Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of Andor.InRogue One, directed byGareth Edwards, one of the most emotional scenes centers around Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) watching a pre-recorded hologram of her father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) who reveals that he has “laid the groundwork of [his] revenge” on the Empire. Jyn learns that through her father’s revenge, he has also sacrificed himself for a cause that he believes will one day liberate the galaxy — the Rebellion. And now, we witness a similar scene in the finale ofAndor,titled “Rix Road,” Cassian’s (Diego Luna) mother Maarva Andor (Fiona Shaw), appears before the entire town of Ferrix also via a pre-recorded hologram, and her son is listening to her words: “If I could do it again, I’d wake up early and be fighting these bastards.”
AndorcreatorTony Gilroyhas depicted many moments throughout the series where Cassian’s character arc has mirrored Jyn’s fromRogue One.They both begin as anti-heroes, fending for themselves, always on the run, and caring not for a greater cause but only for their survival. As Jyn and Cassian go along, the horrors they witness, and the brutality they become victims of, make it very hard for them to continue to turn a blind eye towards the “Imperial flag reigning across the galaxy.” But what is even harder for Cassian and Jyn to ignore are the inspiring people that they meet who are strongly opposing the Empire, and who are dedicating their lives to fighting it. Still, Cassian and Jyn’s desire for their own freedom seemed a lot easier to come by in comparison to the acquisition of a galaxy-wide liberation. So why bother risking their necks? The answer to that question is love. Although Cassian and Jyn’s moral compasses were slowly turning throughout their journeys, it is the love they have for their parents that solidifies their paths with the Rebellion.
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Maarva and Galen’s Holograms Are Sparks of Rebellion
Maarva and Galen’s holograms are paralleled. They outline the growing threat of the Empire, a threat that Galen believed he could hide from by resigning himself to a farmer’s life. A threat that Maarva has been sleeping on, a threat that she has been “turning away from” because it is a threat that bears a truth she “wanted not to face.” But through the love that Galen has for Jyn, and the love that Maarva has for Ferrix, and by proxy, Cassian — does their hope reveal itself. Maarva reveals that in her “waning hours” is she comforted by a hope that Ferrix will continue, that its people will band together and face any challenge. Similarly, Galen gives himself to the Empire so that Jyn will have a chance at continuing as well, and he tells her during his hologram: “I attempt to think of you only in the moments when I’m strong.”
Maarva’s Final Words Are Meant to Inspire
Alongside Maarva and Galen’s strength which is founded in their loved ones comes their indispensable faith in the Rebellion. Galen “played the part of a beaten man resigned to the sanctuary of his work” all in the name of the greater good. He was willing to die in the hope that somebody would set off the trap he laid in the bowels of the Death Star. Maarva also didn’t fear death, and she used her widely broadcasted funeral not to celebrate herself, but to openly oppose the Empire and to inspire the people of Ferrix to do the same. Galen’s hologram concludes with a powerful statement: “Any pressurized explosion to the reactor module will set off a chain reaction that will destroy the entire station.” From a certain point of view, Maarva’s final words are much the same: “Fight the Empire!” The people of Ferrix had been sitting like pressurized explosions beneath the Empire’s tyranny, but Maarva’s bold announcement sets off that chain reaction andFerrix’s people run at the Imperialslike raging bulls.
But amidst all the chaos, we hone in on the children of these two brave holographic individuals.Cassian and Jyn listen to their parents' wordswith tears in their eyes,because all of a sudden they have come to a halt, and their destinies appear before them, laid out so simply by their parents. Cassian and Jyn’s greater purpose, “it was already burning,” but it was Maarva and Galen that gave them that final push toward the Rebellion because they knew their children were destined to become “unstoppable forces for good.”
