saadanathan

I've been a Star Wars fan ever since I was Six years old. It was and always has been my favorite movie franchise. Even though my favorite movie from The Saga is Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, I hold a special place in my heart for Rogue One.

But since the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney in 2014. Star Wars as a brand has suffered from ups and downs with their projects. Mostly downs.

As a Star Wars fan, I want the franchise to succeed and thrive, it's what all Star Wars fans want. And I truly believe Star Wars can be successful again, in other words, I have hope. If there's one thing I've learned from the Original Trilogy and George Lucas, is to have hope.

Which brings me to Andor. Since Disney bought Lucasfilm, their best projects have been in my opinion: Rouge One and a few of the animation series (The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch).

But after watching Andor and processing the final scenes, I would argue that Andor is among the best written Star Wars shows of recent years. It is simply a fantastic story. One that has brought me back hope that Star Wars can be successful and perfect again. Every aspect in the series is top level: Set Decorations, Costume Design, VFX, the cinematography and much more I'll delve into.

To those who have commented that this series is not true Star Wars; because it does not feature some of the elements, we all know and love: The lightsaber fights, the concept of "The Force", the fight between Jedi and Sith. I'll keep it simple: I believe George Lucas has built A massive universe that can contain multiple stories from different aspects. A world where we can explore many stories that don't necessarily need to have the elements mentioned above.

And though I'm a huge fan of these elements that make Star Wars so unique, I also enjoyed the story I was given in Andor.

The biggest aspect I've enjoyed in Andor, and the biggest difference from the original trilogy. Was the complex morality of the characters: In the Original Trilogy it is very clear who are the bad guys and good guys - The empire, Darth Vader and the Death Star represent evil while Luke Skywalker, Lea and Han Solo, the rebel alliance represent good.

Later in the prequel trilogy, the lines of good and bad are blurred, The Jedi Order as seen in the trilogy are imbedded in politics and do not show support to Anakin Skywalker, "The Chosen one". And later on, when Anakin turns to the dark side and betrays the jedi, it shatters the image we were given of the man he once was.

In Andor, we see how both fighting sides are not so moral, even though the empire is shown to be more intimidating. Some of the rebel figures do not show much compassion or regard to human casualties. Saw Gerrera, Luthen Rael, even the titular character himself, Cassian Andor, are all shown to put in danger others if it means saving the ones they love and themselves.

In the case of Cassian, he does what needs to be done to accomplish the mission - a character trait that helps understand his character in Rogue One much better.

I guess by showing as so many unethical characters in the series, the purpose of the series is to show how cruel people can be in reality, not every person can be moral and full of heart like Qui Gon Jinn and Luke Skywalker. The world, even the one in Star Wars can be full of Luthen Rael, Saw Gerrera, and Cad Bane (who doesn't appear in the show but is another great example of characters who are not moral in this universe).

Before I speak of the acting, I have to mention the soundtrack by Nicholas Britell, the composer of Succession. The theme music is so powerful and chilling. Every time I hear Cassian's theme, named Past/Present suite I ger immediate goosebumps.

When it comes to acting, aside of the brilliant performances of every single actor, the writing is perfect. Just imagine the type of writing we as fans had to endure back in 2019: during The Rise of Skywalker when Poe Dameron says "somehow Palpatine has returned". Compare that with every single monologue a character has got in the series, and it just shows why the screenplay is the most important part in a project.

As for the acting itself, the best performances were by Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgård. I was always invested in Cassian Andor as a character since Rogue One, and getting a show cantering around him, and the events that lead up to Rogue One was just a joy to watch. Luna is an incredible actor and I enjoyed his performance throughout the whole series.

Stellan Skarsgård was amazing, the emotional range he delivers throughout the series was powerful. He gives you the chilling vibe of a man who delivers his life to fight an oppressive regime, yet will risks many lives in order for his plans to work. The monologue he delivers in season 1 episode 10 was a powerful speech that will go down as one of the best speeches in the Star Wars universe.

In Conclusion, as a Star Wars fan, I have hope that with the effort and dedication put in Andor, the franchise will learn to make similar projects, and be able to be successful again and loved by the community. There is always A New Hope.