Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
#StarWars #Andor #CassianAndor #episode5 #breakdown #explained #handoftheempire
Andor episode 5 is here, and it needs to be broken down, so let’s get straight into it.
We open with Syril sulking in his bedroom after he has lost his job and he takes a moment to look up at the sun. Which is kinda symbolic of coruscant society, in the sense that the richer you are the higher up you live. And its moment of sadness for the character realizing that he has failed to reach his own aspirations.
Man then gets some really tough love from his mother and his mom feeds him some cereal with of course blue milk. Probably the most favorite star wars beverage ever and first seen in a new hope. On the table we some meilooruns. Now meilooruns were of course the fruit introduced in star wars rebels and were known to be Hera Syndulla’s favoruite.
Cassian wakes up to realize his belongings are missing and finds it in the hands of Skeen. Skeen shows off his tattoo which has the initial KH on top of what looks to be a barcode, which Andor points out represents Krayt Head. Krayt obviously refers to the Krayt dragon, the large reptilian monsters that reside on the planet tatooine. So perhaps this was some sort of criminal gange that Skeen was part of before joining the rebellion.
But what is more interesting is the next tattoo that Skeen shows Andor, and it's a tattoo that Cassian calls by the hand. Now I think that this could be in reference to the empire of the hand, or simply known as the hand. The empire of the hand in legends was a martial confederacy located in the unknown regions. It was an expedition funded by the galactic empire in order to explore and pacify the unknown regions under the leadership of none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn. Beyond just expanding the Empire, the hand had another purpose which was to guard the empire against unknown threats rising from these regions. So perhaps this was a small setup for the Ahsoka show, which we know Thrawn will be a part of. Cassian then goes on to mention that he was in prison on Sipo when he was thirteen, which seems to be a new location that we’ve yet to explore. Judging by Skeen’s response he seems to know it well, which could suggests that both were in captivity or subjugated as a result of the hand’s activities. But you kinda have to take Cassian’s story with a grain of salt. As the show has shown so far, you can’t really tell if Cassian is telling the truth, and its further called into question when Skeen says he’s never heard of it. Although if it was true, it would make the timeline possible as he did say that he was in prison before arriving on Mimban as a cook. Skeen then says… which is actually an African proverb, meaning that while the Empire might forget that they’ve hurt them, those who have been hurt by the empire are not so quick to forget.
We are then introduced to Lidea Mothma, daughter of Mon Mothma, and its pretty clear from the scene that her family resents her for her political commitments. But while the scene makes out Lieda to be an ungrateful spoiled brat, in legends, she does eventually grow up and begin to understand the importance of her mother’s work. It should also be noted that Mon Mothma apparently also had a son in legends by the name of Jobin who would later die during the battle of hoth.
We get some more insights into Nemik character, and he is sort of an ideological revolutionary and very much reminiscent of young student revolutionaries seen throughout the cold war period. So its pretty clear that the show is portraying him to be a sort of ideological center for the team. And while Skeen represents a more simplistic reason to want to fight against the empire, that being revenge, Nemik represents the rebels who fight for a higher ideal. Its just really interesting to see how the show is able to create so much nuance within the rebellion and reasons for that rebellion.
Lieutenant gorn make a quick inspection on the aldhani cultural site and we find that the imperials have been using it a sort of hang out area. Basically disrespecting the heritage site and at first it appears that Lietenant gorn is unhappy about it simply because he is aware that the operation is about to begin soon, but we later learn that he had an aldhani love interest who was killed. So the anger here really is just the Lieutenant being angry over the imperials disrespecting a cultural site important to someone he once cared about. A neat little detail that adds a whole lot more to the character.
Back on Ferrix we see the empire moving in, and essentially evicting people out of their homes to make way for Imperial operations. We are introduced to captain tigo who seems to have been put in charge of the operations on Ferrix. So its likely that we will see him mess up the situation leading to riots in later episodes...
