I like that they gave Cyril a tiny bit of redemption, but not more than he deserved. He isn't someone who would commit or knowingly countenance genocide. And that's the only redemption he had the chance to receive. He took too long to get there for anyone to take a chance on him.
I like how they broke up the two two ideas of walking away from something and fighting against it. It’s a little simplistic to believe that those who become disillusioned by the Empire immediately become rebels. It takes a lot to walk away, but choosing to fight against it is another thing entirely.
I like that Mira hit him with "befehl ist befehl, we'll be rewarded" and his reaction was "what the fuck did you say, what the fuck did you get me into, get away from me you monster". I've said it before, he was just a guy who found meaning in being a rent-a-cop and was happy to be useful.
I'll be honest, his end would have been 80% better if an imperial soldier had come in, seen a guy with a gun and shot him. That would have been the final nail in the coffin of his betrayal by the Imperial system.
I absolutely agree with this take. He didn't deserve the sympathy of amending his ways and doing The Right Thing. Just to see that he'd done The Wrong Thing. I sincerely hope that he's contrasted by a Dedra next week whose trauma has only galvanised her further into authoritarianism.
Remember this is the same guy who was outraged to his core by his CO ordering him to cover up the murder of two dirty cops. I believe Syril feels some empathy for the Ghor, but I think his mostly shaken by the scale of the Empire's corrupt deception. They broke "the rules". They violated "order."
Yes but he still made a choice. The point I think is that it could have led to further choices. He might have wound up a hero. But it was far too late for that.
I always figured the point of Syril was to warn about the futility of a life spent serving fascism, and for a little glimmer of a moment I thought I'd be wrong 😭
It's not futile that, unlike his girlfriend, he turned away before going over the edge. But it wasn't enough to save him or give him a chance to make more of his life.
He's got that moment where the Gorman are getting massacred and he's about to maybe do something. But then he sees Cassian and he flies into a violent rage.
Yeah I was locked in for that sequence, like... for a second I really thought Syril might wake up.
I like that he's one of two maybe decent people blown away in these episodes because they took too long to make choices. And I like that Rylanz gets to learn who he is twice. First: before the massacre, that he isn't truly a rebel. And second, after his family dies, that he sure as hell is one now.
One my my favorite details is how horrified Mon Mothma was at seeing how casually the hardened killer sent to extract her gunned down two people. This was her first experience with the actual actions she’s been funding. Felt like an authentic reaction.
I love this because she's been trying to fight the Empire with diplomacy and legislation, and now she's for the first time encountering the violence that is necessary for revolution. The rebellion definitely needs her, but it also needs people like Cassian.
Rylanz' "How do you say that? You do you speak the words?" will haunt me The visceral disgust at hearing someone spout propaganda "What kind of being are you?"
I look forward to watching it when it comes to physical next year.
Who do you think was the 2nd who took too long? Mon's driver?
Yeah
Okay, cool. I thought he was reconsidering when he went looking for her but then thought he might be trying to appease ISB. I like the unknown w/ both guys. I need to watch again.
yeah, i really appreciate the setup with that driver, i think we get just enough to see that he's probably weak enough to flip or deceive -- so Cassian can immediately shatter that idea when there's no longer time
Rylanz was like Taye Kolman (mon's blackmailing friend)...not really into rebellion when push came to shove but then Becomes one unlike Taye.
He was a rich man who thought the Empire could be talked to. But when he lost everything he made the choice to rebel.
I think it's also interesting that he's the only one who has a cold enough head to see the trap, but his warning are unheeded because he is seen as soft. Leading to everyone dying. It's the old man who cried wolf.
I like how they showed the squat bearded guy (who I assume is named Pierre or Jacques) took over as leader using the council meeting. I'm not sure if it's cry wolf. he was more timid & didn't embody the feelings of the rest of the fighters/revolutionaries. Either way, quite incredible.
The acting has been superb. The writing incredible. The action sequences rooted in reality. This three episode arch was some of the best tv. It’s amazing what a well read show runner and writing room can create.
