There aren’t many characters in any universe like Saw Gerrera. That’s been true since the moment he wheezed his way onto the scene in Rogue One, and since he went toe to toe with Luthen Rael in Andor season 1, but it wasn’t until this latest batch of Andor episodes that we really got to see pure, unfiltered Saw. And thank god for that.
[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Andor season 2’s second arc, which is episodes 4-6.]
As with every Andor arc, there’s a whole lot going on in episodes 4, 5, and 6 of season 2. But by far the wildest plotline is Wilmon’s, where he’s tasked with teaching Saw Gerrera’s ruthless band of rebels how to use a complicated fuel extractor. Wilmon teaches one of Saw’s men to use it, all with the threat that Saw might simply kill Wilmon himself when his tutoring is done. Instead, Wilmon ends up briefly subsumed into Saw’s crew and gets a front-row seat to the strangest and scariest member of the Rebel Alliance.
Up to this point in the show, and in Star Wars as a whole, Saw has been talked about with both terror and disdain by the rest of the rebellion. We know he’s a loose cannon who can’t be trusted to follow orders, and we know he’ll stop at nothing to advance his own vision of revolution, no matter how violent, with even Luthen suggesting that he’s dangerous. But as much as we’ve always heard all these things about Saw — from the video games to Rogue One to the Rebels animated series — we’ve never really seen it for ourselves until now.
Wilmon’s brief time with Saw in these episodes is absolutely terrifying, and wonderfully calculated. Saw knows his reputation for brutality precedes him, so he sets Wilmon up teaching his crew how to use the fuel extractor, and lets everyone involved see that Wilmon is dead as soon as the lessons are over. It’s an extremely tense, almost grueling, storyline to watch through in the show, as we see Wilmon contemplate at every turn just how long he might be able to keep the teaching going to save himself.
But having the whole thing turn on a dime with the twist that Saw recognized his own man as a traitor is exceptional, a few minutes of narrative investment that reveals an incredible amount about Saw’s cunning and cruelty.
Of course, though, the real highlight of this for Saw is his absolutely unhinged scene with Wilmon at the fuel extractor in episode 5. Saw explains to Wilmon his own origin story, worked nearly to death, totally naked in a field of toxic fumes practically designed to kill the men forced to labor there. But Saw didn’t die. He fought. He breathed the fumes until it felt as natural as air and let it spark rage and rebellion in his heart. It’s a terrific origin story, perfectly fitting for one of the most memorable characters in all of Star Wars.
In this incredible moment, Saw becomes not just one of Star Wars’ best characters, but also perhaps the character that best represents what can make the franchise so special. Saw is genuinely scary, a ruthless rebel warlord, a guerilla fighter who’s not just comfortable with brutality but prizes it. He’s just as likely to kill his friends or his enemies depending on which will help him reach his goal faster. He’s also constantly high on the fumes of space jet fuel. Andor recognizes brilliantly what makes the Star Wars universe exceptional: its wonderful contradictions. Saw is equal parts terrifying and cartoonish; he’s a perfect amalgamation of real-life radical revolutionaries who just happens to lead a band of rebels that includes a giant polar bear-shaped alien with a machine gun.
This is what Star Wars does at its very best, eliminating the line between goofy and incredible until the two ideas have completely vanished, leaving room for something entirely unique. It’s Luke firing the Death Star-destroying shot with his eyes closed and trusting in the Force; it’s every other character knowing that a little green puppet is the strongest Jedi alive; it’s little Anakin Skywalker morphing into Darth Vader; it’s Plo Koon, and lightsabers, and General Grievous, and Darth Maul, and Han Solo grumbling “I know” in response to “I love you.” Andor is the first and only Star Wars project to fully grasp this since George Lucas himself left the franchise. On paper, it’s all ridiculous; they’re laughable concepts that should never work. In practice, though, Star Wars is the chills you get from hearing Saw Gerrera huff gas and yell that revolutionaries “are the thing that explodes when there’s too much friction in the air.”
The post Saw Gerrera is Star Wars at its very best appeared first on Polygon.
