Rogue pilots have an essential role in the Star Wars Universe. The Jedi wouldn’t have saved the galaxy without the help of characters like Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Poe Dameron. Recently, Disney has been shining a spotlight on non-Jedi characters with productions like Solo: A Star Wars Story, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Mandalorian. Disney’s next show, coming out Sept. 21, 2022, will dive deeper into the backstory of another rebel pilot, Cassian Andor.
It has been six years since Cassian Andor appeared in Rogue One. We have seen and heard little from Andor since the character’s original debut, meaning there is still a lifetime of experiences and adventures left to explore with him. Even though the character was highly praised after Rogue One’s initial release, Andor’s radio silence may have led some to forget all about him. Here is everything we know about Cassian Andor to help prepare for his new series, Andor.
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The Andor Character
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By the beginning of Rogue One, Cassian Andor has become a dedicated Rebel Pilot. The rebels instated Cassian as the intelligence captain. He acts as a spy for the rebel alliance, hunting down leads across the galaxy. Cassian doesn’t always agree with the dirty jobs that the rebels assign to him, but he carries them out faithfully nonetheless. He specifically tells Jyn Erso that he “has done terrible things on behalf of the rebellion.” His character comes off as jaded and pessimistic, but maintains a glimmer of hope and confidence in the cause. Cassian even makes the ultimate sacrifice for the cause that he so determinedly loves.
Even if he wasn’t always a member of the rebel alliance, Cassian started fighting against the empire at just six years old. We don’t know a lot about his training, but we do know that by the time Cassian becomes an adult he can fly a ship, take good aim with a blaster, and think quick on his feet. Cassian presumably lost both his parents during the Clone Wars as all both his mom and dad fought for freedom. The hero posses powerful motivations to fight against the empire, and continues to fight even when all the odds seem stacked against him. While we don’t know everything Cassian lost to The Empire, we can hope to find out more in the upcoming series.
Home World in Andor
Andor comes from the planet Fest in the appropriately named Fest system. Dark Forces (the Star Wars video game) first introduced Fest in 1995. The game is no longer canon, but according to Star Wars legends Fest housed a testing facility that ultimately created dark trooper armor. Fest appears sporadically throughout the Star Wars universe, but little is known about the planet, especially in the franchise’s new cannon.
The Fest system sits in the outer rim of the galaxy and acts as the Wild West of Star Wars. The Empire has a weaker foothold in the outer rim, and this gives the rebels a place to build their forces. The outer rim is also full of dangerous criminals and bounty hunters that both help and hurt the cause. Planets on the outer rim are usually far less developed than core planets such as Coruscant. If Andor doesn’t reintroduce Fest as a testing facility, Fest could become a farming planet like its neighboring planet, Dantooine.
Andor in the Star Wars Timeline
Anyone who has watched Rogue One will know that a story about Cassian Andor must take place in the years before the movie. Season one of Andor takes place five years before the events of A New Hope, and therefore five years before the events in Rogue One. The timeframe overlaps with Star Wars: Rebels, and some are hopeful that this show will bring characters from the animated series to live action. Other characters from Bad Batch and the original trilogy are contenders for cameos too. The trailer has already promised to bring in Mon Mothma, a political leader who played a key role in forming the rebellion.
Reports say that this series also takes place before Cassian meets K2S0, a reprogrammed imperial droid programed to help Cassian on missions. Writers included the droid in early drafts of Andor, but his K2S0’s appearance has been pushed back to season two. Even though it is disappointing not to see more of Alan Tudyk’s droid humor, hopefully the decision will make for a better story.
Overall this time period in Star Wars is a dark one as The Empire is reaching the height of its power. As the rebellion finds its members, this time proves to be an important one for the rebellion. This season of Andor will span an entire year, but there are already different plans for season two. If all goes according to plan, Andor’s second season will cover one year every three episodes. Mathematically, season two should take the show right up to the events in Rogue One and A New Hope.
