Disney Plus’s Original Series Andor season 1 Episode 7 “Announcement” starts with Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn getting ready for a job interview his uncle set up for him as a desk worker. With the look on his face the viewer can tell that he is not happy about this job opportunity as he still wants to be a planetary officer due to his need to find Andor and make him pay for ruining everything that was important to him. In his mind, he sees that all he had ever cared for was being a planetary officer as well as fighting for his idea of justice. Now he ended up as a desk worker when he should be searching for Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor as he feels he is responsible for everything that has happened. The interesting part is that he fears the thought that his past will affect his job opportunity when it comes up during a tour of the company. There also appears to be a look of humiliation on his face as his interview reads off the things he was let go for. Understandably, he talks about how he wants to start over and clear his name of everything that has stained his reputation as an individual which leads to him getting the job because of his perseverance in the face of his past failures.
Additionally, the viewer sees Faye Marsay’s Vel Sartha as she meets with someone associated with the mysterious man known as Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael. Where she is told that Andor is a loose end that needs to be taken care of. This demonstrates how this rebel could be considered an extremist cell that kills people even if they help them in some sort of way. In a way it can mirror how the empire is set with the ideal of if you are not useful then you are to be removed. In her mind, she knows that killing Andor is going too far as all he wants is to be left alone. Not to mention that he is a man of principle when it comes to honoring a deal that was made. This is demonstrated by how he gave her the ship with all of the money from the heist except his cut as well as killing someone who was a traitor. Knowing that Andor has some honor to take only what was promised and leave everything else has made so Vel deems him worthy of living as a result. Unfortunately, she knows that in the end it may not be her call to make when it comes to Andor.
Later into the episode, the viewer sees Andor talk to Fiona Shaw’s Maarva Andor who is his adoptive mother about leaving with him. Unfortunately, she refuses to leave due to her need to stay and fight with the rebels against the empire. Her hatred of them stems from the fact that some officers hanged her husband when he tried to keep the peace between the people and the militia. From the look on her face, she wants nothing more than to leave with her son and live a happy life. However, she knows that she cannot hide anymore, and it is now time to stand up to the empire so that what happened to her never happens to anyone else. The sad part about this is how she tells him that his sister is dead as there were no survivors during a horrific event on his planet just as he leaves.
At the end of the episode, Andor manages to run away to a tropical planet with a peaceful lifestyle. However, it seems as if he cannot shake the feeling that he will be caught at any time. This is demonstrated by how as he walks around the place; he is staying at he keeps looking over his shoulder to see if someone is coming after him. This leads to him getting mixed up in another rebel event, only this time he is sent to jail for a long time when he had nothing to do with it.
Rating: 8.5/10