‘Andor’ Episode 12 Review: ‘Rix Road’ Is Everything Great About the Series in One Episode
Usually, Andor likes to build tension across three-episode arcs before igniting a powder keg in the third installment, but in Rix Road, all that work was done in a single episode. It was fitting that the season finale felt like everything Andor is about in microcosm.
Nearly every main character gathers on Ferrix for slightly differing reasons. With everything centered around Maarva’s funeral, the tension began to build as we waited for the big event to kick off, not unlike the Aldhani job in The Eye. The calm before the storm has an emotional charge to it as Cassian Andor and the Ferrix locals are all affected by Maarva’s passing, but the music does an excellent job of coaxing those emotions out of you in the episode’s more touching scenes.
With the Empire blatantly unaware that their actions are only angering the locals further, you find yourself relating to the people of Ferrix. Every move the Imperials make only heightens your own burning sense of injustice and anger, feelings that simmer until they reach boiling point and chaos ensues. What follows is so cathartic — the season really has been building up to this moment, and it doesn’t disappoint.
Rix Road is a fitting conclusion to season 1 of Andor. It’s full of emotion that will have you close to tears one moment and ready to take up arms in anger the next, and when that powder keg explodes, it’s a wild ride. It’s such a shame that we have to wait another two years for the next season.
Spoilers ahead…
Fittingly, the episode kicks off with the son of Paak, the man who was hanged a couple of episodes ago, building a bomb ahead of the funeral. This scene immediately sets the tone for the rest of the episode, as we know that bomb is going to go off and we’ll have a riot on our hands. The boy occasionally looks up at a hologram of his father while he works — this is a deeply personal conflict charged with emotion, reflective of how the rest of the city feels going into this finale.
Dedra Meero returns to Ferrix, eager to oversee the Empire’s operation and arrest Cassian Andor and Axis… if the latter is indeed in attendance. She walks the streets incognito with a fellow Imperial, getting a feel for the city, unaware that Cinta has noticed their presence and is spying on them from afar.
Cassian returns to Ferrix roughly around the same time as Dedra, and manages to avoid all of the main players in this episode for the duration of the funeral. It makes sense as this man knows the streets and tunnels better than the Rebels or the Empire. We see him listening to Nemik’s manifesto in private; final evidence that Cassian has at last begun to believe in a cause bigger than his own self-preservation. His experience in the prison really did change him, and he is fully on board with the desire to bring down the Empire. However, any acts of rebellion are put on hold when he finds out Bix has been taken captive.
He meets Brasso and one of the other members of the Daughters of Ferrix to find out where she’s being held. His conversation with Brasso in the tunnel is heartbreaking as his friend relays Maarva’s final words to him. He tells Cassian that his mother always believed he could be an “unstoppable force for good” and that she “loved him more than he could ever do wrong”. It’s exactly how a mother should feel about her child, and reinforces Cassian’s desire to rebel.
It’s certainly a lot healthier than the relationship between Syril and his mother, the former of which is also on his way to Ferrix with Sergeant Mosk. Like Dedra, he’s there to hunt down Cassian Andor, but while she wants him for information, he just wants him brought to justice. He doesn’t even know that Dedra will be there until he spots her from the crowd later on.
Even Luthen touches down on Ferrix, eagerly anticipating Cassian’s arrival at the funeral so that he can kill off the one loose end who knows his face. It’s fascinating that he’s there to witness the fruits of the Aldhani heist firsthand. This is exactly what he was hoping the heist would inspire. With all the main players gathered in one spot, all that’s left to do is wait for the funeral to start.
Thankfully, it starts early. The Imperials had pushed back on the Daughters’ request to hold the funeral at noon, insisting it be done at 2pm after lunch so that any signs of protest would be sluggish and easier to quash. But they’re surprised when the funeral begins early, presumably at noon, when the Daughters had wanted it.
The procession is equal parts sombre and defiant. The marching band is magnificent, playing music respectful and mournful while their eyes glitter with grief and rage. The event tugs at the heartstrings as soon as it begins. It does a great job of showing just how beloved Maarva Andor was to the people of Ferrix — it seems everyone in the town has turned up to watch the procession, with crowds lining the streets and gathering on rooftops. I certainly underestimated how important Maarva was to the city.
