Andor: Star Wars from Below

Andor isn't just the best Star Wars has been in decades. It's also a show which fundamentally reinvents the way Star Wars understands history.

P.S. I know a few viewers may object to the way this Andor analysis spends so much time talking about the larger franchise, and how it's affected by this new show - but I think it's clear that one major concern of this new show is a re-evaluation of the wider saga's values and perspectives. This video is my attempt to analyse this concern.

#andor #starwars #disneyplus

Timestamps:
0:00 1977, A New Hope, and great men
4:18 Aristocracy, determinism, and the continuing saga
7:29 Historiographies
9:23 Andor is Star Wars from below
14:50 Homeric double motivation and reconciling the divide
18:59 2022

Andor, also known as Star Wars: Andor, is an American science-fiction action-adventure television series created by Tony Gilroy for the streaming service Disney+. It is the fourth live-action series in the Star Wars franchise, as well as a prequel to both the spin-off film Rogue One (2016) and the original Star Wars film (1977). The series follows thief-turned-Rebel spy Cassian Andor during the five years that lead to the events of the two films.
Star Wars’ Andor tells the story of Rebel spy Cassian Andor's formative years of the Rebellion and his difficult missions for the cause.

[PillarofGarbage]

Hey - to all new viewers, here's another (even better?) Andor video essay!

[Galactic]

We as a fanbase don't deserve Andor. I can't believe a show of this quality is the lowest-viewed SW show.

[athenabrown]

Honestly, one thing with Rogue One that sticks with me wrt these topics is the way that the final hallway scene plays out. Darth Vader is thwarted not by any grand enemy space wizard, but by an entire two hallways of nameless rebels fighting their hardest. They died, but the Rebellion won, and Vader ultimately lost.

[NecroMoz]

Star Wars for 45 years: "Do or do not, there is no try"

Andor: "There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction.

Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this.

The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that and know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many.

One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.”

[lex_rodriguez]

I love how this show has inspired video essays surrounded by deep thought, as opposed to hundred of eastern egg videos. Amazing job on this!

[doublethick]

With this video I've now watched more video essay content about andor than there is runtime in the show. This show is fucking amazing

[slavsquatsuperstar]

Andor is the manifestation of “every minor character has a backstory in Star Wars”

[sophieamandaleitontoomey]

Andor feels like a breath of fresh air from everything that has been wrong with the sequels, Obi Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett.

It's not cluttered by nostalgia bait or cameos. It takes the time to let you get to know the new characters and love them. It's not rushed at any place. It never loses its focus. The characters actually speak with well written dialogue. It feels real and authentic.

I never thought that Andor would be the Star Wars show I've always wanted but here I am. Fucking loving it.

[silversamantha]

That reading from Nemik's journal hit me hard too. One of three speeches in that episode that really encapsulated the series for me (the other two: Maarva's message to Ferrix and Luthen's answer to the question "What have you sacrificed?")

It's been a while since I read Homer. I remember my impression being that those stories & the way they were told allowed for human agency, but only within very narrow margin of choice afforded them by gods and/or fate. I think this is reflected in Andor, in that there are huge forces at work (pun intended I guess) and this narrows the choices available. At the end of the day, there's just One way out, Fight these bastards, Resist in any way you can no matter how small... or don't, and be complicit. And it turns out that the margin of choice - even if it's binary - is actually very wide.

edit: (Probably fair to include Kino's "One Way Out" too)

[joshuadempsey]

The last line (the last word) of the manifesto is so powerful and important too: “Try”. I never really cared for Yoda’s advice to Luke, how there is “no try”, only “do or do not”. It really discredits when people try but fail; by Yoda’s logic they just “didn’t do it”. But trying is SO important. When you try, others notice, and they try as well, even if you personally fail. And sometimes all we can do is try; even when it’s hopeless, even when we know we can’t succeed! Trying weakens the strength of our oppressors, it gives them fear and pause, it gives them doubt. And trying bolsters our friends, gives them hope, and gives them courage. Just trying can be that first ripple in a huge wave. Even outside of a galactic rebellion, trying is what matters most.

[birdosrus]

i think its important to mention that in universe the rebel alliance was basically subscribing to the great man theory by completely burying rogue 1 and its accomplishments because it both made them look bad and weak. Luke only learned about rogue one from saws partisans and when he found out about them he named rogue squadron after them

[scarletspider]

this is easily my favorite star wars show

[cloudwhich]

Literally the best Star Wars show by FAR. The snippet we get from Nemik's manifesto was absolutely brilliant. Hearing it for the first time and even now has me in tears. Such raw, such smart, such powerful words that seem to sum up what the rebellion is truly made of and how it will inevitably come to fruition. That plus Luthen's speech about how he gave everything for the rebellion are my favorite bits of the whole series.

[BRONZALiVE]

I love mando, but it’s first season when it was souly in its own side of the SW galaxy, no familiarity, s2 came and of course I still adore it, but it slowly relied on the familiar for easy views, andor finally has the guts to build its own reputation and world of characters, a project that feels like tv and stands on its own, I want more of this, the Skywalkers are 1-6 and the clone wars let’s get more like andor and have projects that truly feel they can do fine without cameos every week

[Superblbby]

Honestly, Andor feels like the most real to me. I love that the show just never came back to Andor looking for his sister. Like sometimes life just never answers those questions.

[tengrisyesugei]

In Kights of the Old Republic Jolee Bindo tells the story of a different Andor. Andor Vex was a proponent of great man theory, the force swirreled around him like a hurricane.

On one particular mission he stood up to a warlord named Kraat. Thinking that he was a chosen one type he was arrogant to Kraat who promptly crushed his neck and threw him down a reactor.

Now for some reason that could be constituted as the will of the force, Andor's body did not agree with the reactor and Kraat along his ship and the destruction had rippling effects in galactic politics for hundreds of years.

[TheFreakDownStreet]

As one of the heretics that got into Star Wars primarily through a bunch of EU books and games, I think reading the force as a nebulous, semi divine consciousness that is both its own independent agent and the universe as a whole makes things easier.
Well, maybe not easier, but at least more liberating. I think the comparison to Homer is great in that regard. Star wars is now so old, with so many additions, trying to see it through one particular light is honestly frustrating.

[chillaholic_]

I can’t remember who said it first, but I recall an observation that the presence of the force is felt in Andor’s arc; in the sense that throughout the show, no matter how much he runs from it, fate constantly thrusts him into antagonism with the Empire- because fighting the Empire is his destiny.

[MasterGhostf]

I love Andor because it shows how revolutions and change actually comes from. When we hear of heroes in stories, they are greater than life. We can't imagine anyone being like them because no one can be. Andor humanizes heroes.

[multipass]

From below indeed: the very first shot of ANDOR is from the ground up.
Not only did it visually give us that grounded feeling but your analysis solidifies their artistic choices.
Excellent video. Thank-you.