Syril Karn’s Years-Long Obsession Meets a Violent End

Editor’s Note: The below recap contains spoilers for Andor Season 2 Episode 8.

Picking up the morning after the previous episode, Andor Season 2 Episode 8 opens with a distinctly uneasy feeling. The Ghorman massacre is upon us, and there is nothing we can do but sit back and watch as Tony Gilroy’s series delivers a harrowing and devastating sequence. Penned by Dan Gilroy and directed by Janus Metz, the midpoint of this arc is a ground-level exploration of one of the most tragic — and all too relevant — incidents in Star Wars history.

With a new day dawning, Cassian (Diego Luna) sits in his hotel room, preparing to follow through with his mission to assassinate Dedra Meero (Denise Gough). However, the increasing barrage of noise coming from the plaza gives him pause. The fresh-faced Imperials that just arrived are setting up barricades. Cassian makes contact with Wil (Muhannad Bhaier) at the Ghorman Front’s HQ, where he’s in bed with Dreena (Ella Pellegrini), and everyone seems confused about Cassian’s report. Dilan (Théo Costa Marini) claims that they’re “opening” the plaza, but that’s patently not true — they’re constructing a fortress.

Within the IOC building, Dedra questions Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) about reports of mining rigs being delivered across the countryside. He dismisses her concern by characterizing her demeanor as “animated” and reminding her that Captain Kaido (Jonjo O’Neill) has things handled. The only story that matters is the story of Ghorman aggression, and Partagaz parrots the “inexplicable resistance to Imperial norms” phrase that all of the journalists are using in the Plaza as they serve as mouthpieces for propaganda. In the streets, broadcasters report that the Ghor are planning a general strike, and given the uptick in activity in the plaza, it’s clear that something is happening. From her home on Coruscant, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter) watches these sensationalized broadcasts, worrying about her son. Syril (Kyle Soller) is at home, tinkering with his spider souvenirs, when an Imperial officer comes to his door and tells him he is to immediately report to the IOC building, as comms are down.

Rylenz (Richard Sammel) watches the activity in the plaza from the doorstep of his twillery when his daughter, Enza (Alaïs Lawson), comes looking for him. Andor uses Rylenz as a great example of “rebels” who are unwilling to follow a movement through to the end. Despite helping to found the Ghorman Front and serving as a chief motivator across the years, Rylenz now believes they shouldn’t organize. Too late, he has realized that the Empire wants them off Ghorman, one way or the other, and they’ve been pushed into a trap. Enza, however, doesn’t think they should remain silent any longer — now is the time for action. “We’ll be silent when we’re dead.” The streets begin to fill with protestors who share Enza’s belief that they shouldn’t be silent. They march with banners, raised fists, and chants that they plan to “take back the homeland” and that the “galaxy is watching.” What’s fascinating is that none of the Ghor are speaking in their native tongue. They’re all chanting in Basic, with the clear intention that their words will be carried across the airwaves of the news broadcasts covering their day of action. It’s a subtle yet genius detail.

As Syril heads to the IOC to report in, he crosses paths with Rylenz, who is trying to dissuade the protestors from speaking out. He firmly believes that the only path is silent resistance. However, when he spots Syril, he’s far from silent. He grabs Syril and questions him about the mining equipment, accusing him of lying to the Front for all of these years. Syril insists — and he isn’t technically lying — that he meant no harm to the Front. His only purpose was to trap outside agitators. As Syril tries to cast doubt on the rumors about the mining equipment, Rylenz grows angrier, demanding to know what is in the ground that the Empire wants. Syril loses his patience and throws Rylenz to the ground, storming off.

Cassian checks out of his hotel and drops his room key off with Thela (Stefan Crepon), who informs him that he never checked him in, so there’s no paper trail for him to be worried about. Recognizing that Thela is part of the Front, Cassian tells him that he hopes that things work out for him, acknowledging the growing tensions in the streets of Palmo. In a chills-inducing moment, Thela tells him that “rebellions are built on hope.” A phrase that Cassian will later hear, echoed by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) in Rogue One after his own off-handed remark on Jedha. It’s a powerful message that carries the same weight here as it will in the future, given that both precede suicide missions. The situation on Ghorman moves quickly from there. Cassian mills through the crowd, trying to make contact with Wil and Dreena, though the comms still aren’t working well enough to get a message through. He posts up in a spot that gives him a clear look into Dedra’s office in the IOC. She exchanges tense words with Kaido about the chain of command, and he likens himself to the trigger of the weapon she’s merely supervising. She watches the crowd gathering in the plaza below, but it’s not a clear enough shot for Cassian to take.

Syril Takes Matters Into His Own Hands

Syril makes his way through the crush of protestors on the way to the IOC. On his way in, he stops to listen to a journalist broadcasting live about the protestors, and the report has such a sensationalized Imperial slant to it. It’s impossible to tell what Syril thinks about what he’s hearing. He’s quickly ushered inside the IOC and into a room filled with KX-series units, as well as a handful of distressed Ghor who were likely working for the Empire before everything went awry.

