bureau of Standards for “less than a month” but has filed numerous false reports in his own Cassian hunt.

Syril says he remembers Luthen’s voice and suggests he can be an asset to the Empire, but Dedra has none of his nonsense and sends him on his way. Nice try, Syril.

The search expands

FERRIX – Unbeknownst to the imprisoned Cassian, his adoptive mother, Maarva (Fiona Shaw), is cold and sick, in part due to his futile attempts at rebellion against the occupying Imperial force.

This raises the concern of friend/former flame Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), who contacts Luther to seek out Cassian (the increasingly cautious rebel decides not to answer). Unfortunately, Dedra has been given the green light to monitor Ferrix’s communications and is directly drawn to Bix.

She’s eventually captured (the guy who shouts “GET HER” really does go for it, kudos to him) and dragged into the Imperial base for questioning (there’s a machine that looks suspiciously like a Imperial Torture Droid in the room). It’s a dangerous moment, because Bix can at least reveal what Luthen looks like. Between that and Syril knowing his voice, it feels like the Empire is focused on him.

from Cassian old heist buddies Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) are also on the planet, having been tasked with killing him to protect Luthen’s identity. The townspeople have no idea where he’s gone, and Vel ends up leaving while Cinta is left alone to wait for him.

Rogue Thoughts, Unanswered Questions, and Easter Eggs

• The prison is aesthetically similar to the dystopian future world seen in THX-1138the 1971 film debut from Star Wars creator George Lucas.
• The name “Keef Girgo” sounds suspiciously like Greif Kargaa character you might remember from The Mandalorian.
• There’s no evidence for this beyond the actor, but Andy Serkis playing Kino and Snoke could imply a connection between the two. If Kino had some Force sensitivity and the Empire had taken his DNA while he was in prison, he might have ended up in Palpatine’s genetic soup. used to create Snoke.
• I would spend all day looking out the window of Mon Mothma’s apartment, it’s a pretty sight.
• Mon Mothma’s obnoxious husband Perrin was the “academy ember” as a teenager, suggesting he had rebellious tendencies. It seems that a comfortable life in the Empire dulled them.
• He and Mon were married at 15, she became a senator at 16, according to the customs of their homeworld, Chandrila. It’s quite intense.
• Looks like Vel is “a rich girl running away from her family”. Hopefully we will find out more about his past.
• Andor isn’t the only Star Wars show to air on Disney Plus on Wednesday – Tales of the Jedi CGI Animation Short Series also landed on the streaming service.

Check back for more Easter eggs and sightings next Wednesday, November 2when Andor Episode 9 hits Disney Plus.