Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 1-11 of Andor.Episode 11 ofAndor, titled “Daughters of Ferrix,” mixed in a little bit of the old with the new in a dazzling ship chase sequence that harkens back to what we love so much about Star Wars. After meeting with Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whittaker) to make him aware of an upcoming setback with the burning of Krieger, Luthen (Stellan Skarsgard) is on his way back to Coruscant and is just about to hear the news that Cassian’s (Diego Luna) mother Maarva (Fiona Shaw) has passed away. But just moments before he is informed, his radio signal is interrupted by the voice of an Imperial patrol commander aboard an approaching Arrester Cruiser Cantwell Class that is requesting ship identification.
While Luthen scrambles to hack a serial number to placate the Imperial Patrol commander, he is already actively engaging in an escape plan that leads to a chase scene taking us all back to classic air battles between the Allied Forces and the Empire of Star Wars lore.
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Luthen Escapes the Impending Crisis
Luthen is definitely caught off guard by the patrol that is out to monitor suspicious activity in the area as it is a known ‘piracy den’ that Luthen travels through frequently. He stalls as long as possible giving excuses about the ships overheating thrusters and how he’s, “just a one-man show” and trying to cooperate with their instruction manually. All the while he is hatching a plan that will allow for his hyper-speed thrusters and defense artillery time to warm up to the point of engagement. As the Imperial commander grows impatient, he targets Luthen’s ship with a tractor beam as they plan to board what appears to be a harmless freighter to inspect it just, “for the practice” in typical Imperial harassment form.
Luthen’s Ship Is More Than Just a Freighter
Once his ship is powered up, Luthen surprises the Cruiser with the deployment of rear defense projectiles that destroy the tractor beacon’s parabolic dish, and he is able to break free and engage with a handful of TIE fighters. The sequence is visually fantastic as Luthen navigates in a cockpit that is similar to the most famous ship in Star Wars lore - Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon. With its oblong, disk-shaped body and panoramic cockpit view he deftly handles the situation eluding the TIE fighters with a series of skilled rotations. Unlike the Millennium Falcon, however, Luthen’s modified, amped-up version is able to deploy dual lasers that shoot out laterally from the ship’s sides. With a series of spins, he is able to destroy the Imperial threat as he flies in between them. This axial laser feature is a pretty cool, highly effective feature and another unexpected weapon that makes it far more useful as a tactical battleship. Once he has destroyed all the TIE fighters, Luthen is able to engage the hyper thrusters and dart out of sight, leaving the Imperial commander to lower his head in defeated disbelief.
This Is What We Love About The Franchise
The scene executes at a wonderful pace as the effects are riveting and the sounds harken back to sitting in a theater with our jaws dropped watching similar scenes from the original trilogy. You can’t help but wax nostalgic about sitting in your local theater with a bucket of popcorn and a soda and being completely gobsmacked with never-before-seen airship conflicts between the Falcon or rebel X-Wing fighters and the nefarious TIE fighters.
The dizzying cinematography and spectacular explosions are accompanied by the resounding sci-fi sounds that we love about George Lucas' creations going back all the way to 1977. Whether young or old, the ship chase scene in Episode 11 ofAndorwas a terrific callback and a reminder of why we hold this franchise so dear.
