In the eighth episode Andor, available on Disney+, villains show their faces more than once. But unlike other productions in the Star Wars franchise, they don’t wear masks or lightsabers and can’t choke with mysterious powers. Actually, the evil in the series is the core of its proposal. These are nothing short of moral battles that each of his characters are challenged and must go through.
Actually, surprisingly, the main villain of this story is a seedy bureaucrat obsessed with his failure. Cyril Karn (Kyle Soler) is faced with bad luck in Ferrix and, moreover, with the escape of the killer of two officials subordinate to him. Since then, the obsession to “clear his name” has become the focal point of all his decisions. the point to which Andor is of particular interest and, moreover, reshapes the perception of evil in a saga always analyzed from absolute extremes.
Karn is the most obvious example of how Andor shows his version of a galaxy far, far away. For the first time, the hero’s main antagonist is not a creature of unfortunate cruelty. Not a ruthless strategist, not a leader driven mad by ambition.
Instead, he is a civil servant trying his best to defy his superiors to solve a double murder. Only instead of giving his efforts and mind to a more noble layer, he does it in the bowels of the Empire. In particular, for the benefit of your immediate future.
Andor is a new phenomenon in the Star Wars universe and is available exclusively on Disney+
Andorevil as a series of wrong decisions
Per Andor, the fact of evil is deeply connected to the personal motives of its characters, with no greater purpose. A point that Tony Gilroy has commented on more than once and elegantly deepened in his first episodes. “There are no inherently good characters,” he explained in an interview a few months ago. “Each time I write, I carefully think of villains as fallible creatures with as many facets as there are decisions to be made.”
Which would explain the suffocating and sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere of the show. AT Andor, the Empire’s suppression mechanism is not composed of vicious or deadly beings. There are far fewer characters that fire beams of power through their hands. Instead, the camera follows its evil figures down long corridors with a corporate and nihilistic air. He accompanies them to meetings where questions of logistics, strategy and hierarchical organization are discussed. New villains from Andor in fact they are bureaucrats. Which makes the scenario in which the story will move even more complex.
Perhaps that is why the character of Dedra Miro (Denise Gough) is so intriguing. The officer discovers a pattern among the resistance’s apparent erratic attacks. Little by little, the character builds a circumstance map that reveals that what appear to be disparate disruptive strikes is actually movement. One who is destined to shake the foundations of the Empire.
But Gilroy doesn’t take the easy route of creating characters who are destined to hate. Both Karn and Miro are efficient, insightful, and brilliant at their mission. “Anywhere else, his brilliant behavior would have been that of a hero. But in Andor it’s the other way around.”
Some villains are full of gray
One of the great advantages Andor is to create a vision for Star Wars that includes deeper and more thoughtful themes than usual. While heroic tendencies, doubts about strength and hope continue to be part of the story, the series is moving in new directions.
Especially when it comes to evil. In eight chapters, the Emperor was named only once. It was also done in the middle of a conversation that made clear his political weight, but no specific power or supernatural qualities. This is a complete structural change that provides Andor new and interesting broadcast. Especially since over the past few months there has been a big debate among fans about why the franchise seems to have lost its luster.
the date high on Disney Plus now and save with an annual subscriptionwith which you can enjoy its entire catalog of series and films, access to the latest releasesto catalog Star and the best National Geographic documentaries.
But Andor found a way to rethink Star Wars as a formula. With its uniformed villains passing by bureaucratic figures and questioning their future, the series continues on its original paths. A breath of fresh air more than necessary for a saga.
