Andor “Make It Stop”

Well, the final story arc starts here.  And yeah, it’s a doozy.

Something has to set up Rogue One.

See, I would argue that Luthen is as much the main character as Cassian, at least for season one.  Despite Cassian’s name being the title of the show, the series is arguably as much about the formation of the Rebel Alliance as it is anything else, and a ruthless man like Luthen, someone who is not afraid to shed a little blood, is necessary for that formation.  Arguably, this show suggests there would be no Alliance without Luthen.

In this episode, the prediction he made to Lonni back in season one comes true: Luthen will not live to see the Empire fall.  He may even be fine with that.

Here it is, where Luthen’s cover falls apart.  Dedra, probably still hurting from the loss of Syril, something that was entirely because of her scheming ways on behalf of the ISB, has finally found the one man she’s suspected existed all this time, and it comes about just as Luthen learns there’s some sort of space-based superweapon, a Deathstar if you will, under construction.  Luthen has already killed Lonni (in a public park, no less), sent Kleya on ahead, and goes back to his shop to destroy his records himself, starting the job just before Dedra walks in to confront the man she calls “Axis.”

I won’t say Luthen goes out heroically.  Mostly because he doesn’t.  His suicide attempt doesn’t quite work as Dedra gets him to the hospital in time.  That mostly means it is up to Kleya to break into the hospital and euthanize the man who meant more to her than she ever said, mostly because he essentially raised her.  Yeah, he raised her to be his accomplice, but she did love him, and he saved her life.  They built that shop together, worked the operatives, kept things moving.  It was her mission as much as his.

Now she just needs to get off Coruscant.  That might be easier said than done, and there are still some complications there.  Like, where would she even go?

The flashbacks here are great, by the way.  They really show how Luthen, and by extension Kleya, became the people they are.  It started when Luthen, on some kind of mercenary job, decided not to kill the little girl hiding on his ship.  It ended with a tearful, adult Kleya pulling the plug on his life support machine.  And as for Cassian…well, he doesn’t have much to do here.  He’s on Yavin 4 with what are arguably the fruits of Luthen’s labor, and on a place where, it turns out, few people would actually miss Luthen.  He was never the kind of hero to get a statue built for himself or anything, but he is a hero of the Rebellion.  He wasn’t a nice one.  He was what the Rebellion needed.

And from here, the story moves on without him, as he knew it would.