I really didn’t like the Andor TV Show. When it was being released, I was growing more and more frustrated with each episode. I thought others in the fanbase would share my frustration but, to my surprise, the show was received with excitement and enjoyment. While I am glad that the majority of fans have something to enjoy, I am still frustrated with what this show did to this character.
Rogue One is the very first introduction of the character Andor. In this movie, we learn about his characters, his motivations, his background, and we see the amazing change that he goes through. It’s a great story of an amazing character. However, almost all that we see and learn about this character is contradicted in the show. And that is what this essay is going to explore.
Andor in Rogue One
First, let’s analyze what we learn about Andor in Rogue One. From his very first scene, what do we learn about this character?
Andor’s Introduction, Background, and Characterization
In the very first scene with Andor, we see that he’s been sent on a mission by the rebellion to gather information from one of Saw Garrera’s men. The man, Tivik, is antsy and desperate to get out of there, but Andor gets him to stay to give him the information he came for. As he tries to gather more information, two Storm Troopers head towards them and corner them. They ask them for scandocs. Andor pretends that he needs to take his gloves off to get his scan docs, but that quickly decides to draw his blaster and kill the two Troopers.
Tivik starts to panic, stating that there’s no way for him to get out of the situation, due to an injured arm. Cassian considers what to do. Tivik can’t climb up and out and there would be more Storm Troopers there to arrest them soon. Knowing that he can’t risk the Empire finding out that the Rebellion knows about the Death Star, he considers what to do with Tivik and determines that he needs to also kill him in order to protect the Rebellion. He then proceeds to escape and complete his mission to return the information to the Rebel Alliance.
From this scene, we learn that Andor:
Follows orders from the Rebel Alliance. He was sent a mission by them to get information from Saw Garrera’s men and he works hard to complete his mission
He’s good at interrogating and information gathering. Tivik was scared and anxious to leave but Andor successfully calmed him down enough to get the information from him he needed
He’s a quick thinker. He gets trapped in difficult situations and quickly weighs his options, deciding what the course of action he needs to take within seconds
He does what he believes needs to be done. He didn’t hesitate to kill Tivik, and it was clear that this wasn’t the first time he’s done something like this. He’s obviously comfortable performing dark deeds in the name of the Rebellion
He strongly believes in the Rebellion and has dedicated his life, time, talents, and intelligence to it
Throughout the rest of the movie, these aspects of his character are explored and expanded on even more. We learn more of his network of connections and contacts, his respect for the Rebellion and its leaders, his quick thinking, and his calm demeanor in stressful and dangerous situations, his devotion to the Rebellion and unwavering hope that he is fighting for what’s right. We also receive more confirmation that he’s had a dark past and has done awful, regretful things in the name of the Rebellion. From all that we learn of his background, it’s very evident that he’s dedicated his whole life to this, to fighting, spying, and intelligence gathering for the Rebellion. He’s incredibly strategic, capable, knowledgeable, and determined.
An important thing about his character is that his whole life has been dedicated to this. It’s clear that both his network of connections and his skills in interrogation and espionage are years in the making.
We also receive this quote from him that also prove that his devotion to the Rebellion has been lifelong:
“I’ve been in this fight since I was six years old!”
Of course I don’t think this means he’s been a Rebel soldier since he was six. But ever since he was six, he wanted to fight and he wanted to do something about this war. And that never changed for him. Both the text and subtext in Rogue One show that his devotion to the Rebellion had been lifelong.
Other crucial characteristics that we learn about Cassian is his calm demeanor, strategic mind, and leadership skills. We see this in the scene where Cassian, Baze, and Chirrut are put in Saw’s prison. The three are thrown in jail, and Cassian is thrown in and kicked by one of Saw’s men. However, Cassian does not let this upset him and instead stays down until the guards leave. As soon as their captors leave, Cassian starts planning his escape right away. He does not hesitate. And whenever we return to him in the cell, we see that he’s standing at the door, watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity. He’s always strategizing and planning. We also see more of his interrogation skills as he’s able to gather information from the dazed and confused Bohdi Rook.
Cassian then waits for the perfect opportunity and then breaks them out. He then retrieves Jyn and gets everyone to the ship.
From this prison scene we see that he’s resourceful, mission-focused, and a strong leader.
Another scene that I love is when they head to Eadu. When their ship crashes, he immediately exits the ship to see if it was fixable. After quickly assessing the damage, he immediately starts considering other options, such as stealing an Imperial ship. He’s truly a man of action and reacts immediately to solve problems.
Andor vs Jyn
Another important aspect of Cassian Andor’s character is that he was thematic opposite of Jyn. In Rogue One, Jyn hides her whole life from fighting in the Rebellion. She doesn't want to join the Rebellion and she does not want to join the fight. At least from when she was 16 and Saw left her, she has actively been trying to stay out of the fight and states that the Empire is not a problem if you don’t “look up”.
She and Cassian are opposites. While she has intentionally isolated herself from the fight, he has purposefully thrown himself into it. He has been fighting against the Empire and has sacrificed and devoted his whole life to the Rebellion.
Throughout the movie, these two learn to work together and learn to trust one another. And we see how they change each other for the better. Andor's character change in Rogue One is beautiful. To fully understand how his character changes, let’s turn back to Eadu.
