Luthen's Shop In Andor Episode 4 Is Packed With Star Wars Easter Eggs
One of the more enigmatic characters introduced in "Andor" is Stellan Skarsgård's Luthen Rael, a mysterious member of the Rebel Alliance that sets the entire story in motion as he reaches out to recruit our titular Cassian Andor to the anti-Imperial cause. Episode 4 of the series stays true to its spy-espionage tone in "Star Wars" by allowing us to see Luthen don a regal disguise, complete with a royal purple cloak and a curly wig.
In order to discreetly communicate with ally Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) about rebel secrets without raising suspicion from her escorts, Luthen travels to Coruscant and assumes the role of a flamboyant galactic antique shop owner.
While one of the strengths of "Andor" so far is its refreshing amount of restraint from obvious cameos, universe connections, and references, we can appreciate them in appropriate contexts like this. Luthen's shop is stuffed with interesting and curious easter eggs from around different corners of "Star Wars" canon.
Luthen's shop pulls from the galaxy's many different alien cultures
There's an interesting thread between the more obvious Easter eggs, as Luthen seems to have gotten ahold of a piece of Mandalorian Beskar, proudly displayed in the front of the shop. Since "Andor" takes place after the siege of the planet Mandalore, the implication is that this piece of armor was ripped off a fallen Mandalorian and collected for trade in the aftermath.
One of the "oldest" pieces in his collection he shows off to Mothma is an "Utapaun monk cudgel," directly referencing the planet Utapau from "Revenge of the Sith," where Obi-Wan defeated General Grievous. There is also a Twi'lek kalikori on one of the displays, which is a traditional family-tree heirloom passed down from multiple generations, sold in this store merely as a piece of table display.
There's a double-headed serpent figure on display, and it looks exactly like one documented on the real world British Museum website. As a piece of Aztec art, this has lots of significance to the themes of the show. All the antiques mentioned previously are pieces of in-universe diaspora that have been displaced by the empire, leading for these nuggets of culture to be resold for high-class bidders. The serpent sculpture, despite not having relevance to "Star Wars" lore, is making a connection to colonization's scars from the real world to the fictional happenings within the galaxy.
Actor and executive producer Diego Luna has expressed that his Latin American heritage would be a direct influence on "Andor" and its themes, and here lies a concrete reference to Indigenous history.
Some trinkets in Luthen's store have bigger implications
There's a fair share of "Star Wars" deep cut references. One background detail that stood out in the scene was the intimidating, dark set of armor on display towards the back end of the shop. Fans of the 2008 video game "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" will recognize this as the Sith Stalker armor that Galen Marek once donned as Starkiller, Darth Vader's sith apprentice. The game is now officially deemed part of the Legends canon, so don't expect to see Marek cross paths with Cassian anytime soon, but it's a nice nod to a now decanonized, pre-Disney era expansion of the lore.
When Mothma's driver is called over as a distraction, there are a few tablets that have interesting carvings and symbols on them. Eagle-eyed "Star Wars: Rebels" fans will recognize these as identical to the murals Ezra Bridger discovers in the Jedi Temple in Lothal, which are key to accessing the world between worlds, a space and time bending pathway that can be accessed by users of the force. In this place in the timeline, Lothal has not been destroyed yet, so are there potentially even more portals that can access the world between worlds out there? We expect to see this concept revisited in the "Ahsoka" series coming in 2023, so we might get answers soon enough.
Another reference to "Rebels" comes in the form of cubic Jedi and triangular Sith holocrons sitting next to each other in the backroom of the shop. What vital information do these hold? Unfortunately, there's no known force sensitive character in the show who could offer us insight.
Andor's subtle approach to these Easter eggs is admirable
There are also a few Easter eggs that are purely just good fun. There's what appears to be the outline of a bullwhip, frozen within carbonite hiding in the background of the store, perhaps a cheeky reference to Lucasfilm's sister "Indiana Jones" franchise. There's a remnant of what seems to be Jedi Plo Koon's mask. Was it taken from his body after Order 66? Sometimes "Star Wars" likes to throw grim curveballs for lesser known background characters like that.
While "Andor" and its serious tone is overall less concerned with fan service than previous entries to the Disney "Star Wars" canon, some Easter eggs and references can be found in abundance for those diehard fans who are into digging deep enough. Hopefully this philosophy can be applied to more "Star Wars" series moving forward.