Entertainment
Andor episode 12 finale review: Sensational Star Wars saga ends with an electrifying battle cry of hope-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
This masterclass in storytelling has moved us to tears.
Diego Luna couldn’t have made a stronger return as Cassian (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Warning: spoilers ahead for the Andor episode 12 finale.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Andor has been nothing short of a marvel.
Ever since the Star Wars series was first announced, when it was confirmed that Diego Luna would be returning to the role of Cassian Andor after the 2016 film Rogue One sealed his fate, fans have had extremely high hopes for the drama.
For the past 12 episodes, Andor has gone above and beyond every single expectation, delivering not only one of the best productions in the franchise – filled with tension, clever calculation, political intrigue, fascinating subtext and sob-worthy moments – but also one of the best TV series of the year. Hands down.
The season finale delivered a fitting end for what’s been a truly sensational journey, one that will stay with us for a very long time as we endure the long wait for season two, which may not come until at least 2024.
However, considering we know at this point that the second season will be the last, following Cassian’s story right up until the beginning of Rogue One, we’re happy to wait and savour every moment of this glorious adventure while we can.
Vel (Faye Marsay) is back on Ferrix to carry out her mission to kill Cassian (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Fiona Shaw was definitely one of the standout stars of the finale, adding to Andor’s already packed roster of phenomenally moving monologues as her character, Maarva Andor, speaks to the people of Ferrix from beyond the grave.
Cassian makes the risky and predictable move to return to town for Maarva’s funeral, where several different people are out for his blood – including ISB supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) and Vel (Faye Marsay).
Shots are fired, lives are taken, groundbreaking moves are made… and we’re couldn’t be happier that a show like Andor has been made in the Star Wars universe telling the tale of the people on the ground of the Rebellion, the names that may be forgotten to history but that played just as an important role in bringing down the Empire.
People of Ferrix prepare for Maarva’s funeral
The entire community of Ferrix come together to hear Maarva’s final rousing words (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Even though her health had been faltering for quite some time, Maarva’s death has hit the town of Ferrix hard.
The ISB (Imperial Security Bureau) decides to give the community leave to arrange a funeral procession, given the irreplaceable role Maarva played among them, but little do they know the civilians of Ferrix have bigger plans up their sleeves.
Following Cassian’s sneaky return to town, his friend Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) meets him secretly, telling him the words from Maarva that he needed to hear, including the heartening phrase: ‘Tell him I love him more than anything he could ever do wrong.’
The people of Ferrix, dressed in the colours of bricks, begin their march, but it feels from the start that something volatile is brewing within their ranks, with Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), the son of the late Salman Paak (Abhin Galeya), having created an explosive device especially for the occasion.
Mon Mothma plants seeds to cover up money trail
Mon Mothma might have hidden her money troubles for a short while, but she also has the issue at hand of her teenage daughter’s potential future betrothal (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd)
Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) might be in financial trouble given all of the money she’s been injecting into the Rebellion, but she appears to have a clever plan up her sleeve.
The Senator is fully aware that she’s being watched, including by her driver, and is also aware that her money situation is under the harsh spotlight of the Empire.
So, while riding in her car with her husband Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie), she angrily accuses him of gambling, with their heated argument being fed back to the Empire by her driver, in what we would assume to be a predictable move.
The Imperial officer receiving the news from the driver remarks that Mon Mothma has made ‘some interesting banking moves’ as of late, and ‘this would certainly explain it’ as it ‘sounds like Perrin has done this before’… so it looks like if this was indeed Mon Mothma’s plan to divert attention away from herself, she may have just succeeded (for now).
Cassian is back in town and has a target on his back
Dedra Meero has her eyes and ears peeled for any sniff of Cassian (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd)
Everyone who was predicting Cassian would return to town for his mother’s funeral was absolutely on the money – but that obviously wasn’t going to stop him from coming back anyway.
However, he has to tread carefully, as people on both sides of the war want his head – Luthen, so that the Rebel Alliance can ensure Cassian’s silence after his involvement in the Adlhani heist, and Dedra Meero, so that Cassian can be brought to justice (in the eyes of the Empire) for his crimes.
A man who Cassian previously owed money to sells him out to an ISB officer, having heard whispers that he was back in Ferrix to honour his late mother Maarva.
Nonetheless, Cassian manages to slip through the fingers of all the people who are after him to rescue Bix (Adria Arjona) from the hotel where she’s been kept captive as a prisoner and tortured in one of the cruellest ways imaginable.