That heart-wrenching display is matched by some infuriating acts of stupidity from the Empire, as the Imperial prefect orders a show of force to block their way. It’s clear as day that this display will only escalate matters, and it hits even harder as this behavior is recognizable from recent events in real life as well. It says a lot about Dedra’s own arrogance that she didn’t think to stop this.
B2EMO rolls up and displays a giant hologram of Maarva, who has recorded a motivational speech as her final words, designed to inspire the citizens to rise up and take back Ferrix from the Empire. It’s an excellent speech, up there with some of the best we’ve had this series, including Kino Loy and Luthen’s ones from episode 10. I was surprised that we didn’t get to see Maarva on her deathbed last week, but clearly it was so that this would be her final send-off. These had to be her final words, displayed as a show of strength rather than a position of vulnerability. Even Luthen looks inspired by her words, surprised at what he’s stumbled onto.
The Empire allows it right up until the point when Maarva mentions fighting, which prompts the prefect to attempt to cover up the hologram with his cape and order everyone to leave. This is when everything kicks off, and the tension that has been building so palpably finally ignites.
Brasso spartan-kicks the prefect in the chest — it felt incredibly cathartic to see this pompous prick finally get some comeuppance after so many weeks of being subjected to his ridiculous superiority complex. Paak’s son, who had been struggling to contain his rage throughout the speech (Muhannad Bhaier’s performance is excellent), hurls his bomb over the line of riot shields and flips the Imperial tank, which in turn ignites all the explosives it had been carrying.
With explosions going off and civilians charging the riot shields, all hell breaks loose. The prefect manages to crawl to safety for a while, but Dedra gets caught in the melee. I was worried the protest would turn into a massacre as the Empire began firing on the civilians, but they have numbers on their hands and begin to overwhelm the Imperials.
Cassian manages to rescue Bix with the distraction outside. She almost doesn’t believe he’s really there — you have to wonder if she’ll ever be the same after her torture. Dedra is grabbed and forced to the ground, losing her pistol in the process. I’m past the point of feeling any sorrow for her now, and was merely watching with interest, but she gets whisked away by Syril, who managed to infiltrate the melee and pull her away under the guise of a protestor.
Dedra is rattled by her experience. As a member of the ISB, she’s likely not been exposed to danger like this before, and Denise Gough does an excellent job of conveying the fear, panic, and nervous energy that’s rushing through her. She’s taken further off-guard by the realization that Syril is the one who saved her out of the blue. It seems Syril has gotten what he wants, as she thanks him for saving his life. I was surprised neither of them tried to kiss the other, but it seems they’ll be seeing much more of each other next season. Surely Syril will be further rewarded for his efforts with another promotion, this time to the ISB.
Luthen leaves for his ship, having failed to spot Cassian, only to find him waiting aboard the Fondor. It takes him a moment, but eventually he recognizes part of himself in Cassian. He can see that Andor is ready to sacrifice every part of himself in the name of rebellion, just like he has. The final scene finally showed us the moment that Cassian Andor signed up to the Rebellion, and it was masterfully done.
Though she wasn’t present on Ferrix, we also got some Mon Mothma story. She picks up her husband from a casino, who flagrantly denies gambling even though Mon sees right through him. It seems he has a history of addiction, and Mon appears to suspect that Davo Sculdun might be providing him the money so that he owes him a marriage betrothal. Their taxi driver listens in on the whole conversation, and we later learn he is reporting to Lieutenant Blevin in the ISB after all.
The next we see of Mon, she is introducing her daughter to Davos’ son. I don’t like this development; Mon Mothma has always been portrayed as a paragon of light and virtue in Star Wars, so to see her compromise her beliefs like this in the name of the Rebellion doesn’t sit well with me. However, if she has had her hands tied by Perrin’s addiction, then it’s an easier pill to swallow. For what it’s worth, her daughter seems very pleased with the betrothal, coming off the back of her nationalistic beliefs in the previous episode. But it’s not about her; this is Mon Mothma’s reputation and legacy that has been tainted here.
Finally, the post-credits scene gives us the answer we’d wondered for weeks now: what exactly were Cassian and the other prisoners building on Narkina-5? The answer is parts for the Death Star’s focusing laser. I think I’d have preferred that we never knew what it was, that it was meaningless in the grand scheme of things. However, while the truth was quite predictable, it’s no less grim.
Andor‘s season finale was a roaring success, worthy of everything that came before it. This show has easily been some of the best Star Wars content we’ve ever had, and I can’t wait for season 2.
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