The "writing room" is Tony Gilroy's brother, Dan Gilroy
The talent in that family. 🤯 I really Hollywood just throws truckloads of money at them to make whatever they want.
Yes, and also, it's hard to imagine more money than they just spent.
Agree 100%
*I really hope Hollywood… Wow I can’t type today.
My eyes read what you intended 👍🏼
I know it is a smaller role but Anton Lesser is sublime. He is a reflection of a show filled w/superb acting.
I keep seeing subtle ways that his role as Chief Superintendent Bright informs this role. (And the ways it doesn’t: Bright grows a heart in Endeavour. Partagaz never will.)
Robert, y’all gotta do an ICHH about how Andor and other popular media (shows/movies… but specifically Andor) mirrors or correlates with what’s happening with America and the rest of the world right now and what we can learn from it. I would sit through fuckin HOURS of it.
I love how it keeps showing Cyril and Dedre both absolutely failing the same moral test in different ways; Cyril fails bc he takes too long to answer the call, Dedre fails bc she's chasing the obviously bullshit promise of reward for smothering her soul
like girl your boss is practically giving you the Jafar "you will be HANDSOMELY rewarded" treatment how do you not get that you are a trained interrogator!!!
Oh I'm not sure those promises of reward are bullshit. We see people like her rise through the ranks. In fact, I'm kind of expecting her arc to finish ironically- with a promotion onto the Death Star.
I was 100% sure she was setting up to get Benghazi'd and now I'm only 50% sure the "reward" is going to be "enjoy this medal and your new desk job, keep your mouth shut"
Love that they didn't do the obvious thing and give him a redemptive arc and that even at the point where he's on the cusp of it, seeing his nemesis kills it stone dead due to his obsessive jealousy of Cassian. Cass then not knowing who is even is...icing on the cake.
I loved that too. It felt so perfect. Even when some people can recognize that something is WRONG wrong, they still get so caught up in obsessive hate that stops them from doing anything about the wrong. He was perfect.
it's entirely possible that given a few years he might have become a hero. more than made up for his flaws. but those who collaborate with fascism don't have unlimited time to redeem themselves.
It’s like what I was always taught as a lapsed and returned Catholic. The door is always open for the Prodigal Son to return home, but his opportunities to reach that door are limited by his dwindling life expectancy.
The interviews with Kyle Soller are interesting on that note: collider.com/andor-season...
how many kyles they got who look like that
if the show had longer to run it's easy to imagine an arc where he learns enough that he ends up flipping enough that he gives the rebels information that points them towards the death star program, and that would've been more satisfying but I think less interesting
PS. On a different note, I need that treehouse. Holy crap super cute. I love a dome.
I did wonder if he was included in the plan from the beginning whether he would have been more ok with it though. Instead he's been living and working among Ghormans for however long, kind of seeing them as people, and then the way he found out was a shock and betrayal to him personally
We never see anything from him that makes us think he'd be OK murdering civilians. I just don't think he'd ever have had that in him
The bit where they seemed to open the door for redemption only for him to see Andor and his basest self to take over and take his helplessness out on the guy who started it all for him was *chefs kiss* perfect character arc
he's not even thinking. doesn't go for his gun. he just charges. and who knows, he hesitated to shoot. might have changed his mind in a few seconds. but there wasn't the time.
I don't think he had a gun. I don't recall him picking one up except Andor's. the hesitation is fascinating to dwell on.
Oh they show that he had a holstered gun after he died. He never even thought to go for it before charging.
I missed that. Damn. Fascinating. Gotta watch again. Cyril-cassian fight was so good. I was legit afraid Cassian wouldn't make it!
For some reason I knew he'd live.
no they don't it's Cass's gun lying against his leg that Cass grabs again after he's killed.
Killed by the nonviolence guy as a result of his betrayal. Layers upon layers
Yeah from season 1 I really felt like Cyril had the capacity to be on the right side. His driving motivation had always been to do the right thing - he would break the rules to do things that he considered to be morally righteous! He just was completely in the wrong about what being right was.
