Andor Episode 4 Foreshadows Rogue One In 2 Very Specific Ways
Warning: Spoilers for Andor episode 4
Events that took place in Andor episode 4 foreshadowed what happens in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in two very different ways. Rogue One, the adventure that introduced (and killed off) Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, is a few years off in regards to Andor’s place in the Star Wars timeline, but the show is certainly laying the groundwork for the story. But in the timeframe of the show’s first few episodes, Cassian is hardly the Rebel hero he’s meant to be.
With each of Andor’s two seasons comprised of 12 episodes each, the series was crafted as a long and nuanced origin story for one of the two main characters featured in the Star Wars spinoff movie. Andor is confirmed to be set five years before Cassian gave his life in the mission to discover the Death Star’s weak spot. By going back that far, Andor should be able to provide a deep look at the experiences that turned Cassian into a hated enemy of the Empire. But though Andor’s first three episodes have set the stage for him to become allied with the Rebels through his reluctant partnership with Luthen Rael, a great deal still has to happen before he can become Rogue One’s champion. As of Andor episode 4, he’s a skeptical new recruit unsold on the rag-tag group of rebels he’s found himself with.
Though he still has a way to go before he can be considered a hero to the Rebel cause, Andor is already foreshadowing both his fate and a key plot point in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Two separate conversations quietly teased the event that will ultimately cost Cassian his life at the end of the movie. In addition to including a line about Cassian potentially dying for Luthen’s people, Andor episode 4 snuck in a reference to Scarif, an important location in Rogue One.
During his talk with Cassian at the beginning of the episode, Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael dropped a line that was chillingly accurate to Cassian’s future in the Star Wars universe. While trying to convince Cassian to join the fight, Luthen said, “I know that no matter what you’ll tell me or yourself, you’ll ultimately die fighting these bastards”. Sadly, he’ll turn out to be right five years later.
At the meeting of Imperial officers in Andor episode 4, one of the characters seated at the table noted “an increase in construction shipments going to Scarif”. Nothing else on this matter was said, but the significance of this statement is explained by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Scarif was the planet where the Death Star project began and where the Empire housed the station’s secrets, thus making this operation the catalyst for Cassian Andor’s death in the movie.
Andor releases new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.
