Andor Episode 11-12 “Daughter of Ferrix” and “Rix Road” Review
When discussing Star Wars since the Disney acquisition, the franchise has experienced some high and low points. Star Wars has been brought back into the cultural zeitgeist once more, but it’s also come with toxic fan division and disjointed views on what Star Wars should be moving forward. Though opinions will vary, it’s tough to deny how the Andor series has risen above everything else to be the best of Star Wars.
Week to week, I’ve praised the series as it fleshes out Cassian’s story, and I was worried how Tony Gilroy could possibly wrap up such an excellent season of television. Not only did Episode 11, “Daughter of Ferrix,” and Episode 12, “Rix Road,” deliver on this front, but it also proves that Star Wars has finally found its groove in what’s possible in this new era of the franchise.
Before we get directly into the finale, Andor Episode 12, “Rix Road,” let’s discuss Mon Mothma in Andor Episode 11’s “Daughter of Ferrix.” Mon’s back is against the wall as she figures out how to get the money she needs to fund Rebel activities. Though she initially shuts down Davo’s deal in “One Way Out,” she can’t help but consider it with so many obstacles against her. In a rare moment, she lets down her guard with Vel and, in a weary confession, tells her what’s been weighing on her mind.
Genevieve O’Reilly brings out Mon’s anguish here, as she’s torn between doing what it takes for The Rebellion and doing right by her teenage daughter. In the end, she does make the tough call in Andor Episode 12’s “Rix Road” and arranges a meeting between her daughter and Davos’ son. Not only does she secure a way to tap into her finances, but she also throws the ISB off her scent by planting a fake accusation against Perrin and his gambling. Being a leader in The Rebellion means making the hard calls, which in her case means the cause over her own family. Mon Mothma making these types of sacrifices highlights her duty to fight The Empire on all fronts.
Andor Episode 11, “Daughter of Ferrix,” is named after Maarva Andor, a previous president of a local social club. For an episode named after her, we don’t see her in it except when her body is taken out of her home after she dies. Yet she impacts everything that follows from her death. It brings Cassian back to Ferrix after he returns to Niamos; the look on his face as he looks out on the water after learning the news is utterly devastating. It creates an opportunity for all of Ferrix to be in one central location, including the Imperial officers hunting for Cassian. In her offscreen death in Episode 11, Maarva single-handedly gathers everyone together; and what she does in Andor Episode 12 is nothing short of inspiring and legendary.
Where Maarva is noticeably absent in Episode 11 “Daughter of Ferrix,” in Episode 12’s “Rix Road,” she is on full display. Before her funeral, Cassian reunites with Brasso. Brasso gets the opportunity to tell Maarva’s final message to Cassian — that he shouldn’t blame himself and that her death isn’t his fault. More importantly, through Brasso, she tells Cassian that she knows he’s the first spark of the fire, even if he can’t see it yet; Maarva concludes that she loves her son more than anything he could ever do wrong. If that doesn’t make you emotional about this adopted mother/son relationship, I don’t know what will.
During her funeral ceremony, B2EMO plays a holographic message that Maarva leaves behind. She uses her last words to the people and community she loved so much to wake them up. The time for complacency is over.
Maarva lays it all out for the people, knowing that this would be played in front of her enemies; when an Imperial officer attempts to shut down her hologram and knocks over B2EMO in the process, Brasso jumps into action, and the fight begins for Ferrix. What’s more significant is that in using Maarva’s brick to hit an Imperial officer, Maarva is technically the first to physically fight back on Rix Road. Maarva Andor is a hero in a way the galaxy may never fully grasp, but the audience knows it now. Rest in peace, legend.
Though Luthen is on Ferrix to kill off Cassian as a loose thread, it’s important he was there to see actual rebellion in action. See, for much of the season, Luthen had been saying that The Empire has been slowly choking the galaxy that they’ve barely noticed; he also expresses a desire to come out of the shadows for the fight. So when he sees Maarva using her last message to spur Ferrix into action, he can’t help but be in awe of it. Little does he know that it’s his orchestration of the Aldhani heist that galvanized Maarva, which in turn galvanized the people.
In the chaos of the Ferrix citizens fighting back against their Imperial oppressors, Syril Karn is laser-focused on Dedra Meero, watching her as she attempts to capture Cassian. When she’s attacked, Syril swoops in and saves her by pretending to take her at blaster point to an undisclosed location.
Understandably, Dedra is shocked to see him and caught up in the adrenaline of being in fight-or-flight mode. When Syril tells her his name, she immediately responds that she knows his name. Now, even though these are two Imperial bureaucrats that care about order above all else, the fact that she says “I know” is significant since Han Solo and Leia Organa made it famous in The Empire Strikes Back. The pause between them as their time in the season comes to a close appears as though Syril and Dedra are about to kiss. Here’s hoping this gets explored further in Season 2 (maybe a scene of Syril bringing Dedra home to his mother).
If there’s one loose thread remaining from the first season of Andor, it’s Cassian’s missing sister. The series starts during his search; later, when Maarva says goodbye to Cassian, she tells him to stop searching for her. The finale manages to tie up so much, including Nemik’s manifesto and the revelation of what Cassian was building on Narkina 5, that this piece still lingers. However, Tony Gilroy and the team have proved they know how to craft their tight storytelling across a season. I have no doubt that they will pay this off during the following season.
This first season of Andor ends with two critical episodes that succeed in wrapping up the story in a satisfying way. It starts with a man just trying to survive, and it ends with a rebel ready to fight these bastards for real. Every interaction, every conversation, and everything that happens to Cassian across this season molds him into a fighter the galaxy desperately needs. When he first met Luthen Rael, he was so concerned with trying to save his skin that he was willing to take a heist job; at the end of Andor Episode 12, “Rix Road,” he comes to Luthen willingly, ready to lose his life, either to Luthen’s blaster or to a cause worth dying for.
Cassian Andor is the spark the galaxy has been waiting for to light the fire and carry the fight toward something meaningful; Maarva could see it from the beginning, and now he’s beginning to see it for himself. Andor Season 1 is a triumph in a way the Star Wars franchise has desperately needed. Between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor in 2022, the future looks very bright for this galaxy far, far away.
Now streaming on Disney Plus: What are your thoughts on Andor Episode 11 “Daughter of Ferrix” and Episode 12 “Rix Road?” Let us know in the comments below.