Unidentified massacre (Luthen Rael)

A massacre occurred on a planet around 18 BBY when the Galactic Empire deployed multiple squads, including of swamp troopers, to ravage the world. During the violence, the Imperial sergeant Lear would decide to put down his weapon and stop his service to the regime, leaving behind the Empire and rescuing a young girl from the massacre. Lear would take on the name Luthen Rael and raise the girl, who came to be known as Kleya Marki. Together, the two would oppose Imperial rule as revolutionaries.

The massacre

Around 18 BBY,^[2] the citizens of several settlements on a planet were subjected to a slaughter at the hands of the Galactic Empire. Imperial swamp troopers were deployed to the world with orders to kill anything that moved. They attacked the planet's buildings, cabins, and basements. Squads of Imperial soldiers used radios to coordinate their movements, creating crossfires and pursuing any of those who fled. Loud explosions and blasterfire echoed throughout the streets. One basement cleared by Imperial soldiers had over fifty individuals inside.^[1]

During the massacre, Sergeant Lear had a crisis of conscience and chose to return to a starship, where he switched off his radio and setting down his blaster. Traumatized, Lear begged for the violence to stop as he drank from a flask. When Private Moros entered, they asked what Lear was doing, who replied that he had been reloading. The comrade told him about the basement they had finished sweeping before asking if Lear had any burners left, wanting to act on the orders to set fire to an entire street.^[1]

As the Empire targeted a ridge that was south of a canal and prepared to strafe it, while also noting multiple other settlements yet to sweep, Lear noticed a young girl who had hidden aboard the ship. As the girl stared at him in fear, Lear decided to help her. As Captain Amari approached the ship looking for him, Lear motioned for the girl to stay quiet and closed the panel behind which she had been hiding. Lear told Amari that his converter had backed up and he needed to wait for it to reset. Amari told him that orders had come in for them to use the ship to strafe the ridge. Before leaving, Amari told Lear not to take too long, saying that one would not want to be alone outside amongst the violence. Lear replied that he would be right behind them. Instead, he returned to the panel and, opening it, offered the girl his dirtied hand.^[1]

Aftermath

Lear would desert the Empire and take the girl with him. As the pair became a sort of found family, Lear would adopt the name Luthen Rael, and the girl would come to be known as Kleya Marki. As they both had hatred for the Empire, Rael decided to gather resources to combat the regime. As they journeyed through the galaxy, Rael once called Marki his daughter when bartering with the individual Tinch over the price of an antique Rael was trying to sell. After the business had concluded, Marki would ask Rael if she was to be his daughter, and Rael replied that they would act that way when it benefitted them.^[1]

Together, the pair perpetrated a bombing on the planet Naboo^[1] and eventually, established a rebel network based on the planet Coruscant, where they lived double lives as operators of the Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest shop and as rebel organizers coordinating the efforts of individuals who opposed the Empire.^[3]

Behind the scenes

The massacre appeared in "Make It Stop," the tenth episode in the second season of the Disney+ television series Andor.^[1]

According to Stellan Skarsgård, who portrays Luthen, showrunner Tony Gilroy originally created a story with the character's family being killed, but instead, decided to make the character of Kleya be the one who was out for revenge.^[5] When Kleya's actor Elizabeth Dulau learned of her character's origin story with Luthen, she was informed of it via a phone call with Gilroy. After season one did not acknowledge any of the characters' history, Dulau was astonished by the origins of their relationship. She asserted that, while Kleya and Luthen eventually came to love each other, she likely hated Luthen for the beginning stages of their time together.^[4]

Dulau speculated that, although not shown on-screen, Luthen was heavily complicit in the massacre, even if he eventually became disillusioned with his actions. The actor took the time to dream about Kleya's life before the massacre, imagining her character's parents as well as potential siblings and friends.^[4] Dulau described the darkness that accompanied the two characters as the founding part of their relationship as unique.^[6]

The uniforms worn by the Imperial soldiers match the swamp trooper uniforms from the 2018 stand-alone film Solo: A Star Wars Story. Michael Wilkinson of the show's costume department remade the uniforms from scratch.^[7]

Appearances

• Star Wars: Andor — "Make It Stop" (First appearance) (In flashback(s))

Sources

• Andor Season 2 Declassified: Farewell | Contains Spoilers Eps 10-12 on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
• Secrets from the Set of Andor Season 2: Week 4 Trivia on StarWars.com (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
• Andor's Stellan Skarsgård and Elizabeth Dulau Break Down Luthen and Kleya on StarWars.com (backup link)

Notes and references