In the fourth episode of Andor, Cassian (Diego Luna) arrives on Aldhani, at the behest of Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), to assist the rebels there with a heist that they are planning at the local Imperial garrison. Cassian, who is going by the name Clem at the time, is taken in by the rebels and provided new garments that more closely reflect the wardrobe worn by the Dhani, who are the native occupants of the region. Over the three-episode arc, it is slowly revealed that the Dhani people have faced great prejudice under the Imperial occupation, and by Episode 6 audiences are confronted with the horrifying revelation that the Empire has been actively and purposefully forcing their numbers to dwindle. During an interview with Collider’s own Steve Weintraub, Andor‘s creator Tony Gilroy revealed that COVID actually played a major part in how the Dhani people’s pilgrimage transformed during production.
Early in the episode, it is established that over the twelve years that Empire has had a base on Aldhani, the Dhani people have slowly dwindled from a thriving culture to a group of 500 people, and then down to only a meager 60 pilgrims who make their yearly journey to see The Eye. When asked about changes that occurred during production, Gilroy explained how COVID restrictions were the real reason behind the small number of pilgrims they were able to use for the festival of The Eye. He shared, “I think the original conception for Aldhani was going to be a couple of thousand people showed up there, I think they were going to do that in the beginning. And then, when we couldn’t do that because of COVID, it actually got more interesting.” He went on to expand on the fact that this was actually a good thing, in terms of the final outcome, saying:
“Most of the time, the solves to problems end up being better. Limitations are good. The problem that you solve pushes you deeper in it. So to make the Aldhani culture be so diminished, and so on its last legs, and so, at-the-end-of-the-road, really made it better in a weird way.”
While Andor is still airing the first season on Disney+, Gilroy and the crew are just a few days out from the beginning of Season 2. In addition to sharing that Season 2 begins filming on November 21, he also revealed that he’s in the middle of changing a few aspects during pre-production, which happens on pretty much every television series and film. As he explained, “There’s things we can’t afford to do. I’m in the middle of changing something right now that was completely written and built out that we can’t afford to do.”
Looking Ahead at Andor
The most recent episode of the series set the stages for Cassian, Kino Loy (Andy Serkis), and the rest of the prisoners on Narkina 5 to plot their prison break in Episode 10. Judging from the episode block style of the series, it’s likely that the tenth episode will bring a close to this chapter in Cassian’s life, before charing headfirst into the final two episodes of Season 1.
In addition to Luna, Skarsgård, and Serkis, the series also features the talents of Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, Elizabeth Dulau, Faye Marsay, and Varada Sethu. It also sees Genevieve O’Reilly reprising her Rogue One role as Mon Mothma, alongside Forest Whitaker who returned as Saw Gerrera in an Episode 8.
Stay tuned for our full interview with Gilroy, and in the meantime check out our conversation with Diego Luna down below: