Andor Season 2, Episodes 10-12 Review: “Life Shows Us What We Stand to Lose”

Andor Season 2, Episodes 10-12 “Make It Stop,” “Who Else Knows?” and “Jedha, Kyker, Erso” bring us back to the beginning, even if this beginning is actually the continuation of the story. The final walk for Cassian Andor is actually the beginning of Rogue One, the beginning of a story we know. One that doesn’t end well for him, but one that sets the stage for the first big triumph for the Rebellion—and for the galaxy to finally achieve freedom.

In many ways, when Rogue One came out, we understood it as the story of the heroes behind the heroes. We grew up with Luke, Leia, and Han. We knew what they did, the roles they played. Depending on how much we thought about it, some of us understood that their story wasn’t the only story. Their story was just the tip of the iceberg. There were so many more stories that led to every Rebellion victory.

Cassian Andor’s story was just one of those, but it turns out to have been a pretty crucial one in the grand scheme of what happened. Without Cassian, without Bix, without Luthen and Kleya… the rebels never get the plans to the Death Star. And if they don’t, what happens then? Can the Empire ever be defeated? Is there ever an end to the Emperor? The answer seems pretty clear.

MORE: Where does Andor fall on the timeline? Here’s the answer.

FREEDOM SCARES YOU

This batch of episodes is, in many ways, a tribute to Luthen Rael and what he did. Every Rebellion, perhaps, needs a “the ends justify the means” guy, and Luthen has played that role to perfection throughout the whole of Andor. But here, near the end, with victory so near he can touch it, Luthen is forced to put his money where his mouth is and make the ultimate sacrifice for the cause. It comes after he’s already sacrificed everything else in his life, from the people he cares about to the possibility of recognition or appreciation. And he does it, without thinking about it. Because if there’s one thing Luthen is, just like Dedra Meero, it is faithful to his convictions. It’ll end up, ironically, costing her, not that anyone’s going to shed a tear for her. It’ll cost Luthen too.

Same goes for Kleya, who this final batch of episodes reveals not just as Luthen’s partner, which we always knew, but as his almost daughter, someone he saved and took under his wing. Someone who would do anything for him, and for the mission they share—even end the life of the man who saved hers.

Fighting to win, as these three episodes show, sometimes means losing and losing and losing until the win is finally there, at our fingertips. But it also means that when it is, we cannot, will not let it escape. It is, after all, the thing Luthen and Kleya have been fighting for. That’s why he makes his choices and trusts her to make hers. And that’s part, once again, of why the Rebellion has a shot in the end.

MORE: Our review of the first three episodes of Andor is here. And episodes 4-6 here! And here’s episodes 7-9.

WE FIGHT TO WIN

Kleya and Cassian’s final meeting, that entire mission with K-2SO and every reckless but still calculated decision Cassian makes in this batch of episodes, down to the fact that he finally seems to understand where Luthen is coming from, confirms Bix’s decision to leave. Heartbreakingly, the galaxy was doomed once, many years ago, because one man, Anakin, could not let go of the woman he loved. Perhaps, in a twist of fate, the galaxy was then saved because a woman could let go of the man she loved and put the cause first.

“If I die fighting the Empire, I want to go down swinging,” has been the vibe of Andor from the beginning, but somewhere in the middle, there was a Cassian who would have given it all up for a chance to live a quiet life with Bix somewhere. For a chance to raise the child he did not even know they were having together, in Mina-Rau. But the Empire never stops coming. That’s a reality Bix understood, perhaps in a way Cassian refused to see. It’s not that he didn’t get it, it’s that he didn’t want to. So Bix chose for him.

What makes it more heartbreaking is that Cassian will never know. Bix, hopefully, will get to find out one day that her choice did make a difference, but we don’t know that she will. The galaxy will go on. Stories will keep being told. That’s the thing about sacrifice. Is it really one if you know you will be rewarded, in the end? Bix did what she felt like she needed to do. So did Cassian Andor. And in the end, the galaxy was better for it. The galaxy got to go on because of it. It’s kind of poetic, even if the only ones who know are us.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Andor Season 2, Episode 10-12? Share with us in the comments below!

All episodes of Andor are now available to stream on Disney+.