Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Andor episode 1! Turn back now if you haven't seen the first episode on Disney Plus!
From its opening scene, Andor marks itself out as the darkest, grittiest take on the Star Wars galaxy yet. Diego Luna's titular Cassian is visiting a brothel, searching for his sister, when he comes across two Corporate Security men. They take an immediate dislike to Cassian when he gets more attention than them. When Cassian leaves, though, all seems well – until the security guards stop him outside.
Cassian refuses to go quietly and fights both officials in a passageway that they've trapped him in. It seems to be going his way, but, in a shocking twist, Cassian accidentally kills one of his harassers in the struggle. The other is horrified, but quickly realizes that he's now the only witness to the crime and tries to talk his way out of the situation. No such luck: Cassian aims his blaster at the man's head and pulls the trigger in one sudden, gasp-worthy move.
Total Film caught up with Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy and asked why this moment was the right way to open the Star Wars show. "I wanted to start him on the day where everything went completely wrong," Gilroy explains. "I wanted to start him in as much trouble as I possibly could. He doesn't go out that night trying to kill anybody. There is an element of destiny in our story as well. That's the spark that lights the destiny there."
The killing puts Cassian in the crosshairs of Kyle Soller's Syril Karn, a seriously devoted Corporate Security Deputy Inspector – and so it's the first domino to fall in Cassian's journey to becoming the rebel we remember from Rogue One.
Andor drops a new episode on Disney Plus weekly – check out our Andor release schedule to find out when the next installment arrives in your time zone. In the meantime, for much more on the show, see Gilroy on Andor season 2, our interviews with the Andor cast, and Fiona Shaw on her character Maarva through the links.
