Latest news with #GalacticEmpire
Gizmodo
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Cassian Andor's Aliases, Ranked
Cassian Andor lived a lot of lives before he gave it all on the beaches of Scarif in Rogue One. And part of living those lives, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity, was that Cassian Andor had to not be Cassian Andor. The man loved a secret identity, and with it a new name to inhabit, but some were clearly better than others. 10) Fulcrum Not even a real name as it's an Alliance codename, so by default it has to be last. It is fun however, especially after his encounter with the Force healer in Andor season two, to imagine Cassian inheriting this title from Ahsoka Tano, an actual-honest-to-god-backflipping-and-lightsaber-wielding Jedi, and just having it completely break his mind. 9) Aach This is one of several operational aliases given to Cassian in the Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide, so there's something oddly charming about the idea that Cassian having a Rolodex of other names he's had to come up with for missions has been there since the very beginning. Come on though, Cassian, this one just sounds like you stubbed your toe before you could use the name you actually wanted to use, and rolled with it. 8) Willix Another from the Visual Guide, Willix was an identity Cassian used on Darknell while masquerading as a Senatorial contact. Points for sounding better than 'Aach,' at least. 7) Joreth Sward The last of Cassian's Visual Guide aliases, and he finally decided to give himself a full name! Aside from being a great name, Sward was an alias Cassian had while infiltrating the inner circle of an Imperial Admiral, Grendreef—a name that itself is actually a reference to the classic West End Star Wars roleplaying game, a frequent source of Easter egg references in Andor. Again, nice to know that that that's a connection that's always been part of this character. 6) Varian Skye Varian Skye, fashion designer, definitely looked the part on Ghorman with that gorgeous caped coat and his ginormous sci-fi shades, but really, the identity truly only comes together with that name. There's an airiness, it just sounds like a foppishly charming artiste who's here to rub shoulders with fellow followers of fashion. The clothes may make the man, but the name makes the secret identity. 5) Clem Sure we previously knocked points off for Cassian only giving a first name to an alias, but you gain a massive amount of 'd'awwwwwww' points when it's the first mission we see him go on for the nascent rebellion and he picks his adoptive father's name to go by. What a softie. 4) Keef Girgo An incredible Star Wars name. Andor gave us a few people with just Normal Real Names Spelled Slightly Differently (shout out to Timm, who sucked, but was also named Timm), but Keef being both so close and so far from Keith is perfect. Also just a real delight to hear Diego Luna say it and put a nice roll on that 'r' in Girgo. Love a name with mouthfeel. 3) Kassa Does Cassian's birth name count as an alias? I mean, kinda, if you accept that eventually Cassian Andor the man becomes a very different identity than that of Kassa the young boy of Kenari, the latter of which remains compartmentalized in the former's thoughts for the remainder of his life. What if taking on myriad identities came so natural to Cassian because he was used to giving them up from a young age? Sorry to get a bit deep in a shitpost list about Star Wars names for a second. 2) Cassian Jeron Andor Again, only kind of sort of an alias as the true self, but you're still rolling with me after the Kassa bit. But anyway it's already a fantastic name, and Andor's revelation of Cassian's life on Kenari then raises delicious worldbuilding and character questions about Clem and Maarva choosing to name him Cassian (did he tell them his name was Kassa, and they then anglicized it for Galactic Basic? What is the term for anglicization in a galaxy where English doesn't exist?). But adding the middle-name Jeron? Baby, that's Star Wars. 1) Ronni Googe I love Ronni Googe. Even putting aside that he's a journalist—thank you for the representation—even putting aside the Star Wars-ification of an otherwise perfectly real-world name, even putting aside that once again, this is a name with that wonderful mouthfeel element to it, Ronni Googe is a brilliant alias for a spy. You see, as Cassian tells multiple people when he adopts this persona in season two to extract Mon Mothma from the Imperial Senate building, 'Googe' is pronounced Goo-juh. That's very Star Wars, but also, again, it's a genius alias. Ronni Googe has had to tell everyone 'Actually, it's Ronni Goo-juh' all the time, it's a name that stands out as a name, so you remember that and its pronunciation instead of what Ronni Googe actually looks like, and how uncanny a resemblance he bears to noted Imperial criminal and Rebel agent Cassian Andor. It's a conversation starter, a way to appear polite and charming and put someone on the backfoot when you have to tell them this is how you actually say it, and it's easy to remember and appear naturalistic for a spy with a zillion other things running around in their head—because, again, Ronni Googe, Senate journalist for the Mid-Rim network, has had to tell people on and off the record every day of his damn life that it's Goo-juh. Two words, and a whole life for that identity is built. It's a fantastic alias, it's a fantastic Star Wars name, it's the total package. An alias worthy of the mission it was deployed on.
The Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Andor Season 2: Star Wars' boldest story returns
For a spinoff of a film that itself was a spinoff from a franchise built on the spectacle of lightsabers and the supernatural powers of the Force, it is pleasantly surprising that the second season of Tony Gilroy's Andor once again sidesteps the toy and merchandise-selling facet of Star Wars to tell an actual story. In doing so, Andor proves for the second time why it is currently the best offering on television and the franchise as a whole. Picking up a year after the events in the first season, the thief-turned-spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) continues hurtling through the galaxy, from one mission to the next, as his handler Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) continues to scheme of ways to disrupt the operations of the Galactic Empire and unite all the different factions of rebels into a single alliance. At the same time, the Empire's director of advanced weapons research Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) sets his eyes on the planet Ghorman for its rare minerals, a critical element the Empire requires for its 'sustainable energy programme'. Rather than directly invade the planet, Krennic puts Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) in charge of manufacturing a complex scheme that eventually leads to a planet-wide genocide. Leaning into the political thriller and espionage framework that he laid in Andor's first season, showrunner Gilroy's second journey into this side of Star Wars is far more intense. Whether intentional or otherwise, Andor's deeply layered, intricately weaved story bears strong similarities to current-day events. Gilroy leverages the smaller moving components – some almost never mentioned or talked about in prior Star Wars media – to work the bigger machinations of the plot, such as the ISB and Dedra's use of the media to spread propaganda and maintain control of the 'Empire good, rebel bad' narrative, and the Empire's – or Krennic's – plan to use false flag operations to take over Ghorman. The show explores even weightier themes, such as the differing views Cassian, Luthen, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt) and others in the burgeoning rebel alliance have over the best way to fight the Empire, mirroring the discord within and among real-world militias on strategy and tactics. As Andor is the prequel to 2016's Rogue One, which itself was a prequel to 1977's Star Wars, even the most casual viewer would know how this story plays out, yet Gilroy does not allow this narrative awareness to hinder the particular journey his characters have to take. He instead uses the series, particularly the second season, to focus on the characters whose actions or inaction led to the events that would become a part of pop culture history. Though he plays with the similar images, sets, costumes and props that are signature to Star Wars, the way they are used is remarkably different. Free from the shackles of obsessing over the Skywalker family, flashy lightsabers or Force-powered nonsensical gymnastics, Gilroy successfully introduces new ways to tell a Star Wars story with both seasons of Andor and the franchise is all the better for it. Andor's second season is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
The Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Rebels need no Skywalker
For a spinoff of a film that itself was a spinoff from a franchise built on the spectacle of lightsabers and the supernatural powers of the Force, it is pleasantly surprising that the second season of Tony Gilroy's Andor once again sidesteps the toy and merchandise-selling facet of Star Wars to tell an actual story. In doing so, Andor proves for the second time why it is currently the best offering on television and the franchise as a whole. Picking up a year after the events in the first season, the thief-turned-spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) continues hurtling through the galaxy, from one mission to the next, as his handler Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) continues to scheme of ways to disrupt the operations of the Galactic Empire and unite all the different factions of rebels into a single alliance. At the same time, the Empire's director of advanced weapons research Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) sets his eyes on the planet Ghorman for its rare minerals, a critical element the Empire requires for its 'sustainable energy programme'. Rather than directly invade the planet, Krennic puts Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) in charge of manufacturing a complex scheme that eventually leads to a planet-wide genocide. Leaning into the political thriller and espionage framework that he laid in Andor 's first season, showrunner Gilroy's second journey into this side of Star Wars is far more intense. Whether intentional or otherwise, Andor 's deeply layered, intricately weaved story bears strong similarities to current-day events. Gilroy leverages the smaller moving components – some almost never mentioned or talked about in prior Star Wars media – to work the bigger machinations of the plot, such as the ISB and Dedra's use of the media to spread propaganda and maintain control of the 'Empire good, rebel bad' narrative, and the Empire's – or Krennic's – plan to use false flag operations to take over Ghorman. The show explores even weightier themes, such as the differing views Cassian, Luthen, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt) and others in the burgeoning rebel alliance have over the best way to fight the Empire, mirroring the discord within and among real-world militias on strategy and tactics. As Andor is the prequel to 2016's Rogue One, which itself was a prequel to 1977's Star Wars, even the most casual viewer would know how this story plays out, yet Gilroy does not allow this narrative awareness to hinder the particular journey his characters have to take. He instead uses the series, particularly the second season, to focus on the characters whose actions or inaction led to the events that would become a part of pop culture history. Though he plays with the similar images, sets, costumes and props that are signature to Star Wars, the way they are used is remarkably different. Free from the shackles of obsessing over the Skywalker family, flashy lightsabers or Force-powered nonsensical gymnastics, Gilroy successfully introduces new ways to tell a Star Wars story with both seasons of Andor and the franchise is all the better for it.