Syril eventually sneaks out of the room and makes a break for Dedra’s office while everyone is focused on getting the Imps in riot gear ready to be sent out. While Syril has always been shown to be obsessive and willing to engage in violence (including how he treated Rylenz), this is the first time he has been shown to be genuinely terrifying. Syril questions Dedra about what they’re really doing on Ghorman. He wants to know how long she knew — how long she has been lying to him? He questions her about the mining ships and the armadas that the Ghor have been seen in Jel-Novi and Leequa. He starts shouting, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her, and when she starts to dismiss everything as baseless rumors, Syril grabs her by the throat and starts choking her. He threatens to throw her out the window if she dismisses his questions again, and there’s no doubt that he means it, too.

Andor hasn’t shied away from portraying how the Empire uses violence against women, but this is the first time we’ve seen an example of intimate partner violence since Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) Force choked his pregnant wife, Padmé (Natalie Portman), in the prequels. It’s a terrifying sequence, especially since it forces audiences to feel concern for a character who is about to enact genocide at the behest of the Empire. Dedra confesses the truth behind their presence on Ghorman, though she still doesn’t tell Syril everything. She knows precisely what the Empire is looking for on the planet, but she brushes it off as just some mineral that will fuel the energy program. When he acts horrified by what he’s hearing, she reminds him, quite curtly, that he hasn’t had any issues with the promotions, promising — even after what he just did — that they will go home as heroes. He snidely tells her “good luck” before turning on his heels and leaving. As Syril escapes the IOC, Dedra orders officers to find and prevent him from leaving the building. He jumps the barriers and mills through the protestors that have filled the plaza to the bursting.

‘Andor’ Takes a Cue From Real-Life Rebellions

Star Wars has a rich history of utilizing visual shorthand to communicate concepts and themes to audiences. It was something that George Lucas capitalized on with both of his sequels, and it is something that Andor has seized upon in numerous ways throughout its two-season run. With Ghorman, Gilroy creates a culture that borrows from French iconography, evoking thoughts of revolutionaries and, perhaps most notably, the French Resistance who fought against Nazi occupation during World War II. Episode 8 embraces that imagery even more so, as the growing rebellion in the middle of the plaza starts to take shape, reminiscent of Les Misérables. Protestors climb the central memorial, waving flags, while they march toward the skittish officers in riot gear lining up along the barriers.

That comparison grows even more intense as Lezine (Thierry Godard) begins singing Ghorman’s National Anthem. Enza and Dilan take his side, singing along as it spreads throughout the crowd. What follows feels a lot like watching your favorite boys fall upon the barricade. The protestors continue chanting that “the galaxy is watching” while Stormtroopers start to file into the plaza. Some of the protestors start chipping up rocks to use as weapons, preparing for what’s inevitably coming. As Cassian makes his way through the crowd, it’s clear that he can feel the mounting tensions and the oncoming shift. He’s been here before, after all. This is exactly what they did on Ferrix.

Within the IOC, Dedra gives the surprisingly somber order to proceed, and Kaido issues the final order: fire at the protestors at will. The snipers on the roofline take aim and, rather than firing on the protestors directly, one of the snipers goes for their true target — an Imperial in riot gear. The second the officer falls, the rest of them turn on the protestors, starting with the man waving a flag from the top of the monument, and then the women along the barriers. It’s a bloody, chaotic scene. The Empire has skillfully planned the attack, ensuring that the protesters are trapped within the plaza with no clear way of escaping. Those who don’t die from their wounds are trampled by panicked protestors looking for a way out of the crush. Enza, Dilan, and the other members of the Front make a break for where their weapons are stored, arming themselves against their oppressors.

All Hell Breaks Loose on Ghorman

The ensuing chaos is a lot to take in on the first watch through. There are so many moving pieces, and so many newfound characters to worry about. Samm, Lezine, Dilan, and Enza get into position and start fighting back. The protestors are being sniped from above and on ground level, which makes it nearly impossible to fight back. Dilan has the Star Wars equivalent of Molotov cocktails ready to go, and they do a decent amount of damage. But it’s still not enough. While moving between locations, Dilan gets shot, but he manages to soldier through the damage. Enza, however, is not as fortunate. Kaido gives the order to unleash the KX-series units, and they do irreparable damage to every Ghor they encounter. She’s snatched up by one of them and tossed across the plaza, where she dies on impact.

Syril stands in the midst of the chaos, surprisingly unscathed by the blaster fire whizzing past him. His expression is hard to read, but it’s easy enough to assume that he’s realizing the part he played in the unfathomable violence around him. After all, he has spent years working and living alongside the Ghor and, to some extent, he’s made friends with many of the bodies lying at his feet. Thela takes cover in the hotel and tries to help a handful of protestors who have retreated inside with him, urging them away from the window. After clearing out the hotel, Thela takes a breath and pulls the pin on a detonator, giving his life in exchange for a handful of Imperials.

