'Andor' Succeeds Where Other Star Warriors Fail

This brings us to the new Disney+ series Andor, named for one of the sacrificial heroes of Rogue One, Cassian Andor, and aiming to build on that much more impressive beginning for a somewhat different kind of Star Wars story, less glamorous, less addicted to selling toys, and more concerned with bringing out questions of virtue through characterization. Altogether, Andor is about a man coming from a life of crime and suffering, yet rising to the nobility of sacrifice. It has an ugly similarity to the recent series Kenobi, an execution in the opening episode, so it is not perfect by any means. But since we know Andor dies in Rogue One, even this violent beginning makes sense—our protagonist will eventually expiate it with his own death.