Tonight at 9pm ET

Next week is the series finale

"Welcome to the rebellion" is right. How fucked up is the Empire to basically send a bunch of redshirts to be sacrificed? Felt bad for Syril and his realization that he was also being played.

If you didn't watch the "Rebels" animated series, then you didn't catch this great tie-in/continuation.

In s2 ep9 of Andor, Cassian was under the impression he would escort Mon Mothma to Yavin himself.

Instead, he was told that Gold Squadron would take Mon so that she could broadcast another speech.

"Rebels" featured what happened next

Wow, Episode 8 was brutal. I hoped that Syril would have turned his back on it all, but he made his choices. Rogue One already changed how I see the OT and this will make me think even more of everything that had to happen to expose the Empire's brutality and give the Rebellion the chance they had in Episode IV.

I'm hopeful that Bix is indeed out there somewhere in the galaxy and knows what Andor did in the end.

Is there another show (Star Wars or not) that can maintain the level of tension that this one does? I know who makes it out, but even they feel in danger of being offed at any second.

Nope. This is the Star Wars show above the rest, IMO. Sensational!

So, is "Who are you?" one of the most brutal lines in Star Wars? That was the final undoing of Syril. The look on his face at what he had become because of others. Controlled his whole life by his mom, the Empire, Deedra and his own mission to find Andor and in the end he meant nothing to anyone.

I guess I'm just not feeling this season of Andor... it's good, even very good. But there just seems to be one step forward, two steps back for me in each of these weekly storylines. The quality of the production is unmatched for sure, just some of the narrative and script choices are questionable. I was all for the release schedule at first, but it still feels oddly unsatisfying...even with three episodes at a time.

Episode 8, with the massacre, was flat-out amazing.

Hard to believe this series takes place in the same universe as all of the corny shit from Mandalorian, the Kenobi series, Book of Boba Fett, and the Sequel Trilogy.

This is the kind of shit Disney should have been making all along.

The Russian/Ukraine War, teenage mass shootings and meth addiction epidemics take place in the same universe as the Kardashians, astronaut Katy Perry, furry conventions and Jimmy Fallon hosting 4 tv shows.

Universes are big places.

Yeah those last 2 episodes were the best of the season, by a mile.

I was so so on the first 3 this season but the last set of 3 was incredible. The build to the massacre was intense. It's going to be a long night/day next week going from the last episode right into Rogue One.

Episode 9 actually continues with Star Wars: Rebels S3E18.

Excellent set of episodes. Wish Mon Montha got kidnapped though. Would have made a good rescue plot in the final episodes.

The Bix storyline shocked me. Thought they would go the death route.

We finished up episode 9, and immediately watched Rebels S03 E18. Wow, what great continuity! Gold Squadron, Erskin, Mon’s plea that formed the rebel alliance, etc.

Wife and I think this season of Andor has been incredible!

Finished this batch. Eps 8 and 9 holy shit!! Just further cements my love for this show. So sad for next week. In my book, the powers that be have set the bar so high with this that I don't think they'll ever reach it.

Finally . . . we are finally hitting our stride. Like the prequels, it took way too long to get here and felt like it spent way too much time on things that don't matter, but I'm wondering what rewatches will reveal when we are done.

For example:

• I think it is safe to say that we commonly agreed that the whole jungle stopover in Yavin was stupid and pointless. That is, until Andor is not on board with being willing to sacrifice Ghorman for the cause . . . which is exactly what he did to the crew on Yavin. Poorly done, but an excellent counterpoint to illustrate Andor's morals.
• I'm sure most of us caught the line Andor dropped on Luthen when he said , "It would be easier if I was alone." We also saw Cinta and Vel have a similar conversation, stating Luthen valued them more separately. Did Luthen play the long game in getting Bix to leave? Give her the closure she needs to heal, then give them the situation they think they want . . . and let her realize this can never work this way?

The connection to Rebels is an awesome connection. I, too, jumped back and started to watch the episode. I like the interconnectivity, but for me it strengthened my issues with the animated stuff. Contrasting these two pieces of the story highlighted just how juvenile it is; and I say that as somebody who cites Rebels as the only animated piece that I have been able to tolerate. (Side note: I did throw on Tales of the Underworld last night and thought it was well done, despite the need to keep going back to the well. It highlighted a discrepancy that I will tip to the animated side, and that is the liberal use of alien species. The live action stuff is so sparse on that, especially in a show that should be rife with it, i.e., Andor.)

That interconnectivity makes me question the production process though. I listened to an interview where Gilroy claimed he was given total and absolute freedom and reign over the project. Given his disdain for Star Wars during his work on Rogue One, I find it hard to believe he was trying to weave in pieces of Rebels.

I think the latest episodes also helped me hone on on a major issue with the early episodes: The lack of showing us how evil the Empire was being. Yes, we all know that . . . but it left the first several episodes feeling neutered and without any meaningful stakes or conflict.

Was there a point to the Saw Guerrera scenes? I love the idea of the character, but all this did was establish he is a meth-head. Yes, I get it, it explains the breathing apparatus, but I don't need to know where the dice came from.

Just finished episode 9 today. Agree with everyone else, episode 8 & 9 were outstanding.

You can't sell toys of this type of thing.

Little blue elephants, on the other hand...

Judging by the shelves at Ollie's, they can't sell Star Wars toys, period.

Ahh, Ollies, home of an army of Armorers, a bevy of Bo Katans, all with a beautiful, non-removable orange price sticker.

Ollie's is the sobering reality to toy manufactures that, yes, there is a carrying capacity in your industry.

I said basically the same thing to my wife (just watched ep 8 last night). As soon as it happened, I said something to the effect of, "holy shit, the last thing the guy heard was the person he's been chasing for years asking who he even was."

Absolutely brutal but the cuck deserved it.

I’d buy a life-size Kleya …

Sign me up for a Bix

Maybe we can find a two-pack at Ollie’s.