New Statesman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
In Andor's universe, real history doesn't work like the movies
Photo by 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM A decent rubric for knowing when a TV show has become part of the zeitgeist is when people feel the need to publicly comment on the fact they don't like it. No one, that I recall, has ever told me they don't watch Emmerdale. This month, though, I have encountered several people announcing they didn't enjoy Andor, the Star Wars spin off whose second and final season just finished dropping on Disney+. Despite being a career nerd, I've never quite clicked with Star Wars, and have always suspected that you need to have seen it in a cinema aged eight to truly love it. Andor, though, has grabbed me like little else. I obsessively text friends memes about it. I seek out podcasts about it. Then every few hours I remember something clever or notice something new, and text the same friends all over again: it occupies my brain like the Galactic Empire occupies Ghorman. Against those of us who'd say it's not merely the best Star Wars, but one of the best TV shows of all time, though, there are those who say it is a pale comparison to the thrill provided by Star Wars to an eight-year-old. I can't, in all honesty, tell them that they're wrong: if the things you want out of Star Wars are droids and space wizards, then here you're largely out of luck. Andor instead shows us the people who make up the backdrop to the rest of the franchise: farmers and miners and hotel receptionists; the imperial security forces plotting oppression, and the political comms consultants spinning their crimes. The result is a story that seems to be about a galaxy far, far away, but is actually about what it's like to live under authoritarianism – to survive, to rebel, to collaborate. There is an evil empire, working on a weapon that (spoilers if you're going to the cinema in 1977) can destroy a planet. But the people working within it mostly aren't inhuman monsters with magical powers: they're nervous soldiers hiding behind their uniforms because they're scared of that angry crowd, smugly paternalistic colonial governors, bureaucrats just trying to survive their next meeting. If Andor's empire is not all cardboard villains, neither are the rebels all straightforward heroes. Some are motivated by greed or opportunism; others are so useless we see them do nothing but fight other rebels. The most terrifying character in the show, a man willing to use and sacrifice others with abandon, is ostensibly fighting against the dark side. Just as the show's portrayal of oppressive regimes draws from the histories of European imperialism, its portrayal of the rebels draws on existing insurgencies. One scene was inspired by the Wannsee Conference; the funeral parade that ended the first season was based on those arranged by the IRA. Star Wars invokes the standard storytelling kit, where the action unfolds through the life of a so-called chosen one, a kid whose destiny it is to change the galaxy no matter that he seems like a nobody otherwise. There's comfort in imagining yourself taking on that role. But even the would-be lead ends up making contributions to universe that are vital and quickly forgotten. Andor is not a hero's journey. It has perhaps half a dozen protagonists, most of whom don't get their names in the title. None of this matters: the thing that brings down empires is not the actions of great men, but the tides of structural forces, so Andor argues. Or, more prosaically: real history doesn't work like the movies. [See more: Meet Britain's Joe Rogan] Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related
Geek Feed
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Feed
Andor: Why the First Planet Attacked is Naboo
When it comes to Star Wars shows, Andor was pretty sparing when it came to references, but while it wasn't outright mentioned, some fans did speculate that the planet that Luthen and Kleya were on when they bomb the bridge was Naboo a.k.a. the central planet of conflict in The Phantom Menace. What's interesting is, the planet has been confirmed by writer Tom Bissell who says that it was integral that Luthen attack that planet first when he wants to make a statement to the Emperor. In a recent interview with Backstory Magazine, Bissell explains: 'We know that we were going to have their first act of terrorism, Kleya and Luthen together, and I argued it should be on Naboo, because that is The Emperor's home planet, and if Luthen was going to make his first public statement, I think he is going to stick his thumb into the eye of the guy that he hates more than anymore. So, when Tony heard my reasoning, he was like, 'I like that. Let's do that.'' When the episode first came out, fans had pointed out that the bridge was the giveaway that the planet was Naboo because it's also the same bridge that's used for Padme's funeral at the end of Revenge of the Sith . For now, fans are still reeling from the ending of Andor and lamenting how 'there won't be another Star Wars project like this,' but seeing all the positive buzz that the series got, maybe there could be room for some more mature-themed projects in the world of Star Wars down the line. I do admit, it's going to be hard to jump into The Mandalorian and Grogu knowing how solid the themes of Andor were. Catch the complete Andor now streaming on Disney+.