Syril’s Obsession Comes to a Disastrous End

As the smoke clears, Syril spots Cassian taking aim at Dedra, though it’s unlikely he actually cared about who or what Cassian has in his sights. He jumps Cassian, shoving him into the café and bashing his head into the ground. It’s such a surprising show of violence and strength, but it is the culmination of a years-long obsession with Cassian Andor. This is Syril’s moment, the moment he’s dreamed of for years. The attack takes Cassian by surprise. He was anticipating a firefight, not a fistfight. The two do decent damage to each other, but Syril’s pure, unmitigated aggression is a force to be reckoned with. Cassian strikes Syril upside the head with a jar, and Syril smashes a chair across Cassian’s back, and they struggle to maintain the upper hand. As they stumble toward a window, another detonator is set off. Syril takes the brunt of the force, while Cassian jumps behind the counter to shield himself from the blast. Syril doesn’t stay down for long, grabbing his blaster and stalking around the counter to aim it at Cassian.

Confused by the entire encounter, Cassian asks Syril who he is as he’s held at blasterpoint. Before Syril gets a chance to monologue about his obsession with finding Cassian, Rylenz shoots him in the head, putting an end to his miserable existence. Cassian remains confused as Wil comes to his aid. While it would have been nice to see Syril join the Rebellion — and there were plenty of signs that he might’ve been willing to join up — Andor reminds us that some people will bite off their nose to spite their face. Syril let his obsession get the better of him, and in the end, he won’t even be remembered by the man who kept him up at night for years. It’s a perfect foil to the beautifully executed revenge that Bix (Adria Arjona) got to enjoy in the previous arc.

Cassian and Wil escape down a nearby street, but they don’t get very far before Wil tells Cassian that he isn’t leaving without Dreena. Cassian’s reaction is quite hypocritical, given the fact that he wouldn’t leave Bix behind if he were presented with the same scenario. Before Wil can make a break for it, a K-2SO arrives, shooting at protestors and slinging them around like ragdolls. Cassian attempts to fight the droid, with Wil providing back-up, but it takes Samm driving a freighter into the unit to finally destroy it. Samm gets out of the freighter and tells Cassia and Wil that he’s heading back to HQ now that some of the dust has settled, and Wil says he’ll join him because he isn’t losing Ghorman without Dreena. As he and Cassian part ways, he says: “Tell people what happened here, Cass.” Before he and Samm leave, Cassian asks them to load up the destroyed KX unit. It’s not the cutest meet-cute, but it’s one hell of an origin story for Cassian and K-2.

Andor has a running theme of wrapping up episodes with Cassian driving away from the scene of a horrifying event, and this one is no different. Cassian has the same shell-shocked look that he had when he and his allies escaped Ferrix after the Imperial attack, and again on Mina-Rau. There’s some beautiful irony in the fact that we get to watch him escape from these incidents, when we know he’ll sit and accept his fate in a year’s time. As Cassian drives away, we’re shown Wil reuniting with Dreena at HQ, and Dilan dying as Lezine tries to get him away from the plaza. But the most somber element of the episode’s closing minutes is the heartbreaking broadcast that Ghorman manages to get out onto all open channels:

“We are under siege. We’re being slaughtered. The Imperial murder of Ghorman has begun. There are hundreds of bodies this moment. As I say these words, hundreds of murdered Ghormans lay dead in Palmo Plaza. Thousands more on the streets. More every minute. We’re being destroyed! This is Ghorman reaching for any open channel that can hear me! If you can hear me. If you believe in truth. If you have any faith left in truth, please mark this message and pass it forward. This is murder! The Empire built this fire. They made this fire and led us to the slaughter. Now they expect us to die without knowing why. The conspiracy we feared is real! It’s here today! Imperial ships are already landing across—”

Syril Is Finally a “Hero” in Someone’s Eyes

Within the IOC, Dedra retreats away from prying eyes to have an emotional breakdown. She grabs at her throat in a way that could be interpreted as a panic attack, or she’s processing what Syril did to her. It’s also highly likely that, at this point, she knows that he is dead, especially since Andor pairs this sequence with a scene of Eedy being comforted by two older women while they watch a report about the attack on Ghorman. The newscaster talks about the “heroes” who paid a price in their valiant fight against the Ghorman aggression.

Not only was the riot on Ghorman orchestrated by the Empire as a means to rationalize the eventual destruction of the planet in the name of building the Death Star, but the attack is being used to normalize an increase in policing as a “price we’ll pay for our own safety.” It’s a tactic used by authoritarian regimes throughout history to seize as much control as possible, and precisely what Emperor Palpatine did during his time as a senator, engineering his rise to power.

The first nine episodes of Andor Season 2 are streaming now on Disney+.