Right?

Insane stunt work otherwise

Still can’t get over on how beautiful the eye looks, plus the direction of the episode was so spectacular, kudos to Susanna White and the crew for making this episode looked beautiful.

something something Sentimental Value idk

The Empire was infamous for its hyper militarization. To keep it simple, I'm only going to account for the Empire's military spending up to 0 BBY, because that's when the Empire was probably at its peak. To give you an idea of how expensive its military spending was, here's a glimpse:

1x Death Star: 1,500,000,000,000 credits.

4x Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts: 4,573,400,000 credits (1,143,350,000 credits per ship).

25,000x Imperial-class Star Destroyers: 375,000,000,000,0 credits (150,000,000 credits per ship).

Total budget: 5,254,573,400,000 credits

And this is probably less than a percent of the Empire's overall budget. Even as early as 19 BBY, Mon Mothma noted half the budget was being spent on these enormous new Star Destroyers. And this is not accounting for all the various other ships, secret projects, and superweapons Palpatine was developing in secret. Not to mention Palpatine was obsessed with immortality and would have spared no expense achieving this goal, with Byss (Legends) and Exegol (Canon) as prime examples of how much effort Palpatine placed in this endeavor. In both instances, Byss and Exegol formed the foundation for a new Empire, meaning Palpatine would have invested an unfathomable amount of credits towards both planets to develop the infrastructure needed to revive the Empire.

In short, the Empire's infamous spending on its military instead of the poor was a hallmark of its tyrannical rule.

Edit: OK, everyone, I get it, you think I don't recognize the Empire's tyranny. I do, I was just using it as an allegory to criticise America.

Truly a Gravo Bony 👏 moment.

No wonder Sheev trusted him with the death star. 🫪

Princess Leia made a speech to honor Luthen Rael's memory, and she gave symbolic medals to the last two living heirs of Luthen - Kleya and Wilmon.

(Vel didn't want to participate but she did stand on the other side, in the audience.)

First of all, I love Andor.

It’s been a long time since I’ve fan-girl’d this hard over a series. It’s gritty, relatable, heartbreaking, and somehow manages to make side conversations feel as tense as lightsaber battles. Chef’s kiss 🤌 massive credit to Tony Gilroy and the entire writing team.

I completely understand that from a timeline standpoint, this story runs directly into Rogue One. Cassian’s fate is already written. We know where his road ends. But.. I need more. Lol I’m not ready to stop seeing the formative years of the Rebellion through this team’s lens.

Andor made the galaxy feel lived in. It made the Rebellion feel messy, expensive, terrifying, and deeply human in a way Star Wars rarely does. So naturally my brain started wandering… If there was one character who could carry those themes forward, who would it be? And after season 2 it feels surprisingly obvious to me??

KLEYA MARKI.

Kleya is a very different character from Cassian, but hear me out. Cassian’s story was about someone reluctant to get involved becoming a believer. He mostly improvised, and found ways to survive. Kleya is different, she is fully bought in to the point it’s all she really knows. She is tactical, an organizer, she focuses on counter-intel and opsec. Andor was a field operative anti-hero. Kleya is a force behind the scenes, and in many ways one of the architects of the rebellion.

Andor as a show was fantastic because it focused less on big names and followed the people operating in the shadows. Cassian was one of those people. Kleya could be an even better example.

One thing that makes her uniquely interesting is that Tony Gilroy essentially created both Kleya and Luthen from scratch. Unlike so many Star Wars characters, they aren’t carrying decades of lore, novels, comics, or future appearances that writers have to work around. Which creates a rare opportunity, because there is still so much room to move. You could write a story almost anywhere in the timeline without feeling like your hands are tied by established canon.

Beyond that freedom, the emergence of her character in Season 2 sold it for me. For most of the show, Kleya comes across as controlled, calculating, difficult to read. In season 2, we get a bit of backstory and start seeing what’s underneath. How rooted she is in the rebellion based on all that she has lost and experienced, and how deeply connected she is to Luthen. All building up to…

*THE HOSPITAL SCENE*

Easily one of the most powerful moments in the entire series. When you think about what it actually required beyond just the skill involved. Kleya had to (without hesitation) recognize the situation, make the call, accept it, and execute it flawlessly. A devastating act of loyalty. The ultimate expression of trust between the two of them. Luthen trusted Kleya to do what had to be done when nobody else could. Kleya trusted that Luthen understood exactly why it had to happen. AND, Elizabeth Dulau absolutely crushed that entire arc. I felt like she delivered one of the best performances in the show, and that’s saying something. THAT SAID ~

MOVING FORWARD,

there are a couple obvious challenges with making her the focus of a future story.

One of the things that made Kleya so effective throughout Andor was her ability to hide in plain sight. By the end of Season 2, that’s no longer true. Her and Luthen’s operation has been exposed. The ISB got closer than ever before. Kleya was under surveillance going into the hospital, she is officially on The Empire’s radar. They may not know everything after this, but they’re actively searching.

So I feel like the biggest question isn’t whether Kleya is capable enough to carry a story. It’s how does she continue operating after she’s been seen? How do you return to the shadows once the spotlight finds you?

On the surface, this sounds challenging. But I feel like you could take this in so many directions. On one hand, we’d likely be watching her re-build a secret network? Which sounds very stressful, but it would be compelling af. It prompts so many questions!

- What information would the empire uncover about her and Luthen upon discovering their identities!?

- What might that mean for the shadow operatives they work with? Who would suddenly be at risk? Would the empire act swiftly and capture those individuals, or would they surveil them?

- Would Kleya care enough to inform those folks or try to save them?

- Would those recovery missions prompt collaborative efforts with Mon Mothma and the rebellion for resource purposes, or risk of information being collected by the Empire?

On another hand, we’d be watching her survive in a world of intense scrutiny and paranoia. She was already very much living that way, but now shit is really popping off. The empire is fully conscious of the threat, surveillance is criminally intrusive and the risks are higher than ever. She’d have to reinvent herself.

What might THAT look like? A hair cut? Tattoos? Does she integrate herself on a certain planet where the clothing would maybe be more concealing?

If Andor is ultimately a story about sacrifice, it would be perfect continuity for Kleya to give up the last remaining pieces of her own identity.

Maybe Andor should remain exactly as it is. Part of me thinks that’s probably true. But if there was one character who could carry the themes, tone, and moral complexity of the show forward without feeling forced, I vote Kleya 1000%.