Funeral procession becomes call to war from Maarva herself
Ferrix goes completely silent to hear what Maarva has to say (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Andor has not been short of powerful speeches that will remain in our psyches for months to come, having left us crying hysterically in episode 10 thanks to Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) bolstering the prisoners to escape Narkina 5, before Luthen’s declaration about everything he’s sacrificed in his life in the name of the Rebellion.
As part of Maarva’s funeral, her adorable and loyal droid B2EMO wheels itself to the centre of the square, playing a hologram message from her directed at the people of Ferrix.
‘I’m honoured to stand before you. I’m honoured to be a daughter of Ferrix. I’m honoured to be worthy of the stone,’ she says, referencing the tradition of the people of Ferrix for the ashes of a person who’s died to be placed into a brick.
Having recalled what it was like as a child to attend her first funeral in Ferrix, Maarva continues: ‘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.’
‘If I could do it again, I’d wake up early, and be fighting,’ she tells her community (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
However, Maarva ‘fears’ for the people of Ferrix, telling them in a clear message about the threat of the Empire: ‘We’ve been sleeping.’
‘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 centre 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 also hearing her message begin to catch wind of what she’s really 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.’
At Maarva’s rousing words, the big fight begins, with Brasso using Maarva’s brick to beat Imperial officers down, and Wilmon throwing his handmade explosive in the enemy’s direction, which subsequently sets off a crate of grenades.
There are fatalities, but the people of Ferrix are sleeping no longer.
Syril steps in to save Dedra’s life at any cost
Syril’s obsession knows no bounds (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Ever since Syril was interrogated by Dedra over Cassian’s escape, he’s had what can only be described as an unhealthy obsession with his superior.
After Syril sneaks back onto Ferrix with his former Pre-Mor colleague Sergeant Linus Mos (Alex Ferns), he spots that Dedra is also here, and so is on hand to help when – in the commotion of the riot – Dedra is knocked down and unable to grab hold of her blaster while being dragged to the ground by demonstrators.
Syril manages to get hold of her, pretending to also be one of the rioters by telling her to walk while pointing a blaster into her back, before revealing when they’re alone that he’s actually saved her life.
We can already hear the Imperial March playing at their wedding.
Cassian’s friends escape – but he has other plans with Luthen
Luthen’s smile in Cassian’s direction tells us that he’s going to make a U-turn on his murder plans (Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Amid the chaos of the brawl that broke out after Maarva’s call to arms, some of Cassian’s closest allies managed to escape.
Brasso manages to reach a ship with one of the Daughters of Ferrix and Wilmon, before Cassian reaches them with a severely weakened Bix by his side.
However, Cassian reveals he won’t be going with them as they flee Ferrix, as he has another job to do.
When Luthen speeds away from Ferrix back to his ship, he discovers that Cassian – who he’s been hunting – is already there waiting for him.
Cassian hands his blaster over to Luthen with a choice: ‘Kill me. Or take me in.’
Luthen looks back at Cassian with a wry smile, implying that this is the beginning of Cassian’s official involvement as a member of the Rebel Alliance.
Is there a post-credits scene?
The post-credits scene for the Andor episode 12 finale appears to confirm what many fans suspected all along – that Cassian and his fellow inmates at Narkina 5 were building parts for the Death Star.
The scene is short, but impactful enough, showing that the weapon capable of destroying entire planets doesn’t have long to go until it will be completed.
As dedicated Star Wars fans will know, Rogue One centres around the mission to steal the Death Star plans, with the planet destroyer shown being put into action in the movie by Darth Vader.
The concluding visual of the Death Star in Andor also seems to confirm how it inspired the logo of the show. All the puzzle pieces are coming together!
Verdict on Andor season finale
This episode, and this entire season, has filled us with joy and heartbreak in equal measure.
It’s the mark of a beautifully-told story that we can already know where it’s going to lead – with Cassian’s eventual death in Rogue One – and yet we’re still on the edge of our seats desperate to know what events in his life will lead him to that point, rooting for him every step of the way.
There were some fans who complained that Andor was a slow burn at first (not us), but as the show has proven over the course of its 12-episode arc, it was anything but.
Instead, it was a carefully thought out, structured tale, paced to perfection to allow the big payoffs to feel even more satisfying and emboldening.
The supporting cast have delivered performances that should be hailed in their own right, including the likes of Stellan, Andy, Fiona and Adria, who made audiences feel just as connected to their newly-introduced characters as we already did to Cassian.
Andor is a true masterclass in storytelling from start to finish and provides even more proof (as if we needed it) that the 45-year-old Star Wars franchise is still deserving of universal reverence and acclaim.
Andor is available to watch on Disney Plus.
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MORE : Has Andor been renewed for season 2?
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