A tense, stunning Andor takes us to the fireworks factory

“Wouldn’t you rather give it all at once, for something real?” Luthen asked Cassian Andor in a conversation that feels like it happened a lifetime ago. Once desperate to cut and run, Cassian’s time embedded with the rebel cell on Aldhani has changed him—and the show—for the better. Halfway through Andor season one, Cassian has finally found a purpose that fits him; a cause to believe in. But no good deed goes unpunished, and Andor’s shining moment of its hero’s self-realization comes at a heavy, heartbreaking price that reminds us war has very few winners.

As promised, “The Eye” gives us a spectacle on a level heretofore unseen in this particular corner of the galaxy, but we’ll get to all that. First and foremost: does it count as a Star Wars bottle episode if the whole thing takes place on one planet? Everything, up until the final two minutes of the episode, goes down on Aldhani, starting with another spirited sparring session between Cassian and the “true” rebels. He’s had enough of being dismissed as a mercenary waiting to put his feet up and forget the world when the mission’s done. His rage against the Empire, which has lingered at the margins of his character for so long, has finally found its center.

While Cassian, Vel, and co. get into position, we get a little more backstory on the would-be heroes. Alex Lawther has done excellent work as the determined but vulnerable Nemik, and has a sleepless night ahead of the big robbery. We also find out Taramyn is a former Stormtrooper. It explains his proclivity for barking orders and for the practice drills that Vel runs. Skeen tells Cassian that Cinta flew off the handle when she found out. “They slaughtered her entire family.” As much as I’ve enjoyed the time on Aldhani, I wish we’d gotten more into the dynamics of the rebels, rather than mostly learning about them as individuals via Skeen’s narration.

And hark! The first meteorite whooshes overhead. As far as ticking clocks go, I’ve yet to see one as cool as a slowly increasing frequency of multicolored shooting stars over the foggy highlands. As the Aldhani pilgrims file into the valley for their long-standing ceremony, Nemik, Skeen, Taramyn, and Cassian all blend in as Imperial officers. Their movements are seamless, their backstories airtight. Basically, they make Luke Skywalker bumbling around the Death Star look like a Benny Hill-ass chump. As the other officers stay in the valley to keep an eye on the “Dhanis,” Gorn takes them up to the base. If only it were that easy.

Immediately inside the base, the standoff begins. We get one of the most genuinely upsetting sequences in the franchise as Skeen holds Commandant Beehaz’s wife and child at gunpoint (blaster point?) It’s a brief moment, but it feels like an eternity, reminding us there’s no such thing as a peaceful rebellion.

One of Andor’s main strengths has been its thoughtful and measured approach to just who benefits, and who suffers, in a war. The scene is imbued with as much moral ambiguity as there can be in a story about spaceship nazis. Thankfully, no little space boys were harmed in the making of this scene. Cinta makes the save, and the group does an excellent job capturing and nullifying any and every threat on the base. They even enlist the help of the skeleton crew left at the base to load up the freighter. Industrious!

Safe to say, it’s all going a little too smoothly. As the Eye forms in the night sky, TIE pilots prepare to make chase. During takeoff, a big stack of credits crushes Nemik (capitalism metaphors don’t get much more explicit than this), and as soon as he gasps, “I can’t feel my legs,” we know the inevitable is coming. Grunting through the pain, he can still guide Cassian through the eye (destroying the TIE fighters in the process) before collapsing. He did, indeed, give everything all at once to something real. Nemik was the first true hero of the formal rebellion, and we know now that without him, there would be no escape. No Death Star blueprints. No celebration on Endor. Thank you, Nemik.

But there’s more heartbreak to come. As the group waits on a doctor to help Nemik (he can’t). Skeen gets Cassian alone and proposes the two of them split the haul in the freighter and take off. 40 million credits each. Cassian’s acute disappointment is palpable. Skeen thinks he’s seen a kindred spirit in Cassian, who once said he wants to win and walk away. “Your brother, with the orchard?” Cassian asks, already knowing the answer. “I don’t have a brother,” Skeen tells him, claiming he’s a rebel, but his rebellion is “me against everyone else.” Diego Luna’s preternaturally sad eyes have never been sadder as he hears this, and kills Skeen before he can do any more damage. Cassian’s just lost a friend and has to lose another in rapid succession.

The final moments of “The Eye” are, on the surface, small moments of victory. Mon Mothma, giving a speech to the Sante, notices increasing whispering and activity around her, indicating something big has gone down. In his Antiquities shop, Luthen gets wind of the robbery on Aldhani and retreats to laugh in celebration. It hits a few seconds later, that while the comfortable orchestrator of the plan revels in peace, his team has never been more broken. Like I said at the beginning, war has very few winners, and those winners rarely fight.

Stray observations:

• It’s a safe bet we won’t return to Aldhani, so director Susanna White (who helmed the previous two episodes) sends it off in style. It may be my favorite Star Wars world in a long time. The term “grounded” has been used a lot in describing Andor so far, but it really has been a joy spending so much time on this tactile little planet.
• I loved the juxtaposition of the Aldhani celebration against the gritty robbery. No matter how dark things get, peace and community is resilient.
• A lesser show would have ended on the high note of the escape through the eye. Andor sticks around to reckon with the consequences of the “war” part of Star Wars.
• Someone said “shit” a couple of weeks back, and in this episode, we get a quick, crude scene of an Imperial officer denigrating the Aldhani natives and taking a piss. George Lucas’ hapless band of Stormtroopers would never!
• I mentioned Aldhani is among my top Star Wars planets. Does anyone else have any sentimental favorites?