Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 1-6 of Andor.Ever sinceAndorwas first announced,Star Warsfans have speculated on how the series might bringDiego Luna’s future Rebel leader closer to the man he was inRogue One: A Star Wars Story. This week’s episode, “The Eye”, takes a major step toward that goal as Cassian and a group of Rebels attempt to steal an Imperial payroll on the planet of Aldhani. Throughout the episode, there are direct parallels to the events ofRogue One, as well as foreshadowing many of its events
The first and most obvious parallel is the attempted heist on Aldhani. Both heists are an attempt to strike a major blow against the Empire; in “The Eye,” stealing the Imperial payroll will affect the Empire’s operations as Aldhani is a major hub of operations. InRogue One, stealing the plans for the Death Star will let the Rebels topple the planet killer and give them a much-needed edge against the Imperials. Both of these missions highlight the lengths that somepeople are willing to go to in order to fight for the Rebellion, and they carry the highest stakes. Failure isnotan option; the Rebels will either succeed or die.
In the tradition of heist films, both missions go south immediately. While Cassian’s team manages to scramble communications long enough for them to infiltrate the payload vault, their chatter is soon broadcast over the radio. Cue a group of suspicious Imperials, and a firefight when said Imperials realize that not everything is all right. And as forRogue One…Scarif, the sandy planet where the Death Star plans are being held, is a veritable fortress. There’s a force field covering the entire base, said force field is guarded by a fleet of Star Destroyers, and the facility itself contains a garrison of Stormtroopers. Simply put it’s a miracle that the Rogue One team was able to get the Death Star plans. A similar edge-of-your-seat escape happens inAndorwhen Cassian has to pilot the freighter containing the Rebels' payload through a hail of fireworks - with a trio of TIE fighters on their tail.
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The Biggest Heartbreak Is the Loss of Nemik
But the biggest, and most heartbreaking moment, comes toward the end of the episode. As Cassian and the other Rebels make their getaway, Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther) is grievously injured. Despite Cassian flying him to a nearby doctor, Nemik doesn’t survive his injuries - and the grief weighs on Cassian. Prior to the heist, Nemik had been conducting an anti-Imperial manifesto and was furious at the way the Empire ground the galaxy under its heel. That same fire is present in Cassian duringRogue One; in a heated argument with Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), he says, “I’ve been in this fight since I was six years old!” Nemik’s words are also shown to have an influence on Cassian, and that continues after his death as Cassian is gifted his manifesto. The words contained within will no doubt shape Cassian’s growth as a Rebel leader.
But Nemik provides another heartbreaking parallel toRogue One. During the escape sequence, he yells at Cassian to “climb” into the atmosphere to escape Rebel forces. Those words were repeated years later by Cassian’s faithful droid companion K-2S0 (Alan Tudyk), who tells Cassian and Jyn to climb to Scarif’s data storage room while he’s being shot by Stormtroopers. Both Nemik and K-2S0 believe in Cassian’s drive to the mission and are willing to sacrifice their lives to see that he survives. And with a second season ofAndorin the works, it’s highly likely that K-2SO will make an appearance down the line.
One final moment within “The Eye” offers both a parallel toRogue Oneand a hint at Cassian’s future with the Rebellion. While Nemik is being operated on, Arvel Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) suggests that they take the payroll and split it between them, while leaving the other Rebels behind. This is a far cry from previous episodes, where he seems to believe in the cause - and he does, but he just likes money more. In disgust, Cassian shoots him and tells Rebel leader Vel (Faye Marsay) about it before departing. InRogue One, Cassian also shoots an informant after learning about the Death Star - showing that there are no lengths to which he won’t go to protect the Rebellion. His dispatching of Skeen shows that even though he may not be all the way in on the Rebellion just yet, he still has some standards. And with Season 1 at its halfway point, there’s plenty of time for the series to expand upon and add even more parallels between the two stories.
