Andor Season 1
Episode Number 7 Preview and Review
Episode 7 of “Andor” begins with Cyril trying to stop his mother’s flattery. However, Aldhani’s raid attracted attention as news spread to his empire. He takes it with him to work at the Bureau of Standards.
The Empire works fast, adopting new rules that take effect immediately. A tribute tax equal to five times the amount stolen from Aldhani will be levied on any sector that maintains guerrilla activity. Using any location as a cover for insurgent activity will also have major repercussions for those keeping them safe.
In addition, the Emperor will call an emergency meeting with the Senate to propose a package of bills and amendments that will help free his hands on surveillance and seizure issues. They will also refer to the Public Order Regulation Directive, PORD for short. Any criminal activity will also be expunged and any outstanding fines must be paid in full.
Mon Mothma comes to see Lute in the morning, shocked to learn that Aldhani was responsible for the attack. He tells her at first that it will just be a “network”, but that’s too far for Mothma. Luten bites back, saying there are no rules going forward. They also need every loan they can get.
Obviously, he can’t do it alone, and Mothma focuses on trying to get anyone to the cause, keeping things quiet and making sure Perry is none the wiser.
While all this is going on, Andor returns to Maarva and B2EMO after the Aldhani raid. Maarva warns that Ferrix is now under the Emperor’s rule, so he really shouldn’t be there. They are there to stay and everything is turned upside down. While Andor excitedly brings up the many credits he has, they decide to log off and find somewhere to go together. Maarwa is shaken and argued, deciding to wait until morning.
The thing is, Andor is no longer welcome in the system. Bix mentions that he caused chaos to descend on their planet, and he mentions that he killed 2 corps guards to start this whole mess. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but after handing over the 12k loan he owes, he returns home.
After escaping the stormtroopers, Andor returns to Maarva’s home. He decided not to go with her. Stays in Ferrix. He decided to be a part of the Rebellion, and barring the Aldhani raid, the recent bills spurred him on.
Andor isn’t sure this is a good idea and worries about the backlash. However, every rebellion needs a spark, and this raid is the beginning of what we know as the Rebel Alliance.
Dedra speaks at the next Imperial Council meeting, spilling what she’s been keeping bottled up for a while. He notes that this Aldhani raid was part of a Rebel effort to obtain highly restricted Imperial components. By entering the Sector Crime Reports, he could indeed prove a link between the theft of their equipment and distribution to rebel groups.
He also throws Blevin under the bus and gets some credit from Partagaz for taking the initiative. “Watch your back,” she says softly when she walks outside with him.
On the planet Niamos, Andor lives with him under a new alias, Keef. The thing is, the Empire was too spread out and he was stopped by a few Shoretroopers who believed he was part of a rebel group. Keef/Andor is arrested and sent to prison for six years. Originally a six-month sentence is now much harsher and things are not looking good.
Episode Review
The fallout from the Aldhani raid is now felt and boy will it be reflected. As we know, if you corner a caged animal, it’s bound to break loose at some point, and a lot seems to be true of this rebel alliance.
Aldhani started the Raid on the Rebel Alliance because we know it’s going to happen, even though this chapter is pretty slow overall. This is perhaps to be expected, especially after last week’s action-packed chapter, but I’m all for this series dropping more than one episode at a time.
Anyway, this is another decent chapter and one that sets the political stage for an interesting second half of this season.