Andor Just Connected All Parts Of The Star Wars Timeline (Except 1)
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Andor episode 4.With Andor episode 4, the Disney+ subtly connected the show to almost every different era of the Star Wars timeline. Andor’s place in the Star Wars timeline was originally confirmed in the first three episodes, with the show taking place five years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, with the show notably lacking in easter eggs and references to the wider Star Wars universe, the connections to different sections of the timeline might have come as a surprise.
Andor episode 4 was separated between two different locations. One of those was the planet that lends its name to episode 4’s title, Aldhani. The other was Coruscant, the planet introduced in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy that served as the Republic’s head of state and now serves as the Empires. It was in the latter that the majority of connections to the many Star Wars eras were found.
Andor episode 4 also introduced Mon Mothma into the fold, played by Genevieve O’Reilly, a character confirmed to be in the show prior to its airing. Through Mon Mothma, Luthen, Coruscant, and some other outside references, Andor connects itself to the prequel trilogy, original trilogy, sequel trilogy, and even contains an extremely rare reference to the Old Republic era. The only major era missing from the episode was the High Republic, which is unfortunate given Disney’s popular novel franchise set in this time period.
The main eras Andor episode 4 connects itself to are obviously the prequels and originals. Given how the show takes place between the two eras, it makes sense for most of the connections to stem from these parts of the timeline. For example, the introduction of Mon Mothma to the show doubles up the connections, as she has appeared in both the prequel and original trilogy. While Mon Mothma’s speaking role in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was ultimately cut from the film, she is still visible in one of the scenes. The character then goes on to feature in Return of the Jedi as a Rebellion leader for the assault on the second Death Star.
Following on from this, Mon Mothma both lives and works on Coruscant providing one of the more overt prequel connections of Disney Star Wars thus far. Since appearing in the prequel trilogy, Coruscant has been notably absent from Star Wars projects, with Andor changing this to connect itself to the prequels in its locations. The other obvious original trilogy connections come in the form of the Empire, with the Imperials functioning as the series’ main villains.
In terms of the sequel trilogy, Andor episode 4 contains one reference when Syril Karn returns home to Coruscant. When Karn is exiting a spaceport, an announcement alerts passengers that the travel service to Hosnian Prime will be departing. Hosnian Prime is the planet that served as the headquarters of the Galactic Senate and was the galactic capital of the New Republic during the sequel era. Hosnian Prime features in Star Wars: The Force Awakens when Kylo Ren uses Starkiller Base to destroy the planet and the rest of the Hosnian system.
When concerning the Old Republic, a reference to the era largely considered to be outside of canon comes from Luthen. In Andor episode 4, Luthen hands Cassian a Kuati signet made of blue kyber that celebrates the uprising against Rakatan invaders. In the stories of the Old Republic, the Rakata were an amphibious humanoid species that were the first to invent hyperspace travel. This reference, no matter how brief and seemingly insignificant, is huge as most Old Republic stories are considered Legends. This now means Disney is more open to using areas of Legends to explore canonical stories that could be set in the Old Republic,
Andor ignoring the High Republic is something of a disappointment, but does make some sense. The showrunners’ decision not to include a Star Wars: The High Republic reference (which they could have easily done through Luthen’s antique shop) was likely driven by the limited explorations that the era has previously seen. The High Republic (in the post Legends timeline) has been explored primarily in a relatively recent book series and has not yet been seen in a live-action film or TV project from Lucasfilm. While the same might be said for the Old Republic, that era has been extensively explored in video games that a good number of Star Wars fans will be familiar with.
Importantly, one of Disney’s upcoming TV shows will be set in the waning days of the High Republic. The Acolyte, though currently without a release date is expected to come to Disney+ in the not too distant future and will focus on the rising of Sith power towards the end of the High Republic era. The lack of reference in Andor could be designed to avoid taking any attention away from the upcoming Disney+ show, with The Acolyte being used to build the High Republic in live-action from the ground up.
New episodes of Andor release on Wednesdays on Disney+.
