Andor Retcons Cassian's Backstory In A Way Fit For A Spy
This post contains spoilers for the three-episode premiere of "Andor."
From the moment it was announced, "Andor" seemed eager to challenge our perceptions surrounding the Galactic Rebellion. The series aims to depict the birth of that rebellion through the eyes of Cassian Andor, a character that most remember for his nebulous past and definitive death in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." Ironically, the morally-grey Cassian is a perfect entry point into one of the most complicated time periods in "Star Wars" history. "Andor" reveals the origins of the rebellion in tandem with Cassian's own origins — and neither is going to play out exactly how we thought it would.
Cassian's interesting origins
Well-versed Cassian fans expected "Andor" to finally offer a glimpse of the character's home planet Fest. It's never been mentioned in any live-action media yet; not even Cassian speaks of it in "Rogue One." But from the way Cassian speaks of his past, it's clear something really tragic must have gone down on his homeworld. However, while that may very well be true about Fest, it doesn't seem like Cassian experienced it. From the very first episode of the series, Cassian's childhood is established on a very different planet, the forested world of Kenari. It's a far cry from the cold, mountainous features on Fest.
At first glance, this likely feels like a retroactive change to Cassian's backstory — the kind that doesn't necessarily merit an explanation. After all, Cassian is more or less uncharted territory, and Fest isn't exactly common knowledge either. But again: few things in "Andor" are black and white, and that also extends to Cassian's murky origins.
Though "Andor" confirms that Kenari, not Fest, is actually Cassian's homeworld, the series finds a way to reincorporate the latter planet into his story in an incredibly clever way. When Cassian gets into hot water for the death of a few enforcers on Morlana One, a search goes out for a Kenari male. The fact that this is actually Cassian is something of a secret on the planet Ferrix. Only those who know Cassian well, like his adopted mother Maarva (Fiona Shaw) and his friends, actually know he's from Kenari. Cassian otherwise claims that he's from Fest — which serves as a cheeky nod to a lesser-known part of his lore, and a perfect bit of characterization.
But, why all the secrecy?
That Cassian and Maarva feel the need to cover up the former's origins speaks to something deeper. The third episode of "Andor" reveals exactly how Maarva came to adopt Cassian — but why exactly did they lie about his real home planet? What's so bad about being from Kenari? Thanks to the investigation of the thorough Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), we know that Kenari is virtually uninhabitable in the present timeline, thanks to an Imperial disaster on the planet. But it feels like there's much more going on with the planet than "Andor" has revealed just yet.
"Andor" is definitely taking its time to unspool the larger story of its titular spy. Though his adventure with the fledgling Rebellion is taking him far from home, let's hope the series will continue its work into building out his interesting past.
The three-episode premiere of "Andor" is now streaming on Disney+.