The "who are you" moment is so brutal because Syril spent years hyperfocused on Cassian and made him a symbol of the "evil" side. Yet, to Cassian, he was just another face amongst the Empire and he didn't spare a thought for him as a person.
I think Syril also realizes in that brief moment that he doesn't know himself. He has no idea who he is.
He was JUST starting to feel what a real community felt like. I think that brief pause and drop of his weapon was exasperated desperation. Just a question Cyril never asked himself until that very moment.
I do think he had started to go native, genuinely thinking of Ghorman as home. He had started to adopt the dress and let he's hair grow out more like their culture. The realization that the Empire would destroy his adopted home broke his belief in its morality.
I legit thought he might defenestrate Daedre there for a hot minute.
It's interesting how badly diedra misunderstands him. She essentially leads him to water and asks him how it tastes in terms of him breaking out of the propaganda.
I found it almost surprising that she seemed to genuinely actually care for him. Right down to having a panic attack when she realises he'd left the building and was out in the carnage outside. It's one of the few times we've seen her outright lose control.
she isn't a psychopath. she loved him, took comfort from him and most importantly knew what she was doing on Ghorman was wrong. She chose to do it anyway. Because while she knew who she was, who she was is nothing but a job. Syril showed he was at least a little more than that
💯 I love that they DIDN’T make her a one-note psychopath. It’s way more interesting (& relevant) to explore the idea of fascism’s horrors being advanced by people who are, at their core, *people.* With dinners, in-laws, & feelings- yet still choosing to participate in brutal systems of oppression.
I loved that he was someone who sort of came around but too late
I love the spin-around shot of Cyril taking in the consequences of his actions, on the cusp of reconsidering all he holds true, only for fate to offer one last temptation. He unknowingly enables the destruction of a planet for revenge on Andor and still jumps at the first chance he gets.
Cyril leaning into that weird Dale Cooper resemblance he's had since season one, good to see
This was also peak for me, he was a collaborator for too long to feel like he deserved any real redemption He was blind to his own actions
he wasn't a monster. he made the choice to not be a monster. but by the time he started to learn who he was the galaxy was moving too quickly for him to survive, or for his conscience to matter.
I also wonder if he specifically wouldn't be ok with :this: genocide because they fit his model idea of "good people" - urbane, fashionable, orderly. It felt intentional that the first we see of Karn is that he altered his uniform to make it more tailored and he winds up on a planet of tailors.
Perhaps, what matters ultimately is that he left the second he realized what was happening. He had his own private rebellion. It just wasn't enough.
It really makes me wonder if he might have actually joined the Ghorman Front had he not seen his sworn enemy in the moment of his transformation
It did feel like the moment the wool was pulled away and he realized that the "Empire as a force for good and order" was always propaganda which felt realistic to generally decent people I know growing up in the US who also couldn't fathom this country being the bad guys
He didn't lack for physical courage. He appeared to be developing moral courage. In time he might have become a better man. Time wasn't on his side.
Agreed. But also that it's not an on/off switch. Seeing Andor there confirmed that he was right about outside agitators and gave him slightly more grip on the idea that maybe he was on the right side all along.
I actually don't think he thought of that at all. Whatever else Cassian killed two men he regarded as colleagues and innocent. Syril had been obsessed for years. In the midst of all his pain charging Andor was all that made sense. He didn't think. He had a gun and didn't even draw it.
I do think the reaction to seeing him aiming at dedra definitely played into it, tho I don't know if we can be sure he knew what cass was aiming at
plus he was emotionally and physically primed to flip out in that moment
I can see that read. Maybe the Space France of it all made it feel even more that their relationship was a twist on the Javert/Valjean thing and I think there's something of him trying to reassure himself that he had always been on the side of good in that moment
yeah. so much good subtle character work. the Gorman who fucked up during the heist redeeming himself by ramming a cop droid. the little moment with Mon and Bail. beautiful stuff.