A major moment in Andor lays the groundwork for Saw Gerrera’s decision to abandon Rogue One’s Jyn Erso, a symptom of his high paranoia.
Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Andor episode 11
Star Wars: Andor has laid the groundwork for Saw Gerrera’s dark evolution as a character, one that leads to his abandonment of Jyn Erso from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Becoming the Partisans’ leader during the Empire’s reign, Saw Gerrera (played by Forest Whitaker) has frequent contact with Luthen Rael, who was attempting to get Saw to ally his forces with other Rebel cells. However, Luthen’s lack of compassion and the confirmation of his secret network of spies creates a noticeable shift within Gerrera.
As seen in Andor episode 11, Saw agreed to Luthen’s earlier proposal to work with Anto Kreegyr. However, Luthen has since learned through his mole in ISB that Kreegyr and his men are walking into a trap. To Saw’s shock, Luthen has decides not to warn Anto, lest the ISB grow suspicious of an information leak. This leads to Saw becoming incredibly suspicious about who Luthen has embedded within the Partisans to spy on him. As such, this looks to be the origin point of Saw’s paranoia seen in Rogue One, a major reason why he abandoned Jyn Erso when she was 16, fearing she would be recognized as the daughter of an Imperial engineer and used against him.
Saw Gerrera’s Paranoia Shows How Miraculous The Rebellion Is
While there is a dark necessity behind Luthen’s methodology and his lack of compassion and decency, Saw is proof of the consequences. As soon as Gerrera sees Luthen’s true self, he immediately becomes paranoid that Luthen could sacrifice him at any time for the greater good if the scenario calls for it. This also supports the reasoning behind Saw and his men becoming as isolated as they were from other Rebel cells, along with Saw’s belief that only he had “enough clarity of purpose” to achieve victory over the Empire.
Because of paranoid Rebel leaders like Saw and the dark nature of Luthen, it’s a wonder the Rebel Alliance ever came to be at all. The oppression and power of the Empire is so vast that Luthen’s choices often feel necessary, though it certainly doesn’t help forge allies and bonds when his plans are exposed as they are to Saw Gerrera in Andor episode 11. With so many different ideologies at play, someone like Luthen, who’s willing to sacrifice players to save the game, is as dangerous as he is valuable, and now Saw Gerrera knows it.
Andor Makes Saw Gerrera’s Rogue One Story Even Better
All of Saw Gerrera’s scenes in Andor definitively support the tragic evolution of his character. It’s a compelling new chapter that shows how Saw transitioned from his more idealistic self during the Clone Wars all the way to the events of Rogue One where he well and truly compromised ahead of his demise on Jedha. Merciless and distrusting, Saw Gerrera became incredibly disenfranchised from the dream of freedom he once had. As such, Star Wars: Andor has undoubtedly made his character even more dynamic than he already was.
New episodes of Andor release on Wednesdays on Disney+.
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