Obi-Wan Kenobi Ruined the Empire (But Andor Fixed It)

Andor was the first time TIE fighters were portrayed as threatening and terrifying, which is a great metaphor for what separates Andor from the rest of Star Wars

The heist crew was undercover for months planning the operation, they built a "kill house" To train on they had a great plan revolving around a once every few years event, they had an inside man an officer highly placed, the guards were a skeleton crew of backwater garrison troups. And they still lost half the crew, that is real consequences.

Best part was that the Aldhani garrison were not frontline troops (stormtroopers) and were still intimidating and competent.

It's also interesting how the Imperial base in Andor was relatively low-priority, quite small in scale and importance on a planet with pacifist natives... but Fortress Inquisitorious was a top-priority secret base where several of the Empire's top brass frequently showed up.

What I like about Andor's portrayal of the Empire is that the Empire is portrayed in such a... normal way. Because of the destruction of Alderaan, writers feel the need to make depictions of Imperial evil that feel like they're on a similar level, which is how you get lots of books that mention the Empire committing a genocide or building a new orphan-crushing machine or something. But in Andor, they're just doing... what oppressive governments all throughout history have done: Crush indigenous cultures, use prison slavery, fire on protestors, and grind communities like Ferrix into the dust. Even Imperial Army troopers, who should feel like pondscum compared to stormtroopers, feel threatening during the Aldhani heist because you know they could absolutely kill the heroes. In a weird way, I find myself enjoying when Dedra is on screen because she's not talking about how to cause the most civilian casualties or optimize the orphan-crushing machine, she's just a (relatively) competent bureaucrat who wants to most effectively do her job.

The Stormtroopers in Obi-Wan are not only incompetent at their job. They seem to have no interest in personal survival. This is implausible.

I love that Andor showed the TIE Fighters as actual threats. Given that TIEs have been notoriously weak in the star wars films, showing them as a major threat is a great way of displaying the change in scale

I think it's also worth noting that while the ISB in Andor has competent, intelligent individuals, the system as a whole is plagued by pettiness and political infighting which ultimately leads to the Empire's demise. It makes a much better story than portraying the Imperials as stupid.

Another thing worth noting about the "No one would be stupid enough to attack the fort" idea in both shows: In Obi-Wan Kenobi, we're talking about a powerful Inquistor fortress, whereas Andor, it's an minor garrison that doesn't have much significance in the grand scheme of things. Thus, hoping that the appearance of strength will prevent people from attacking it is a far more resource effective defensive plan when talking about low significance property like a minor garrison.

I really hope Andor season 2 retains the quality... it will be gutting if execs commandeer it because of its critical (if not box office) success.

the only way I can feasibly justify Kenobi now is that it’s all taken from a young Leia’s perspective and retelling with a lot of embellishment. Andor’s Star Wars is the Star Wars I support wholeheartedly

Its not only Kenobi that treated Stormtroopers badly. In the Mandalorian they are literally killed with a rolling rock, straight out of Looney Tunes and if youve ever seen Dave Filonis Rebels Cartoon then enough said

I love how in Andor the Force and the Jedi are not mentioned once. A refreshing perspective on the galaxy's Average Joes

It's also worth mentioning that the only reason the rebels were able to pull off the Aldhani heist (in addition to a rarely naturally occurring phenomenon the Empire did not yet fully understand) was that the rebels had an inside man. An imperial officer had defected to the rebels and had yet to blow his cover. He was able to rearrange the security of the base and frame it as a favour to the troops so they could watch the meteor shower. Without this, none of the rebels would have made it to the vault. And even THEN, the soldiers realised something was up and converged on the rebels, killing some of them and nearly preventing their escape. Plus the imperial defector had good relations with the local populace, therefore likely more knowledge of the meteor shower than the average imperial. He was probably the one who informed the rebels of it in the first place. And the show spends a good deal of time emphasising how detached the imperials are from the culture of the locals, indirectly explaining why they haven't yet identified the potential weakness in their airspace.

I appreciate that Andor managed to depict the Empire as something which had the capability to take and keep control over the galaxy. It shows lots of the inner workings and planning that allows such a huge body to continue such mass control. Another great video with some excellent points.

Your not wrong. Its rather odd how inconsistent the Empire is portrayed every time. Andors take is the most grounded take on the Empire. Just showing the countless ISB conference meetings, data/intelligence collecting, keeping/status quo/paperwork. And thats just 1 agency. Also noticed the cinematography used for the Empire in Andor. The camera panning from the black polished boots on the floor rising up ie. Ep. 4 and 7. Dedra prepping her uniform in ep 7. Dedra is portrayed with ambition, authority, polish, professionalism, brains. But also has lots of real human qualities ie. Work drama w/Blevin, healthy work relationship with assistant, or true fear in the finale.

I just cannot get over how blatantly they ripped off Fallen Order and how stupid it makes the Empire look. It’s even more embarrassing that the game is an overall better story with far more compelling characters.

Andor shows the incredible heights that Star Wars can still reach when written by competent people. Andor is my favorite Star Wars project ever and it only makes the other Disney crap even more frustrating. They clearly have the ability to make great Star Wars and choose not to.

I saw a video once where someone counted all the shots fired by storm troopers in the opening scene of A New Hope, then counted the rebel dead, and calculated that they had an insanely high shot-to-kill ratio. It probably wasn't intentional as odds are Lucas didn't have any information on what a shot-to-kill ratio was. But they were terrifyingly affective there. Fast forward and an entire platoon of storm troopers in Obiwan couldn't hit a single one of the rebels crowded together in a room with zero cover. It should have literally been like shooting fish in a barrel.

What further backs your point up. Everyone who entered the inquisitors base made it OFF the inquisitor base alive. 5 of our Heroes/rebels lost their lives in the Aldahni Heist. 5 Good guys died...like that is REALISTIC. Even a character we came to start liking in Nemik !!!