Andor’s Character Arc
While on Eadu, we see a critical moment for Andor as it was the moment he finally disobeyed orders from the Rebellion. Up until now, we’ve seen that Cassian does whatever is necessary to complete his missions from the Rebellion. We see that he has assassinated for them and has a long history of performing these actions for the Rebellion. But he strongly believes that he is doing them for the greater good and has convinced himself that orders and missions given to him from the Rebellion are right and should be followed. Until Eadu! This is the first we see him disobey a direct order and follow what he believes is right, even if it went against Rebellion orders. We see the conflict that is in him and how difficult it was for him to purposefully defy his superiors.
This scene shows us that this Cassian does have a conscience and feels pain and possible regret for things that he’s done for the Rebellion. This is the turning point for his character. He starts to see that it is not right to blindly follow orders from the Rebellion and that he should use his own judgment and follow what HE believes is right. We see that Cassian wants to do what is right and his character is now starting to do that, after years and years and ignoring his conscience to complete all of his missions.
Well he has a dark past and has done bad things, we see that he has a desire to do good. We see that when he goes over to save Jyn after the attack on Eadu. Jyn is no longer crucial to the mission as they’ve all heard the message she relayed from her father. However, Cassian goes to save her, because he is a good man and cares about her life.
We also see that after Eadu, he’s a changed man and will now go against Rebellion orders to complete the mission to gather Death Star plans. While Jyn is conversing with the Rebel Council, Cassian is not in the room. He knows that the Council will not greenlight the mission and decides to gather up a team of his own to complete it on their own.
“But I do. I believe you. We'd like to volunteer. Some of us - well, most of us - we've all done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. Spies, saboteurs, assassins. Everything I did, I did for the Rebellion. And every time I walked away from something I wanted to forget, I told myself it was for a cause that I believed in. A cause that was worth it. Without that, we're lost. Everything we've done would have been for nothing. I can't face myself if I gave up now. None of us could.”
“I couldn’t face myself if I gave up now”. Not the kind of speech from someone that has been part of the Rebellion for a few years or so. This man has dedicated his life to this rebellion
In Rogue One, there are a few lines of dialogue that perfectly show his change of character
We receive this line from Cassian right after the events on Eadu:
“I had orders. Orders that I disobeyed. But you wouldn’t understand that.”
But after realizing that this mission needed to be completed, with or without the Rebellion, we receive this exchange between Jyn and Cassian:
Jyn: “Are you with me?” Cassian: “All the way”
We see that his alliance, while still mostly in line with the Rebellion, is now doing what he believes is right. And what he believes to be right is helping Jyn complete the mission that her father started. He is now with Jyn all the way.
I love these two characters and what they’re able to do for one another. Cassian is able to instill hope in Jyn and inspire her to join the fight against the Empire, after hiding for her whole life.
And Jyn is able to show Cassian that he can follow what he thinks is right rather than blindly following his superiors.
And, at the end, these two characters are able to work together to complete the mission, whose success leads to the destruction of the Death Star. It’s a beautiful story.
Andor in Rogue One - Recap
To recap Cassian Andor’s character in Rogue One:
Devoted to the Rebellion
Does bad things for right reasons
Feels pain and regret for the bad things he does
Eventually learns to do what he thinks is right rather than follow all orders from the Rebellion
Leader
Strategist
Man of action - does not sit around waiting, actively joins the fight
Protector
Quick thinker
Has clearly been in the fight for a very, very long time. Definitely more than just a few years
Andor in “Andor”
Now that we’ve analyzed his character in Rogue one, how does the TV series build off of this and provide more background to this character?
Unfortunately, the show doesn’t stay in line with this character’s movie representation. Rather, it blatantly contradicts it.
I loved his character and his arc in the Rogue One movie and it was just sad to see that this character and his background were drastically changed in this show. Am I really supposed to believe that the Cassian in Rogue One was a legit tourist just a few years prior?? I just can’t buy it.
The show changed the character’s background. Instead of fighting in the rebellion his whole life, spending years creating his network of contacts, gaining skills in espionage and intelligence gathering, he’s just dinking around.
It changes his characteristics. He’s no longer a man of action, a man of hope, a leader, a fighter. Instead this show presents him as bitter, opportunistic, and a tourist. A man that doesn’t want to join the fight, who wants to look down and ignore the empire.
This ruins the idea of him being the thematic opposite of Jyn. The show changed him from being the opposite of Jyn to essentially being the same. Jyn was supposed to be the one who was out of the fight, now they’re both out of the fight at this time. They’re both keeping their heads down, believing that if they keep their noses out of the Empire’s business they don’t have to deal with the harsh reality that they live in.
The Andor show just messed up so much that was created in Rogue One. His character’s background, attributes, and theme, are all contradicted and ruined.
There are a few specific scenes from Rogue One that are directly contradicted in Andor that I feel like are the most obvious evidence to my case.
In Rogue One, when in Saw’s prison, he states that it was the first time he’s been imprisoned. So obviously the Andor TV series added a major prison break storyline.
In Rogue One, he says to Jyn: “I’ve been in this fight since I was 6 years old…You’re not the only one that lost everything, some of us just decided to do something about it.”
And in Andor, we see that instead of fighting and *doing something about it”, he just wants to be a tourist.
So what does this do to his character in Rogue One now? Does this make Cassian a pathological liar or just incredibly forgetful? How do you forget that you’ve actually been captured and put in prison before??
I really hated what they did to his character. It did not match what we had in Rogue One, and I really liked what we had in Rogue One. If it had been a new character rather than Andor, I don’t think I’d mind this show at all. But it was supposed to be Cassian Andor. And this show’s Andor and Rogue One’s Andor are just completely opposite.