Andor’s best new Star Wars character is the villain’s pushy mom

Sometimes, even in an universe filled with space wizards and laser swords, huge robot walkers, little murder bears, the mom is still the most frightening thing anyone can encounter in Star Wars.

The bulk of “The Axe Forgets,” this week’s episode of the Rogue One prequel series Andor, is full of stuff you’d expect. The scrappy group of Rebels that Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) has signed up with as “Clem” make their final preparations for their big Imperial heist, work through some jitters, and also process their mistrust of the new guy who was brought on last minute. The episode begins far away from them with Syril Karn, a milquetoast villain (Kyle Soller), sulking inside his childhood bedroom.

Syril (Kathryn Hunter) is in his lowest place, disgraced, and out of work with his corporate renta-cop job. Eedy Karan (Kathryn Hunter), gives him a complete makeover. His poor manners, lack of potential and ambition and failure to make connections with his family to improve his life are all things she criticizes. In this fantasy world of blue milk and flying cars, she is the least real and most common of all: a pushy, overbearing and passive-aggressive mom who steamrolls her son in ways that will probably make him a worse person.

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Yet Eedy Karn isn’t just amusing; she’s emblematic of what Andor is doing so differently in its angry corner of the Star Wars universe, and how the show’s more grounded approach is succeeding. “The Axe Forgets” is full of loaded conversations between characters, each moving the plot forward while also hinting at specific resentments bubbling underneath. Consider:

• Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) argues with her sullen daughter about attending a government function, as it’s become clear that, of the twin charades she’s acting out, her family is the one she cares about least.
• Cassian and Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, aka “Cousin!” from Bear) are at odds about Cassian’s motivations. “Clem” doesn’t seem to be fighting for anything — a suspicion proven right when Cassian fesses up to being a mercenary. As mistrust rises to its peak, clarity follows. They’re all scared, and the thing that’s getting them through this isn’t merely some grandiose ideal. It’s something personal. “Everyone has their own rebellion,” Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) tells Cassian.
• Dedra and Heert (Denise Gough and Jacob James Beswick, respectively), our favorite Imperial bureaucrats, egg each other on in their suspicions of a budding rebellion, as the pencil-pushers’ ambition is stymied by the chain of command — but the opportunity is there for them to Prove yourselfas one of the top little fascists.

All of this is possible Andor This production feels more like a Star Wars-style costume drama than traditional Star Wars. It’s much more focused on character — in the mythic spectacle of Star Wars, there is often no time for these kinds of conversations, for these kinds of resentments and grievances to air out or manifest in ways that are both quiet and loud.

And that’s what makes an episode like “The Axe Forgets” so gripping: In taking the time to underline all of the emotions at play across its entire cast, no matter where they are, those emotions become kindling, ready to ignite at the drop of a hat. These characters can ignite when something goes wrong.