On September 21, 2022, Andor fundamentally reinvented the Star Wars franchise. A year later, its impact cannot be overstated.
When Andor premiered one year ago this week, the general response to its first three episodes, which all dropped on Disney+ at the same time, was … interesting. While everyone seemed to welcome the Rogue One prequel with open arms and positive reviews, some were quick to express their concerns over the show’s pace. On the one hand, it’s not hard to see why. Andor‘s first three installments essentially serve as both the series’ inciting incident and its prologue.
Recommended Videos One year later, however, it’s startling to look back at the TV series’ first few installments and realize just how quickly and efficiently they do their job. Andor’s premiere, in particular, not only perfectly sets up the 11 episodes that follow it, but it also subtly yet forcefully establishes the series’ unique tone, story, and characters.
The rest of the episode is comprised of hushed alleyway conversations and meetings between corporate blowhards. No one, at any point, wields a lightsaber, mentions Emperor Palpatine’s name, or talks about the Sith and the Jedi.
The series is one of the rare franchise efforts that actually earns the label “grounded.” From the moment it begins to the moment it ends, Andor is concerned only with what’s happening on the literal streets of Star Wars’ massive fictional galaxy. Brick by brick, its first three episodes set up and flesh out the show’s world-within-a-world. In doing so, they make Andor’s greater fictional universe feel more real and alive than any other Star Wars title in recent memory.