Andor: “Daughter of Ferrix”

Welcome to my weekly review of Andor, where I will be walking us through each episode and giving my thoughts on the show. My reviews will follow my usual format: an overview of the plot (so be aware, there will be spoilers!), my review of the show, then a few “Moments in canon” – references that link to other media and the galaxy as a whole. Today, we’ll be looking at episode 11: “Daughter of Ferrix”.

Plot Summary

Cassian and Melshi evade a TIE Reaper patrol by holding onto the side of a cliff. Melshi is struggling, but Cassian helps him keep going.

On Ferrix, Maarva has passed away. Brasso and the Daughters of Ferrix arrange for the removal of her body and the next steps. B2EMO is struggling to adapt to the loss of Maarva, but Brasso has him help the Daughters of Ferrix. Cinta and Corv (one of the ISB, who has taken up a role undercover keeping surveillance on the Andor residence) both watch on as Maarva’s body is removed from the home. Back at the hotel, which is being used as Imperial Headquarters, Corv and Captain Tigo inform Meero of the situation, including the local plans to hold a funeral procession, as she had been a prominent member of the community. Captain Tigo intends to refuse any request for a permit to do so, but Meero orders that one be given, just with a limit on the time and numbers.

Cassian and Melshi come across a pair of Narkinians and try to steal their quadjumper, only to be caught in a net trap. The Narkinians recognise them as escaped prisoners, who will be worth a thousand credits each. The pair accuse the prisoners of having spoiled the local water, but Cassian and Melshi manage to convince them that this si the fault of the Empire. The pair decide not to hand them in to the Empire and even agree to get them off-planet.

“We have rules for a reason. You don’t seem to understand that.”

Vel comes to the galleria,which annoys Kleya as she is breaking protocols. Vel notes that the Rael’s ship isn’t there, but Kleya refuses to divulge where he is. Vel says that she is leaving Coruscant the next day, as she has received word that Maarva Andor has passed away and that funeral preparations are ongoing; Kleya agrees to inform Rael.

Brasso returns to Maarva’s home, intending to take B2 with him, but B2 is still struggling with her passing and convinces him to stay there for the night. Elsewhere, Bix—in a bad way following her torture—is taken for further questioning, She is shown a holo of Anto Kreegyr and asked if this is who she introduced to Cassian.

Vel and Mon Mothma watch on as Leida and a group of Chandrilan girls recite a vow as part of an ancient custom. Vel is clearly against the customer, but Mon tells her that Leida supports the custom and personally found the elder they needed, while Perrin has approved it. Mon tells Vel all the details about the money that she had been moving for the Rebellion, and how new checks, made worse by Aldhani, has left her in a situation where she cannot account for a missing 400,000 credits, which Tay Colma was trying to help her sort. She is unable to tell her about her meeting with Davo Sculdun though, as Leida’s ritual has ended so she comes over to enjoy Vel’s company.

In the middle of the night, Syril Carn is woken by a call from Linus Mosk, who is working on Morlana One but still has contacts within Pre-Mor who are working with the Imperials on Ferrix. Mosk informs Karn that Cassian Andor’s mother has passed away, and that there is a chance Cassian may show up at the funeral.

Cassian and Melshi are dropped off on Niamos. Cassian sneaks into the accommodation that he had been staying in prior to his arrest, and retrieves his case with 2 blasters, Nemik’s manifesto and the remaining credits from his cut of the Aldhani pay-out.

“How do you know I won’t tell him?”

“I don’t. I don’t know what you’ll do.”

Rael visits Saw Gerrera’s base on Segra Milo. Saw now wants to join Kreegyr in the attack on Spellhaus, which forces Rael to divulge that he knows the ISB are aware of Kreegyr’s plan. Gerrera realises that Rael is not planning to warn him, but is eventually convinced not to warn Kreegyr, in order to mislead the ISB into believing that they are invincible. As Rael leaves Segra Milo, he is approached by an Imperial cruiser, which grabs him in a tractor beam. Rael stalls for time, pretending to be an Alderaanian ship, then uses his countermeasures to escape the tractor beam, take out the chasing TIEs and jump to hyperspace.

