After the Aldhani heist, the galaxy is reeling, and the Empire is ready to tighten its grip. In Andor’s seventh episode, “Announcement,” there’s fear, suspicion, betrayal—and the realization that things are only going to get worse from here.
The Empire Strikes Back
At the Imperial Security Bureau, Colonel Wullf Yularen (Malcolm Sinclair) announces sweeping changes. A tribute tax five times the amount stolen from Aldhani will be enforced on any sector linked to rebel activity. Local customs and festivals are no longer tolerated if used to cover insurgency. Under the newly invoked Public Order Resentencing Directive (PORD), even crimes that indirectly affect the Empire will be considered Class One offenses. Prison sentences are being re-evaluated, and all outstanding fines and levies must be paid in full. “The only question we need to answer is: how tight do we close our fist?” Wullf Yularen says. Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) sees things differently. She believes this crackdown is exactly what the rebels wanted. To her, Aldhani wasn’t a robbery—it was an announcement. She launches her own investigation into a pattern of stolen military equipment across sectors. She requests a two-year Multi-Sector Data Blend from Navy bases and repair facilities—every missing comm, nav, avionics, and targeting part across every system. On Aldhani, a Star Destroyer cuts through the sky like a warning sign, as rebel Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) searches for a way out.Rebels Without Rules
Back on Coruscant, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) listens to news of the heist from his shop when a furious Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) arrives. She didn’t know anything about the job, and she’s not thrilled to find out Luthen was behind it. She warns that people will get hurt. He says that’s the point. If the Empire overreacts, the people will finally wake up. “We need the fear. We need them to overreact,” he says. “The Empire has been choking us so slowly, we’re starting not to notice.” Luthen gives her an ultimatum: surrender your conscience—or get out. There are no rules anymore. Later, Luthen’s assistant Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) meets with Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay), who’s disappointed Luthen didn’t come. The money is safe, and the freighter is buried. Kleya, unfazed by the deaths, tells Vel not to contact Cinta, then gives her a new mission: find Cassian and kill him before he turns Luthen over to the Empire. Meanwhile, Mon meets her old friend, banker Tay Kolma (Ben Miles), at a party. She’s ready to tell him something only three people in the galaxy know. When he makes an offhand anti-Imperial comment, she takes it as a green light. Mon doesn’t outright reveal her ties to the Rebellion, but she admits the Mon Mothma persona is a lie crafted to mislead people. She also reveals that the Grand Vizier has infiltrated her Separatist Coalition meetings and that her driver is an ISB plant reporting on her secret humanitarian programs. In other words, she’s being watched. Mon needs access to her family’s money and asks Tay to help create “a Chandrilan charitable outreach program,” with him as chairman, to funnel the funds to the Rebellion. Before he can respond, Mon warns that her husband, Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie), doesn’t know what’s going on and can’t be trusted. As if on cue, Perrin interrupts, requiring her to schmooze with guests.You Can’t Go Home Again
Cassian returns to Ferrix to find things worse than before. He visits Maarva (Fiona Shaw) and B2EMO (Dave Chapman), who warn him the town is now under Imperial control. He also learns it was Timm Karlo who turned him in—but it doesn’t matter anymore since he was killed by the Corpos. Cassian tells Maarva the three of them are leaving, as he has enough credits to take them anywhere. When he visits Bix (Adria Arjona), they discuss their past relationship—which might explain Timm’s actions. She tells him the town blames him for what happened. “You killed two Corpos and came home to hide,” Bix says. “Put the entire town at risk. Now there are Imperials on the street.” She tells Cassian he needs to get out of Ferrix. It’s her way of saying goodbye, permanently. He asks who Luthen is. She doesn’t know, but says he knew about the killings—not from her. Cassian wants Bix to tell Luthen he held up his side of the deal and gives her 12,000 credits to repay the people he owes. Seeing the Imperial presence in Ferrix triggers flashbacks of Cassian’s adoptive father, Clem. Stormtroopers hung Clem in the town square on Rix Road after he tried to break up a fight. Cassian attacked the troopers afterward, and that’s why he was sent to prison all those years ago. When Cassian returns to Maarva’s house, she refuses to leave. The garrison heist on Aldhani has given her hope, and she wants to fight. Cassian doesn’t admit he was part of it, but he does say he doesn’t understand why she’d stay. Maarva explains they’re on different paths. She loves him—but he can’t stay, and she won’t leave. She tells him to stop searching for his sister, as there were no survivors on Kenari.Moving On Up
Syril Karn is stuck at home with his overbearing mother Eedy (Kathryn Hunter) and a brown suit she hates. But Uncle Harlo has come through with a job interview at the Bureau of Standards. During the interview, Syril is asked about what happened on Morlana One. He explains there’s a rebel killer on the loose due to corruption in corporate authority, and that he was fired for trying to do the right thing. The interviewer decides to scrub his record and hires him into Fuel Purity. The last we see of Syril is him working in his cubicle, fully aware that he’s being watched. Back at the ISB, Blevin (Ben Bailey Smith) tries to throw Dedra under the speeder for pulling unauthorized data. But she flips the situation, telling Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) she used the Imperial Emergency Act to access cross-sector data after Aldhani. She argues that Partagaz’s sector system is outdated, and she can prove there’s an organized rebel effort to steal restricted Imperial components. Impressed, Major Partagaz rewards her hard work by reassigning control of the Morlana sector to her. “Well played,” he tells her. Then adds, “Watch your back.”Trouble in Paradise
Cassian—now going by the name Keef Girgo—is on the beach planet Niamos with a new lover named Windi (Katrina Nare). On his way to the store, he’s arrested for being part of a crime he had nothing to do with. He tries to explain he’s a tourist, but no one believes him. He’s sentenced to six years in prison, a punishment that used to be six months. “I’m just a tourist!” Cassian shouts as he’s dragged out of court. You can stream the first season of Andor in its entirety on Disney+. The second season premieres on April 22.📌 Changelog
- April 22, 2025: Rewrote sections and updated the subheadings to improve flow. Also added links to stream the entire first season on Disney+.
- April 13, 2024: Updated formatting for better clarity, added subheadings, and included a short summary of the article.
- October 19, 2022: Original article published along with a link to stream the episode on Disney+.
