Great reflection on this show! (I'm still only halfway through watching the second season, which is a bit too heavy for me to binge the three eps in one week they gave us)
I've been thinking about how every Star Wars addition after the first trilogy just makes things bigger and more complicated and extra. So the return to the bare bones, the street-level grit and fighting and engine grease, that Andor gives us feels more like actual Star Wars than other recent stuff has--although actually it might be an overcorrection.
Another point: A recent ep of the @MythicMind podcast described the good and evil of Narnia and Middle-earth and Star Wars' Galaxy as being black and white, even though the characters might make morally gray choices. I think this is a really good way to think about it, and a good way to watch Andor.
Great, thoughtful take on Andor! Good points here.
"And then there’s the absence of the Jedi. Not a single one appears. Not even a whisper. And yet their absence is deafening. Watching the events of Ferrix, Ghorman, and Narkina 5 unfold without them, we begin to feel what their presence used to mean. Had the Jedi Order still been intact, these atrocities wouldn’t have happened, at least, not unchecked. By removing the Jedi, Andor reminds us of their significance. It doesn’t diminish their myth; it restores it. In a strange way, the series deepens our understanding of Luke Skywalker. When he’s called “A New Hope,” Andor makes us feel why that hope was so desperately needed."
So the removal shows the need for it? Okay, I can go along with that. I prefer that take to the concept of 'the removal shows how much we don't need it' which I've seen on from other articles. The emptiness is definitely shown.
"Andor shows us a galaxy where magic is gone, where hope is flickering, and where ordinary people have to rise up; not because they’re chosen, but because they’re desperate. That’s what makes it so powerful. It strips Star Wars down to its rawest elements: fear, sacrifice, rebellion. And in doing so, it gives us something new, without ever betraying what came before."
I would add that the raw elements of Star Wars also include the Force and hope. Two things which Andor Season 2 lacks until the very end. I do appreciate that it does finally get to the common element of humanity that it missed earlier: no atheists in foxholes. Because sacrifice and rebellion have to come from somewhere.
"No Jedi. No lightsabers. No Chosen One. And yet, Andor might be the most hopeful Star Wars story yet, because it shows us that even without magic, even without destiny, people can still fight. And sometimes, that’s enough."
I would say the very, very ending of Andor teases slight Chosen One-ness to Cassian Andor himself, a slight bit of destiny and purpose, and I'm okay with that. I think it might be a bit too little, too late for my personal tastes, but it is there. Because while I believe people can fight without magic or destiny, I do believe that people need to believe in something larger to sustain themselves in a rebellion if that rebellion is to have any kind of good ending. Otherwise you just get the hodge-podge rebels Andor: Season 2, Episode 1. But that's probably my theism showing. ;-)
We could spend a week dissecting this show and still raise a dozen other points. I think you have some good thoughts… I’ve seen several arise that likewise showed that the show proved they didn’t need the Jedi. I don’t like that, because they really do. I don’t know the intention of the filmmakers and writers, but from my perspective the absence of the Jedi, the light, proves how much and how desperate they are. The Jedi had flaws, sure, but what they stood for was desperately needed. And I think their absence is why the rebellion was so morally gray. Cassian, is sort of the chosen one, I do agree. I hadn’t thought of that
"I don’t know the intention of the filmmakers and writers, but from my perspective the absence of the Jedi, the light, proves how much and how desperate they are. The Jedi had flaws, sure, but what they stood for was desperately needed. And I think their absence is why the rebellion was so morally gray."
Great reflection on this show! (I'm still only halfway through watching the second season, which is a bit too heavy for me to binge the three eps in one week they gave us)
I've been thinking about how every Star Wars addition after the first trilogy just makes things bigger and more complicated and extra. So the return to the bare bones, the street-level grit and fighting and engine grease, that Andor gives us feels more like actual Star Wars than other recent stuff has--although actually it might be an overcorrection.
Another point: A recent ep of the @MythicMind podcast described the good and evil of Narnia and Middle-earth and Star Wars' Galaxy as being black and white, even though the characters might make morally gray choices. I think this is a really good way to think about it, and a good way to watch Andor.
Great, thoughtful take on Andor! Good points here.
"And then there’s the absence of the Jedi. Not a single one appears. Not even a whisper. And yet their absence is deafening. Watching the events of Ferrix, Ghorman, and Narkina 5 unfold without them, we begin to feel what their presence used to mean. Had the Jedi Order still been intact, these atrocities wouldn’t have happened, at least, not unchecked. By removing the Jedi, Andor reminds us of their significance. It doesn’t diminish their myth; it restores it. In a strange way, the series deepens our understanding of Luke Skywalker. When he’s called “A New Hope,” Andor makes us feel why that hope was so desperately needed."
So the removal shows the need for it? Okay, I can go along with that. I prefer that take to the concept of 'the removal shows how much we don't need it' which I've seen on from other articles. The emptiness is definitely shown.
"Andor shows us a galaxy where magic is gone, where hope is flickering, and where ordinary people have to rise up; not because they’re chosen, but because they’re desperate. That’s what makes it so powerful. It strips Star Wars down to its rawest elements: fear, sacrifice, rebellion. And in doing so, it gives us something new, without ever betraying what came before."
I would add that the raw elements of Star Wars also include the Force and hope. Two things which Andor Season 2 lacks until the very end. I do appreciate that it does finally get to the common element of humanity that it missed earlier: no atheists in foxholes. Because sacrifice and rebellion have to come from somewhere.
"No Jedi. No lightsabers. No Chosen One. And yet, Andor might be the most hopeful Star Wars story yet, because it shows us that even without magic, even without destiny, people can still fight. And sometimes, that’s enough."
I would say the very, very ending of Andor teases slight Chosen One-ness to Cassian Andor himself, a slight bit of destiny and purpose, and I'm okay with that. I think it might be a bit too little, too late for my personal tastes, but it is there. Because while I believe people can fight without magic or destiny, I do believe that people need to believe in something larger to sustain themselves in a rebellion if that rebellion is to have any kind of good ending. Otherwise you just get the hodge-podge rebels Andor: Season 2, Episode 1. But that's probably my theism showing. ;-)
We could spend a week dissecting this show and still raise a dozen other points. I think you have some good thoughts… I’ve seen several arise that likewise showed that the show proved they didn’t need the Jedi. I don’t like that, because they really do. I don’t know the intention of the filmmakers and writers, but from my perspective the absence of the Jedi, the light, proves how much and how desperate they are. The Jedi had flaws, sure, but what they stood for was desperately needed. And I think their absence is why the rebellion was so morally gray. Cassian, is sort of the chosen one, I do agree. I hadn’t thought of that
"I don’t know the intention of the filmmakers and writers, but from my perspective the absence of the Jedi, the light, proves how much and how desperate they are. The Jedi had flaws, sure, but what they stood for was desperately needed. And I think their absence is why the rebellion was so morally gray."
Good point here! Thanks for sharing.