Does Andor’s Luthen have a lightsaber, and does that make him a Jedi?

Andor’s lighter on Easter eggs than any Star Wars sequel or spinoff has ever been, and lacking that connection to the Skywalker saga has left some fans grasping for hidden messages after every single episode. The latest example of this is fans asking whether or not Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), one of the masterminds of the Rebellion, is a Jedi after a key moment in the 11th episode.

So we’re here to explain where the question comes from and do our best to give a definitive answer.

Are Luthen Jedi or a Jedi?

No. This is a ridiculous theory built on almost nothing, except that he seems to have in his possession something that looks like a lightsaber — and we can’t even be sure yet that’s what it is. (If it was, why would Luthen need to steal Two Tubes’ blaster to defend himself in his confrontation with Saw?) Lightsabers are not just for Jedi, but anyone can have them. This is especially true if you’re only looking at the last few years since the Jedi slaughter. Luthen works as an antiques dealer so it is understandable that he might have a borderline-illicit weapon. In fact, his ship even has weapons that aren’t that different from lightsabers already, and we’ve never seen a Jedi ship do that before.

He could not have escaped Coruscant, even though he is a Jedi. The Empire thought it had found every Jedi across the galaxy, but they didn’t find the 70-year old who lives with them and carries a lightsaber. It’s hard to believe, at best.

But wouldn’t it be cool if he was a Jedi?

It is not. It is a part of Andor’s greatness is that it doesn’t involve any of the tentpole Star Wars topics, while still being deeply about the series’ foundation of Rebellion against injustice. It’s thematically critical to the show that the Jedi stay far away from the Rebellion. Luke could save the day at the end but Andor It is the story of the people and places that helped to make that possible, as well as the many lives they impacted.

The fun aspect of Easter eggs is often part of the endless array of universes and franchises which has dominated pop culture over the last fifteen years. But the desperate need for everything to connect and for circles to loop neatly back into themselves doesn’t get you great storytelling or meaningful art; it gets you a disaster like Skywalkers Rise.

So if there’s any justice in the universe, Luthen will keep as far from the Jedi as he possibly can, and no one on AndorSkywalker will be a word that you never think of.