Andor: Season 2: Episode 8: Who Are You?
What is it ? : The episode documents the hours leading up to the Ghorman Massacre, as the people discover that the Empire has landed mining rigs onto the planet and that the square outside the Imperial offices has been opened to the public once more so they gather there to demonstrate.
Andor decides to join the crowd outside as it will give him a better chance at killing Dedra Meero, and he communicates with Wilmon as the Ghorman Resistance gather with the crowd.
Syril is summoned to the Imperial Offices, and as he makes his way through the demonstration he encounters, Carro Rylanz, the political leader of the Ghorman Resistance, who has realised that this is a trap, the Empire intends the people to start some kind of violence which will allow the Empire to respond in kind. Carro realises that Syril is somewhat behind this, but Syril tells him that he has only been trying to prove there is outside interference and the Ghorman people should not be punished for the Resistance.
Syril enters the Imperial offices, passing only steps from Andor as he does, and encounters a group of KX Droids awaiting orders. He gets to Dedra and confronts her about what is happening, throttling her to discover the truth, and disgusted when he finds out the plan has been to provoke the Ghorman people all along, so he leaves offices to rejoin the people outside. Chants of "We are the Ghor, and the Galaxy is watching." is replaced as the voices of the crowd are raised in song as they sing the anthem of the Ghor people.
Imperial Stormtroopers seal off the exits to the plaza, and the untrained recruits begin pushing forward into the crowd, and are pelted with rocks. An Imperial Sniper shoots one of the recruits in the head, and the others panic opening fire on the crowd and a full riot breaks out. The Resistance open fire on the Imperials with their weapons, and molotov cocktails are thrown at the barricades, but the blaster fire from the Stormtroopers begins slaughtering the crowd.
Andor finally gets a good aim on Dedra as she watches the carnage, but Syril spots him and leaps onto him. The two fight, with Syril getting hold of the blaster and aiming at Andor, but Andor asks him, "Who are you?", and Syril lowers his weapon slightly before being shot and killed by Carro.
Andor and Wilmon leave the plaza, witnessing the KX droids hurling rioters into walls and smashing them with barriers. As they leave, a KX Droid approaches them, under fire from both their blasters it stalks towards them, only to be crushed against a wall by a speeder. Andor loads the broken droid onto the Speeder while Wilmon goes back for his friends in the resistance, and as he leaves he can hear the calls from the resistance for help, any help as they are slaughtered by the Empire.
On Coruscant, Eedy Karn sits with friends watching the news from Ghorman with tears in her eyes . . . .
High Points : Wow.
This is so good, it looks amazing, the music is fantastic, and the build up is incredible. The horror as we see characters we've seen throughout the Ghorman storyline get killed in various brutal ways.
And the way everything comes together for Syril, he actually cares about people, his reason for going after Andor from the beginning was that he was a murderer, so the Imperial plan for the Ghorman people shocks him. His belief was that the Ghor could be protected from this if he could prove that they were being provoked by outside influences, and then in the middle of everything he encounters exactly that, Andor, a outside provocateur, the person he's focused on for all these years, but it turns out they have no idea who Syril is.
Even Dedra gets some moments of emotion, almost breaking and forcing herself to appear normal as the slaughter continues under her command. (I wouldn't be surprised if her order is used against her later, and she is demoted or penalised for the Imperial "overreaction").
This looks absolutely stunning, the plaza is filled with people, and as the action focuses on the main characters, we still see the slaughter happening behind them, with some of the most brutal deaths we've ever seen in Star Wars.
And we even get to feel for Eedy, while she might have been a horror, she's still a mother whose only child was just killed, so share a moment with her, although I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes a media darling, telling the story of how the Ghorman Resistance caused the death of her son who only wanted to serve the Empire.
Low Points : Not that they needed it, but I continue to be surprised at the lack of air cover the Empire uses on Ghorman. We see Tie Fighters blast overhead, but no gunships or the like used.
So what do you really think ? : Wow, just wow, this was debatably the best episode of Star Wars every broadcast. The tension builds for the first part of the episode, and then is all released in the most horrible way possible as the Ghorman Massacre unfolds.
Final Words : Usually Andor episodes work on a three part sequence, with two parts building tension until something happens and that tension is released, the three part prison sequence, and the riots on Ferrix in season one, and all of the arcs in season 2. But here we are and part two of this arc has all the tension released? Except it's not, as there are the consequences and repercussions of Ghorman to come, so we've got yet more tension and action to come.
Score : 9.9/10
Comments made about this Article!
There are currently no comments for this article, be the first to post in the form below
