STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12: “Jedha, Kyber, Erso”

Name: STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12: “Jedha, Kyber, Erso”
Item: STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12: “Jedha, Kyber, Erso”
Author: Review

"Threshold to Destiny"

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12 is the rousing conclusion to a series on Disney+. The episode leads to the 2016 movie, ROGUE ONE, which details how the Rebel Alliance got the plans for the Death Star in the original STAR WARS movie. Capt. Andor returns to the Imperial capital to rescue his handler. However, his handler has died, but he’s given news about the Death Star to his long-time assistant, Kleya, a communications expert. A squad of Imperial soldiers traps Andor, Kleya and Andor’s friend, Melshie, in an apartment building. However, the reconfigured battle droid, K-2SO, is coming to their rescue.

Season Two of STAR WARS: ANDOR ends with a bang, despite a slow, politically correct beginning in the first three episodes. The opening to Episode 12 is extremely exciting. Some tense, powerful drama and suspense follow. ANDOR: Episode 2.12 has a strong moral worldview. The heroes are battling for freedom against an evil, tyrannical Galactic Empire. They and their compatriots risk their lives for a noble cause. The rescued woman is inspired by a speech extolling freedom from a fallen compatriot.

Content:

(BB, PP, ACACAC, C, VV, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview focusing on a man who becomes a major spy and a heroic pilot who decides to risk his life for a Rebel Alliance battling for freedom against an evil and tyrannical Galactic Empire (one of the other spies is inspired by a speech from a compatriot who died who says, “Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction” and who talks about large and small “acts of insurrection” and adds that “Tyranny requires constant effort” while at the same time has a “need for control” but that the oppression that occurs in a tyranny implicitly hides an irrational underlying fear, with a solid theme of sacrifice and dying for a noble cause;

Foul Language:

No foul language;

Violence:

Some strong action violences includes a squad of imperial soldiers releases a stun bomb that knocks two Rebels against two walls in an apartment building hallway (the woman is knocked unconscious and goes into shock; she has a wound on her forehead and cheek), the man and a second man engage in a firefight against the Imperial soldiers (they kill two or three or more), a metal robot manhandles three imperial soldiers and uses one as a shield against his compatriots, and robot flings one soldier across a hall, plus an Imperial bureaucrat who failed at an important task commits suicide offscreen rather than face his superiors for his mistakes;

Sex:

No sex;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

Man and woman hoist a toast to all the people who died working under the leader of a spy network fighting the evil Galactic Empire in the first three STAR WARS movies and a woman’s husband has a drink in a flying car on the Imperial capital;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

A female villain alone cries in her cell, a man accuses Rebel leaders of lying to him, but they say they’re only trying to warn him, at the end that man is on a planet where a large Imperial spaceship has arrived to snuff him out eventually.

More Detail:

STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12 is the rousing conclusion to the series on Disney+ about the pilot who retrieves the Death Star plans that help Luke destroy the Death Star in the very first STAR WARS movie, as Capt. Andor and his friends rescue the communications expert who kept Rebel Alliance’s large spy network going, under the very nose of the evil Emperor. After a slow, disappointing, politically correct start, Season Two of STAR WARS: ANDOR ends with a bang as the fight for freedom from the evil Empire reaches an important turning point.

As the Episode begins, Cassian Andor is meeting with the communications expert, Kleya, who secretly worked with Andor’s handler, Luthen, for years. Luthen has just sacrificed his life to keep his spy network secret and to give Kleya vital information about the building of a new weapon, called the Death Star. They’re meeting in the safehouse apartment on the imperial capital, which served as Andor and his girlfriend, Bix’s, headquarters, until they had to escape to the Rebel Alliance’s base on Yavin 4, the secret rebel base from the very first STAR WARS movie.

Kleya is depressed by Luthen’s death and wonders if everything they did was worth it. However, Andor assures her that their efforts were indeed worth it, and she needs to come with him to Yavin 4 to see for herself how the Alliance has grown and strengthened.

Just as they’re about to leave the apartment and the imperial capital, however, a squad of Storm Troopers is closing in on them. Andor, Kleya and Melshi, Andor’s old friend from Season One where they were held prisoners in an imperial prison complex, seem to be trapped. However, the reconfigured imperial battle droid known as K-2SO is coming to their rescue.

Season Two of STAR WARS: ANDOR ends with a bang, despite a slow, disappointing, politically correct beginning in the first three or four episodes. The opening to Episode 12 is extremely exciting. What follows is some tense drama and suspense as the Rebel Alliance leaders try to decide if the news from Kleya and Andor about a new imperial weapon of immense power is credible.

The cast performances are top notch all around, but of course the biggest kudos should go to Diego Luna, who plays the title character, Capt. Andor. Elizabeth Dulau delivers a touching performance as Kleya, who’s very sad about the death of her mentor. She’s been a stalwart performer throughout the series, but her performance in the final episode is extremely powerful. As the robot, Alan Tudyk provides some great, much needed comic relief, with a strong touch of melancholy resignation.

STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12 has a strong moral worldview where the heroes are battling for freedom against an evil and tyrannical Galactic Empire. In one scene, Kleya is inspired by a speech on freedom from one of the rebel compatriots who gave his life for their cause. “Freedom is a pure idea,” he says. “It occurs spontaneously and without instruction.” He goes on to talk about how large and small “acts of insurrection” are occurring every day throughput the galaxy. “Tyranny requires constant effort,” he adds, an effort that he suggests can be sustained. He concludes that the oppression that occurs in a tyranny implicitly hides an irrational underlying fear.

MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children for STAR WARS: ANDOR: Episode 2.12. The episode has no foul language, graphic violence or other objectionable content. So, thanks to Disney for that!

The inspiration for the 2016 STAR WARS movie ROGUE ONE and ANDOR comes from one line in the introduction to the original STAR WARS movie, which says, “Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.” The last episode of ANDOR leads into the events in ROGUE ONE, where Captain Andor becomes one of those aforementioned Rebel spies. The ANDOR episode ends with Andor taking off to meet his destiny in that movie, but the episode’s last shot provides a new beacon of hope for a possible surprise continuation of Andor’s story, into some not-so-distant the future of the STAR WARS saga.