#StarWars #Andor #CassianAndor #episode5 #breakdown #explained #handoftheempire
Andor episode 5 is here, and it needs to be broken down, so let’s get straight into it.
We open with Syril sulking in his bedroom after he has lost his job and he takes a moment to look up at the sun. Which is kinda symbolic of coruscant society, in the sense that the richer you are the higher up you live. And its moment of sadness for the character realizing that he has failed to reach his own aspirations.
Man then gets some really tough love from his mother and his mom feeds him some cereal with of course blue milk. Probably the most favorite star wars beverage ever and first seen in a new hope. On the table we some meilooruns. Now meilooruns were of course the fruit introduced in star wars rebels and were known to be Hera Syndulla’s favoruite.
Cassian wakes up to realize his belongings are missing and finds it in the hands of Skeen. Skeen shows off his tattoo which has the initial KH on top of what looks to be a barcode, which Andor points out represents Krayt Head. Krayt obviously refers to the Krayt dragon, the large reptilian monsters that reside on the planet tatooine. So perhaps this was some sort of criminal gange that Skeen was part of before joining the rebellion.
But what is more interesting is the next tattoo that Skeen shows Andor, and it's a tattoo that Cassian calls by the hand. Now I think that this could be in reference to the empire of the hand, or simply known as the hand. The empire of the hand in legends was a martial confederacy located in the unknown regions. It was an expedition funded by the galactic empire in order to explore and pacify the unknown regions under the leadership of none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn. Beyond just expanding the Empire, the hand had another purpose which was to guard the empire against unknown threats rising from these regions. So perhaps this was a small setup for the Ahsoka show, which we know Thrawn will be a part of. Cassian then goes on to mention that he was in prison on Sipo when he was thirteen, which seems to be a new location that we’ve yet to explore. Judging by Skeen’s response he seems to know it well, which could suggests that both were in captivity or subjugated as a result of the hand’s activities. But you kinda have to take Cassian’s story with a grain of salt. As the show has shown so far, you can’t really tell if Cassian is telling the truth, and its further called into question when Skeen says he’s never heard of it. Although if it was true, it would make the timeline possible as he did say that he was in prison before arriving on Mimban as a cook. Skeen then says… which is actually an African proverb, meaning that while the Empire might forget that they’ve hurt them, those who have been hurt by the empire are not so quick to forget.
We are then introduced to Lidea Mothma, daughter of Mon Mothma, and its pretty clear from the scene that her family resents her for her political commitments. But while the scene makes out Lieda to be an ungrateful spoiled brat, in legends, she does eventually grow up and begin to understand the importance of her mother’s work. It should also be noted that Mon Mothma apparently also had a son in legends by the name of Jobin who would later die during the battle of hoth.
We get some more insights into Nemik character, and he is sort of an ideological revolutionary and very much reminiscent of young student revolutionaries seen throughout the cold war period. So its pretty clear that the show is portraying him to be a sort of ideological center for the team. And while Skeen represents a more simplistic reason to want to fight against the empire, that being revenge, Nemik represents the rebels who fight for a higher ideal. Its just really interesting to see how the show is able to create so much nuance within the rebellion and reasons for that rebellion.
Lieutenant gorn make a quick inspection on the aldhani cultural site and we find that the imperials have been using it a sort of hang out area. Basically disrespecting the heritage site and at first it appears that Lietenant gorn is unhappy about it simply because he is aware that the operation is about to begin soon, but we later learn that he had an aldhani love interest who was killed. So the anger here really is just the Lieutenant being angry over the imperials disrespecting a cultural site important to someone he once cared about. A neat little detail that adds a whole lot more to the character.
Back on Ferrix we see the empire moving in, and essentially evicting people out of their homes to make way for Imperial operations. We are introduced to captain tigo who seems to have been put in charge of the operations on Ferrix. So its likely that we will see him mess up the situation leading to riots in later episodes...
