‘Andor’ Season 1, Episode 12, Recap & Review: “Rix Road”

Andor season 1 concludes with episode 12, “Rix Road.“ We knew the climax would be there. Rix Road was already sacred ground for the locals on Ferrix. We get to see Maarva again, but not in the way some speculated. Andor is just not that show. Maarva’s death was not faked. Tony Gilroy was never about fooling us. Fan service was not on the menu, and Easter eggs were obscure enough throughout the series that viewers would have to hunt to find them.

Once again, it took two viewings to feel the impact of “Rix Road,” but it was worth it. It’s easy to miss some details when Star Wars fans are used to being spoon-fed storylines. Andor, as a series, may win awards Star Wars has never even been nominated for, but the final episode might feel like a disappointment if you’re looking for a big bad to go down in a planet-sized explosion. Andor was always about the everyday citizens living in the Star Wars universe under the rule of the young Empire. All characters are connected to Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in one way or another.

Although it sometimes felt like Andor wasn’t enough of a focus in this series, we can walk away knowing what Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) has concluded: Cassian is the glue he needs to tighten up his rebel factions. Speaking of things that hold larger parts together, for once, Star Wars has a post-credits scene that will answer at least one of your biggest questions. Spoiler in the final paragraph.

Andor Shows Star Wars’ Complex Characters

After an evident incendiary building scene, we see Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) arriving on Ferrix in a Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle (first seen in Return of the Jedi) to personally oversee Cassian’s capture. Cassian Andor is expected by many to show up for his adopted mother’s funeral. She immediately disguises herself in local garb to assess the area. The montage returns to Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier), son of the slain Paak, finishing an explosive device. We’re led to believe there is something afoot besides a small parade for Maarva Andor (Fiona Shaw), who will appear at her own funeral as a holoprojection. Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) and Xan (Zubin Varla) discuss Cassian’s clandestine return, and local junk dealer Nurchi (Raymond Anum) turns coat to feed Cassian’s presence to the Imperial Security Bureau.

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Meanwhile, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) has decided to set up an insurance policy for herself by throwing her husband, Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie), under the bus by accusing him of starting up his secret gambling habit again. It’s a ruse, unbeknownst to him, for her snooping driver to take back to his own authority. It’s designed to explain away the missing funds in her account. She will continue with the plan of introducing her daughter Leida (Bronte Carmichael) to Davo Sculdun’s (Richard Dillane) son in Chandrilan tradition. Mon Mothma plays the long game, and we can see she can be as ruthless as Luthen and Cassian regarding self-preservation.

For a story about good and evil, it’s a breath of fresh air to see Tony Gilroy illustrate the idea that nothing is black and white. We are dealing with complex characters who may find it necessary to dirty their hands to continue doing good. Fallible characters make this corner of Star Wars so compelling and believable.

Unfortunately, Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) don’t serve much in the final episode except to show the divide between them. Their devotion to the rebellion is on different levels. Cinta is clearly committed to the cause before anything, while Vel, who has demonstrated her impatience with covert protocols, wants human connection to be her purpose. If Tony Gilroy is playing a long game with these characters, they’ll likely be more at odds in season two, leading Vel to do something drastic (see the ongoing storyline of her niece’s betrothal, a Chandrilan tradition she finds appalling).

Hints at What Season 2 May Focus On

A full eleven minutes in, we finally see a hooded Cassian sneaking into Bix’s yard only to find she’s been in ISB custody. Nothing on Ferrix is as he left it. His world has crashed. The world he escaped Narkina 5 for no longer exists. It’s another straw in the stack that will break him down into a full-fledged rebel. This is, after all, the story of Cassian Andor’s transition from a renegade mercenary to a committed revolutionary.

Luthen, the puppeteer in much of what happens in Andor, is still the mysterious character he started out to be. Don’t expect many answers to who he is offscreen or who he was in the past. Big reveals are not an ingredient in this series. It can be frustrating, even disappointing, but how often are we dissatisfied with exploring and revealing how a major character became who they were? Perhaps it’s more exciting to speculate and wonder. What’s important to his character in Andor is the subtle facial acting Stellan Skarsgård does throughout the finale. It tells you all you need to know about what he concludes by the end. Who he is or was is only important in his own story. We’re watching Andor. Axis may be the central plot point of season two, though.

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Dedra Meero will fail in bringing Cassian to justice, but she escapes with her life thanks to Syril Karn (Kyle Soller). Maybe he’ll get that promotion he’s been looking for. That is, if Dedra has any clout left at the ISB. Predictably, Cassian eventually escapes, but not before rescuing Bix and seeing his friends off the planet. His dead mother’s hologram incites an insurrection, solidifying his resolve to fight the Empire as his life’s mission. The funeral itself is an emotional ride that inspires the “sleeping” people of Ferrix to rise against their oppressors. Many tertiary characters will lay down their lives in Rogue One fashion, but the major players survive for a new season.

Andor’s Post-Credits Scene

In the end, Cassian ambushes Luthen, whose main revelation is that he was, indeed, the one to order Cassian’s assassination. Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) was not rogue in her order to Vel. Cassian shows his cards to Luthen. He’s got nothing to live for unless it’s a commitment to a higher cause. This is enough for Luthen to realize he has a new pawn on his board. Cassian is not the loose end he expected. Instead, he’s an asset to the united Rebel cause.

Viewers who waded through the credits were rewarded with a post-credits scene that answered our biggest question. What were they building on Narkina 5? If you look closely enough, you’ll see that it’s a metaphor for waiting. Cassian and the prisoners on Narkina 5 were assembling the panel connectors for the dish that is the weapon on the not-yet-completed Death Star. So Cassian’s ultimate sacrifice in Rogue One is to play a significant role in rectifying that. Cassian is at once a source of the glue that holds together a weapon that will eventually kill him and the catalyst to its ultimate destruction.

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