Warning: Contains spoilers for Andor episode 1.Out of everything that’s happened in Andor so far, there’s one specific scene that perfectly separates it from the rest of Star Wars. Right from the start, Andor is already trying to set itself apart from other Star Wars stories by being darker and more grounded than its contemporaries. There’s been a lot of material to help sell that idea, but one scene from episode 1 does a better job of it than anything else.
In Andor episode 1, after visiting a brothel on Morlana One for information on his sister, Cassian is harassed by two Pre-Mor Authority officers trying to rob him. Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, however, was quick to turn the tables on them and start a fight, one that ended with both of the officers dead. What makes the deaths of the officers particularly notable is that while one of them was killed by a blaster, the other died simply from hitting his head too hard against the ground.
That specific death is what immediately separates Andor from the rest of Star Wars. Dying just from hitting your head against the ground too hard is a surprisingly realistic way for a person to die. More conventional or mundane realistic death scenes don’t usually happen in stories with a lot of sci-fi action, especially not Star Wars stories, so Disney+’s Star Wars: Andor having it happen so early in the show does an excellent job of showing that it’s going to be darker and far more grounded than other Star Wars stories.
Andor’s Tone Is What Star Wars Needs Now
As evidenced by the realistic death scene in episode 1, Andor is striving to have a much more serious tone than other Star Wars stories, and that’s exactly what the franchise needs right now. Most Star Wars stories tend to set themselves as some manner of a space epic with varying degrees of campiness, and while that’s not inherently bad, it does result in a lot of stories feeling like they’re all using the same kinds of story beats, especially some of the more recent Disney Star Wars stories. However, Andor having a more grounded and serious tone gives it a chance to do things differently from other Star Wars stories, and that, in turn, could help breathe new life into the franchise and keep it from stagnating.
In conclusion, while there’s a lot that Andor is doing to set itself apart from other Star Wars stories, what does the best job of that is the Pre-Mor Authority officer dying just from hitting his head on the ground. Someone dying such a realistic and mundane death so early on makes it clear that the show is going to be far more grounded and realistic than other Star Wars stories, which is the exact change of pace the franchise needs. There’s no way of knowing if the Andor timeline will be able to keep to that, but the fact that it’s even presenting the possibility of it still ends up doing a lot of good for Star Wars at the moment.
New episodes of Andor release on Wednesdays on Disney+.
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