The Envy of Freedom: Rebellion in Andor and Our World
Star Wars was the pillar of many childhoods - the death star vanquishing Alderon of its beauty, the duel of fates, ships swerving through asteroid fields. Watching these movies on Sunday mornings was the epitome of my childhood, filling me up with stories of wonder and righteousness. In recent years though, Star Wars has begun to display itself in a much more gritty and grounded manner. The rebellion is no longer the ethical fighters for righteousness, but guerilla warriors that hold AK-47’s and employ merciless tactics. There are no more Jedi, no more lightsabers, grand battles and heroism have been traded for something far more real and raw.
Andor is a Star Wars show released in 2022 that leans entirely into the new face of the rebellion. It doesn’t follow the journey of a destined child chosen by the force - just the story of regular townspeople. Despite being set in a galaxy far far away, Andor imagines rebellion and resistance in a way that is very relevant to our world. Andor shows that rebellion isn’t always born through destiny or idealistic fantasies, rather it is envy of freedom and choice that fuels resistance: a valuable lesson for us to learn from this show in our world of increasing disparity between those who have and have not.
The story is centered around Cassian Andor and the small town of Ferrix located in the outer rim. Ferrix is a simple and importantly self-sufficient town of scavengers, mechanics, and entrepreneurs. It is a proud town, built upon years of history, community, and trust. Throughout the show, whether it's yard owner Bix helping Andor sell spare parts or factory man Brasso helping droid B2 navgate, we get to continuously see the bond between the town. Andor is set in between the Star Wars prequels and original series - meaning that the Empire had not crept out to the outer rim yet. Ferrix was thriving, it was a town of true and honest character that had built itself up over the years without the need or desire for the empire.
However, after a series of escalations in the region, the Empire decides to crack down on Ferrix. They take over the local hotel establishing what becomes a base of terror. Out of pure twisted desire to assert themselves they go into the town scrapyard and arrest Bix. Acting like a childish monkey with a point to prove, they swing their batons smashing whatever was independent of them. The Empire arrived not as a force of governance and progress, but as a tantrum — swinging its boot down on Ferrix simply to hear the crack of bones beneath it.
This is when we first begin to see envy growing in the people of Ferrix, as it naturally would. If you take a people so independent and suddenly enforce curfews, taxes, and establish yourself as their master who could do as he pleases, it is a dark fantasy that Ferrix would never accept. They had lived with freedom and autonomy for so long that when you start constricting their lives anger, frustration, envy builds. As the show goes on, we see the daily struggles that befell the people of Ferrix. Slowly, a deep satiating desire for the empire to be gone built up. Residents sat around the scrapyard at night sharing stories, held secret events, anything to go back in time before their new reality. They had grown envious. Envious of the life they had, and they wanted it back.
That pent up envy began to manifest and unleash itself. It started small, up charging the empire for any purchase, delivering their goods late, putting too much spice in their food. Then it got big with a firefight in the middle of the town with Cassian at the center. This resulted in Cassian having to flee and the empire to double down on their pointless and senseless campaign. While Cassian travelled the galaxy and embedded himself in the rebellion, Ferrix’s struggle continued. Until one day, Cassian’s mother, Marva, passed away. Marva was a pillar in the community. She was a president of the Daughters of Ferrix-the respected and wise stewards of the traditions of Ferrix. The town had lost one of its greatest protectors and it was accordingly devastated. Preparations for a grand funeral had been put in place, but the empire had no intention of allowing Maarva to be honored in accordance with Ferrix tradition. They saw her funeral as an opportunity to catch Cassian who had been running circles around imperial intelligence. The empire shut down roads, restricted the timing and size, and the final nail in the coffin is when they mandated only certain customs may be observed. The empire's power trip had reached all time highs, but so had Ferrix’s envy. As the funeral processions got underway, the anger towards the countless postings of troopers was palpable.
During the ceremony, a pre recorded speech from Marva was played to the town that resonated deep into the soul of Ferrix. “We’ve been sleeping,” she warns, calling the Empire a disease that thrives in darkness. Her final words are a chilling call to arms: “If I could do it again, I would wake up early and fight these bastards every day.”
That was all it took, Marva was the spark. Fueled by grief and long held anger, the citizens attacked the imperial settlement: leading to a bloody day of rebellion and riots in Ferrix. This rebellion didn’t happen because of a sudden momentary revelation, as it commonly does in star wars, it was the experience of living under the whip of the empire, seeing their freedoms and dignity stripped away from them that drove the town of Ferrix into rebellion. They had grown far too envious of a life where their hands built their own future, not one dictated by a cold and faceless regime. They were no longer content with mourning what they had lost—they were ready to fight for what had been stolen.
While seeing Cassian’s story unfold and the development arc of the town of Ferrix was incredibly entertaining, what makes Andor so special is just how real it truly is. We live in a world where inequality is perhaps one of our greatest issue’s. Every year that goes by we see more and more disparity between the top 1% and bottom 50%. As Bernie Sanders said “A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little.” That envy we saw slowly burn in Andor is exactly what’s happening in our world today, particularly in events such as the anti oligarchy events being headed across the United States. In both cases, it wasn’t a single event that caused people to flood the streets—it was years of pent-up frustration over rising living costs, government corruption, and economic inequality. The people of Ferrix fought because their self-sufficiency was stolen from them, just as many working-class people today feel that their dignity and independence are being stripped away by systems that favor the powerful. Even in the United States, the growing discontent over housing affordability, stagnant wages, and wealth concentration has led to a resurgence of unionization efforts, grassroots activism, and political movements demanding systemic change. Just like Ferrix, these real-world communities aren't driven by a fantasy of revolution—they're driven by a tangible yearning to reclaim control over their lives from institutions that seem increasingly indifferent to their suffering.