When we first met Cassian Andor back in the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we learned that this Star Wars character was a huge hero of the Rebel Alliance because he sacrificed his life to obtain the Death Star plans that allowed the Rebels to destroy the massive space station. Of course, the Andor series is the prequel story to Cassian’s background, as it allows us to get to know the character more before he became a Rebel. So, why and how did Cassian Andor join the Rebellion?
Cassian Andor was always at the other end of the battle against the Empire because he fought the Galactic Republic as a child soldier during the Clone Wars. Meanwhile, in Ferrix, Cassian got into trouble with Preox-Morlana, a corporation allied with the Empire. That was when Luthen Rael recruited him into his faction.
At this point, we aren’t sure whether or not Luthen Rael is a member of a Rebellion splinter cell or if he is simply someone working against the Empire. But it is safe to say that, by recruiting Cassian Andor, he was able to plant the seeds of what would eventually become an important member of the Rebel Alliance. As such, let’s look at how Cassian Andor ended up joining the Rebels.
How Did Cassian Andor Join The Rebellion?
One of the things that we know about Cassian Andor is that he was one of the heroes that we saw during the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, wherein he was one of the leaders of a small group of Rebels that were able to find out more about the secret project that the Empire was up to. Of course, that project turned out to be the Death Star, and it was up to Cassian, Jyn, and the crew of the Rogue One to find the plans for this massive space station so that they could find a way to destroy it.
What was plain and clear during the events of Rogue One was that Cassian and the rest of his team died in their efforts to get the Death Star plans to Princess Leia Organa, whose mission during A New Hope was to bring the plans back to the Rebels. In that regard, the Andor series is all about Cassian’s life before he joined the Rebel Alliance.
The series was able to allow us to see what kind of life he lived on the planet called Ferrix, where he spent his days as a scavenger. But it was because he got into trouble with the Pre-Mor Authority that made him want to leave Ferrix, and that was when he ended up meeting the buyer named Luthen Rael, who was already interested in him before they even met.
During the time when Cassian met up with Luthen, he only wanted to sell a Star path unit to him so that he could make enough money to leave the planet. But the problem was that Luthen was not as interested in the Star path unit as he was in Cassian, who he was familiar with in terms of his background. That was when Luthen recruited him to join in his fight against the Empire and the people who were working with the Imperial forces.
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Of course, Cassian had no choice but to go with Luthen Rael because the Pre-Mor Authority was after him. This made him leave Ferrix while also leaving behind his mother and B2EMO, who both stayed behind on the planet, while Cassian was out there somewhere with a man that he had just met but had to go with if he wanted to escape the people that wanted to apprehend him.
Nevertheless, we aren’t sure whether or not this is when Cassian joins the Rebellion because we aren’t even sure whether or not Luthen was actually part of a Rebel splinter cell. And it’s good to know more about how the Rebellion began to see if Cassian actually joined the Rebels when he went with Luthen.
Taking place five years before the events of Rogue One and before the Battle of Yavin, Andor takes place during the time when the Rebel Alliance was yet to be formed. But make no mistake about the fact that there were already different Rebel splinter cells over the galaxy. It’s just that they were yet to form an alliance with one another during the time of Andor. For instance, the crew of the Ghost during the events of Star Wars: Rebels, which began on 5 BBY, is an example of a splinter cell before the Rebel Alliance began.
So, in that regard, it is quite possible that, by joining Luthen, Cassian ended up joining a splinter cell that opposed the Empire during 5 BBY. This is probably where Cassian begins his journey as a future hero for the Rebellion.
Of course, because Cassian, during his time as a member of the Rebel Alliance, specialized as a skilled operative that assassinated and spied on different Imperial entities all over the galaxy, it is quite possible that he joined a splinter organization that specialized in such tactics. And we did see that in the fact that Luthen seemed to be highly skilled as an operative during the events of episode 3 of Andor.
Why Did Cassian Andor Join The Rebellion?
One of the things that a lot of people don’t know about Cassian is that he has been fighting for a very long time. As seen in the flashback scenes of his childhood years in a primitive group on Kenari, he was already fighting the different forces that invaded his home. Meanwhile, his biological father died in a protest against Republic military expansion during the days of the Clone Wars.
After Cassian was adopted by Maarva Andor, he spent his years working as a child soldier for the Separatists. That means that he has been fighting for a very long time and has been doing so since he was still very young. And in most cases, he was fighting the bullies that were seemingly oppressing the weaker people.
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We saw hints of this during the events of episode 3 of Andor when all of the people in his town worked together to make noise so that they could alert Cassian that the Pre-Mor forces were looking for him. While we do believe that they did so because they respected Maarva as one of the beloved members of the community, we also believe the townsfolk worked together to make sure that no member of their community ended up getting bullied by the Pre-Mor Authority.
As such, it is possible that Cassian ended up working with Luthen and ultimately got recruited to join the Rebel Alliance later when General Davits Draven, who was another veteran of the Clone Wars and became Andor’s case officer, came to him. In that regard, because he grew up knowing what it was like to be at the other end of the oppression of not only the Empire but also the Separatists and the Republic, he wanted to put an end to what the Imperial forces were doing all over the galaxy. And that was what probably made him join up with the Rebels.
