Andor: Maarva by Samhita Adapa

 

The Best Speech in Andor 

Tony Gilroy’s Andor is a show that proves language is just as powerful as starfighters and blasters, when wielded right. The spark of rebellion is ignited by speech, whether they’re long monologues broadcasted to the entire galaxy or intimate words whispered only for another to hear. These words inspire common people to stand up and fight and they undo years of propaganda and terror in hopes of a better future, to see a new sunrise over the galaxy. Balancing both writing and performance, the many monologues and speeches of Andor are outstanding and elevate the show to levels never reached by Star Wars media before. One Speech that especially highlights the masterful writing of Andor is Maarva’s final words, recorded after death and delivered in the finale of the show. 

In the season one finale, “Rix Road”, Maarva Andor, the adoptive mother of Cassian Andor, delivers a rousing speech to her people of Ferrix. For context, the planet is currently occupied by the Empire and during her funeral procession, which the people had to beg for, she delivers this speech through a posthumous speech recorded prior to her death. Not only is the speech brilliantly delivered, but it is shot just as well. Everything she’s saying coincides with what the characters are feeling and doing. She introduces herself first, as a Daughter of Ferrix and worthy of the stone. The stone is a tradition people from Ferrix follow, a brick that is made from the ashes of their deceased. She wants her death to lift her people, inspire them, and she says so herself. But Maarva says she’s scared of their ignorance for all these years. When referring to the Empire she says, “There is a wound that won’t heal at the center of the galaxy. There is a darkness reaching like rust into everything around us. We let it grow, and now it’s here. It’s here and it’s not visiting anymore. It wants to stay”. These words perfectly describe the Empire. It’s a rot that slowly spreads, infecting everything and everyone with its unnatural oppression and control, robbing people of their freedoms and lives. Maarva tells them to wake up, “The Empire is a disease that thrives in darkness, it is never more alive than when we asleep”. Her speech is more raw and brutal, but it's the same as Mon’s. She finishes off by saying that it’s easy for her to say this after dying, to tell them to risk their lives and that maybe it’s too late. However, she concludes with this, “But I'll tell you this, if I could do it again, I'd wake up early and be fighting those bastards from the start! Fight the Empire!” and Ferrix combusts. Luthen listens and watches as people begin to fight, realizing that everything he has killed and slaughtered for is happening right here, on this small planet, spontaneous, uncontrolled, and natural. His rebellion ignites right in front of his eyes. He doesn’t even need to get involved. As he says earlier, he “shares [his] dreams with ghosts” and here is a ghost shouting out his dream for all to hear. There is a renewed hope in him, that the rebellion might actually survive. However, it isn’t her words that are the spark, they’re just the fuel. When a scared imperial tries to interrupt her speech by throwing a coat over the projector, people erupt. Ironically, the Empire is the matchstick here. Maarva says that if she could do it again, she would start fighting from the start and the first brick used to attack the Empire is Maarva’s brick, the one made from her ashes.