Star Wars Fans Stunned by Andor Character’s Death (But We All Should Have Seen It Coming)

WARNING: There are Andor spoilers ahead! Andor is officially over, and this final batch of episodes had plenty of heartbreak and surprises left for the grand finale. Episode 10, “Make It Stop” finally gave us more background on Stellan Skarsgård’s character Luthen Rael, better known to the Empire as the Rebel leader Axis. In the process, we saw Luthen’s death, which was bittersweet as he went out on his own terms, withholding intelligence from the Empire until the very end. Of course, many fans predicted Luthen would die by the end of this series, and even those who didn’t had to admit that in hindsight, it should have been obvious. That hasn’t stopped fans from posting tributes to Luthen all over social media.

The first of this week’s three episodes was dedicated mostly to Luthen Rael and his protoge, Kleya Marki. When Luthen’s cover is finally blown by Dedra Meero, he tries to take his own life rather than be captured and interrogated by the Empire, but Dedra keeps him alive and takes him to an Imperial hospital. Kleya breaks into the facility and unplugs Luthen’s life support, letting him die rather than face torture.

Fans on social media called Luthen the “unsung hero of the Rebellion” after seeing this episode. Many Reddit posts celebrated the character, and marveled at the way his story was written to intertwine with existing Star Wars lore without interfering with any pre-established facts. Sadly, it makes perfect sense that a character like Luthen would go unremembered by the larger Rebel Alliance. In all likelihood, he would have wanted it that way himself.

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“Luthen Rael, you burned your decency for someone else’s future, you died for a sunrise you never saw, but in spite of everything the dawn did come,” wrote u/Mando177 on Reddit. “The hopes and dreams of millions free of fascism will be the legacy of your sacrifice and struggle. Glory to the martyrs.”

“Undeniably one of the best written characters in Star Wars history,” added one commenter, while another wrote: “You could argue the show was as much about him as Cassian.” Meanwhile, fans speculated about the wide-reaching effects of Luthen’s actions in later movies and stories, from the establishment of Rebel Alliance networks and infrastructure to the philosophy behind the group’s future actions. One Reddit user wrote: “He had friends everywhere so you can imagine that when the rebellion was in full swing, he’d have those friends join it.”

While fans were happy to sing Luthen’s praises, it was difficult for some to process his death, realizing in hindsight how inevitable it was. They acknowledged that in hindsight, it was unlikely for a character like this to survive the run of Andor. If he were alive during movies like Rogue One or A New Hope, he would not be content to live in the background or go into retirement.

Andor is streaming now on Disney+, along with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the rest of the franchise. The series is complete now, with no plans for another season.