Andor Episode 6 Showcases One Of The Most Beautiful Sights In The Star Wars Universe
This article contains major spoilers for episode six of "Andor."
This week's episode of "Andor" brings us to the conclusion of its latest three episode arc on Aldhani. After days of preparation, Cassian (Diego Luna) and his scrappy group of rebels finally perform their heist on the Imperial garrison that has been occupying the territory.
While adventurous heists in Imperial disguises are a tried and true "Star Wars" tradition, something that especially sets "Andor" apart from the rest is the tangible sense of danger. The rebel group Cassian has found himself part of is mostly made up of displaced refugees and defecting Imperials, and despite their brave leader, Vel (Faye Marsay), they are inexperienced for the mission at hand. That's why Luthen (Stellan Skarsgard) assigned Cassian, with all of his mercenary combat and espionage skills, to steer the group in the right direction.
However, there is one pivotal key to this mission that will help ensure their success: a special distraction in the form of a natural phenomena on the planet, "The Eye of Aldhani," which brings us one of the more beautiful moments in the "Star Wars" universe — a perfect moment of spectacle, which also grounds the heist in a unique sense of urgency.
The Eye of Aldhani lights up the Imperial occupied horizon
The Eye was first mentioned in the fourth episode, "Aldhani," described by Gorn (Sule Rimi) as a celestial event that the locals of Aldhani gather around to witness once every three years, for as long as anyone remembers. He describes the sight as comparable to "50 meteor showers all at once," forming an eye over the horizon of the sky. The tech nerd of the group, Nemik (Alex Lawther), quickly corrects Gorn that the phenomenon is a "recurrent band of crystallized noctilucent micro densities." It's essentially a passing of unstable crystal particles that explode and light up the sky.
As Aldhani came under Imperial control, however, less and less Aldhanis have been making the journey to watch the event, especially since the sacred ground has been occupied by the Empire. Though because of the blinding beauty of this phenomenon, this turns out to be a dangerous but effective opportunity for our group of rebels to make a daring escape after their raid on the Imperial garrison.
After much anticipation of this event, this week's episode, "The Eye" finally shows us the Eye of Aldhani in action, both from the perspective of our daring rebels and their commandeered Imperial transport, and from the locals and Imperials that are watching the formation of the event from the ground below. As the phenomena lasts only a few minutes, the entire mission hinges on the rebels ability to pull off a quick and timely escape.
This gorgeous scene grounds Andor in the spirituality of Star Wars
There's a haunting contrast between high-stakes urgency Cassian and his rebel group are experiencing, dodging fire from TIE Fighters and navigating the field of exploding crystals, and the religious experience the Aldhanis are having on ground. As tribal people, this is one of their very last connections to their culture and natural world before the incoming threat of the Empire changes everything. For the rebels, this is an act of self-sacrifice, putting themselves in danger in order to preserve the Aldhani livelihoods and traditions.
"Andor" is a consistently gorgeous series. It's shot in full confidence of its full, practical sets and naturalistic locations, but the Eye of Aldhani event is where the VFX work got to shine. Both in space and on the ground, the crystal lights felt unique and dynamic. As window dressing for a TIE Fighter battle, it was unlike any setpiece "Star Wars" has done before, keeping the moment equally dazzling and thrilling. On the ground, it felt like a spiritual and harmonious scene of nature. Despite the gritty and paranoid tone "Andor" immerses us in, this is still the same universe where everything is tied together by the Force.
Aldhani was an original planet developed for this series, and with six more episodes to go, we hope to see more creative and visually exciting moments like this in the future of the show.
"Andor" streams Wednesdays on Disney+.