Today Disney+ delivered the first season finale for the Lucasfilm Star Wars prequel series, Andor. The political spy thriller follows Diego Luna’s (Narcos: Mexico) Cassian Andor, a character Luna first played in the harrowing prequel film, Rogue One. The series is set five years prior to the events of the movie and captures Andor’s novice introduction to the resistance.
[Contains spoilers for season one of Andor]
The twelve-episode season was a slow build of political espionage, culminating in a bottleneck scene of tension and civil unrest as all the show’s main players reunite on the small planet of Ferrix. After mini-upheavals across the galaxy, the Empire narrows its sights on Andor’s home planet in an effort to capture the alleged saboteur and his controller, a man only known as Axis. While the season ended with an explosive conclusion and Andor living to see another day, viewers are mostly clamoring about the mid-credits scene.
As the main credits roll, the scene inadvertently cuts to robots remotely working on a metallic surface, attaching apparatuses that look extremely familiar. The camera pans out, exposing the structure as orbiting space, attached to a larger circular rim with multiple parts. The music grows more menacing as it is revealed the structure is none other than the finishing scope for an object the size of a moon – the infamous Death Star.
For Star Wars newbies, the Death Star is the ominous planet-destroying weapon the Empire masters in the original film trilogy. It’s also the very weapon’s schematics that are stolen in Rogue One, which leads to the motivations of Star Wars: A New Hope. So how does this connect to Andor and his journey during this time period?
The multi-legged pieces in the mid-credits scene are the very pieces Cassian and the other prisoners of Narkina 5 were forced to build during their incarceration in the three-episode arc of eight through ten. This means Andor unknowingly assisted in the creation of the very weapon he would help destroy five years later.
Luna spoke with Wired about how the episodes in the prison were some of his favorite to shoot.
“I really love it. I tweeted as soon as [episode 10] was out, and meant it with all honesty, it was one of my favorite episodes because it kind of rounds out the idea of the prison. It blew my mind in the writing of this, of the series, how it’s a reflection on something that is very specific to the [Star Wars] world we’re talking about, and at the same time it’s so pertinent in the world we live in,” Luna said via Wired. He also explained how what they were building remained a mystery, even to those on set.
“I think it is [a valuable thing to know], in terms of understanding all the logic around it. But at the same time, it’s not necessary information as an actor,” Luna explained.
For fans of the series, the show is currently shooting the second season, which is due sometime next year. Luna shared his excitement for the conclusion of Andor.
“Oof. I am very excited,” Luna told Wired. “As I told you, now I know because of the journey I went through in season 1, I know so many things. Things I couldn’t know about Cassian just by reading, you know? So I can’t wait. I can’t wait.
All twelve episodes of Andor’s first season are available to stream exclusively on Disney+.