On Ferrix, Xanwan receives an anonymous transmission, which he soon realises is from Cassian. Cassian asks him to pass a message to Maarva to say that he is OK and she would be proud of him, and Xanwan is forced to tell him about Maarva’s passing. Cassian returns to Melshi, who notes that they may be the only ones who successfully escaped Narkina 5. Cassian gives Melshi one of his blasters and the pair agree to split up in order to improve their chances of survival and getting out word of what was happening in the prison. The pair bid farewell to each other.

Review

Another great episode This may not have reached the same level as last week, but this was a vital penultimate episode, moving all the pieces into position on the board for what I’m sure will be an incredible season finale.

I must admit that I was surprised by Maarva’s passing, but it’s a clever narrative way to bring Cassian back to Ferrix, and as every character knows this, everyone searching for him (Vel, Dedra, Syril and probably Luthen) will all be making their way there, which is surely going to lead to a confrontation that will likely make episode our previous action episodes feel small in comparison. I’m very interested to see exactly how things play out though, as we haven’t heard about Paak since Tigo requested to hang him, so has that been done and accepted by the locals, or will that help to spur them on to fight back? Will Cinta choose to help the locals or stick to her mission? Will Bix be freed, and can she recover? Meanwhile on the other side, will Syril’s input help or hinder the Empire? There feels like so much to cover next week, and I hope that this means we get a slightly longer episode, though I trust the team not to get their pacing wrong on the conclusion after getting it just right for 11 episodes.

Moving onto Mon’s story and Genevieve O’Reilly absolutely killed it again this week. After seeming so calm and in control for most of the series, these last couple of weeks have seen her seriously running out of options and losing control, and O’Reilly gets that balance between stoicism and barely-contained emotion. I’m really interested to see how things carry on with Mon and her family, especially now that we see Leida going down an ancient route which I believe is a hint towards her being open to an arranged Chandrilan marriage, as Sculdun clearly wanted between her and his son last week, or will Vel manage to find a way to help and keep Leida safe?

Similarly, the scene with Rael and Saw Gerrera was great, as it shows Rael not wanting to unnecessarily waste a second cell, while also seeing some good in Saw as he is not just immediately willing to sacrifice Kreegyr and his men. It’s also interesting to me that Rael appears to have used middlemen with Kreegyr but gone in person with Saw, so did he never see Kreegyr as a legitimate threat to the Empire? The scene following this with his escape from the Imperials was great fun and a nice moment of action in the episode to change the pace up a little. But boy does his ship interest me! A droid programmed into the ship, the ability to switch transponders, countermeasures to deal with tractor beams and hidden weapons… I certainly want to find out more about this ship and it’s history. One final note here, and it’s regarding the conversation with Kleya about needing him to help with negotiations for the sale of a valuable object. I think that this is a code for bringing someone important into the rebel circle… Is this leading to a Bail Organa tease next week? Or perhaps someone with a more military mind, such as Jan Dodonna or Davits Draven…

“We’re gonna take her out in a minute, if you want to say goodbye. I’ll have them clear the room if you want to be alone.”

“I d-d-don’t want to be alone. I want M-M-Maarva.”

A few final thoughts from the show:

• I hope that season 2 shows us Cassian and Melshi’s reunion. Will it be one of them who convinces the other to join? If Melshi joins due to Cassian, it would certainly add extra weight to his sacrifice in Rogue One
• For everyone who was moaning about the lack of aliens in the show and not considering that most wouldn’t be welcome in the Imperial Senate or that certain species likely went to different prisons, the aliens were back once again where they should be.
• Just a little note, but I love how we see a TIE Reaper patrolling rather that a TIE Fighter, as the Reaper would allow for Prisoners to be recaptured whereas a TIE Fighter is just a single seater so would have had to either blast prisoners or direct other Imperials to their location
• If anything happens to B2EMO, we will riot! Nothing bad should happen to this good boy, and I love how he is treated like any other grieving family member in this episode rather than a machine

Moments in Canon

• Luthen Rael’s Fondor Haulcraft is not the first rebel ship we have seen able to swap transponders; this was one of the features that made the Ghost such an important ship for the Spectres and Phoenix Squadron in Rebels

What did you think of the episode?

Thanks for reading. Rebellions are built on hope….