Meanwhile, on Chandrila, Mon entertains some of the wealthiest families in the galaxy while fretting over the future of her daughter’s marriage, which was arranged to help settle debts incurred from her support of the rebel cause. The scenes on this planet emphasize pomp and pageantry as well as the finer points of diplomacy. The chief source of tension here — beyond the wedding itself — emerges when one of Mon’s oldest friends, the newly divorced and suddenly cash-poor Tay Kolma (Ben Miles), pulls her aside and says she owes him a favor for all the financial support he has given her in the past. When Luthen hears about this, he worries that Tay — who knows too much and has self-control issues — could take down the very useful Mon.
These episodes’ final story line primarily plants the seeds for the season’s larger plot, while also providing some comic relief.
At an off-the-books meeting in the Maltheen Divide, several of the Empire’s most powerful and secretive officers have been gathered by Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), the man who “Star Wars” fans will know as the director of the Death Star project. Orson announces the Empire’s intention to plunder the mineral resources of Ghorman, a mostly peaceful and prosperous planet that supplies much of the galaxy’s fabrics and fashions thanks to its native population of fiber-spinning spiders. The primary plan is wage a propaganda war against Ghorman, painting the planet as a hotbed of terrorists. The more covert plan is to nurture a group of Ghor rebels, whose actions might be destructive in a predictable and exploitable way.
The big meeting itself is often very funny, beginning with the kitschy Ghorman tourist film Orson shows before stating his case. The story line then spins off into a strange and amusing domestic dramedy, as Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), the woman behind the I.S.B.’s “let’s co-opt a Ghor rebellion” scheme, returns to the Coruscant apartment she shares with Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), a fussy imperial bureaucrat who would do anything for the emperor. One of this arc’s big set pieces is a dinner party Dedra and Syril host for his annoying mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), a would-be socialite.
In fact, although these episodes are meant to be watched as one, like a feature film, they still play as very expensive, visually stunning TV episodes. Each has enough moments of high drama, thrilling action and weird humor to sustain a week’s worth of fan conversation, were “Andor” releasing them one at a time. The Ghorman promotional film in Episode 1, a moment when Bix is cornered by a flirty imperial officer in Episode 2, the painfully awkward Karn family dinner in Episode 3 … these are the smaller pieces of storytelling that television excels at, keeping audiences engaged as the plot gradually falls into place.
