Andor Just Dropped One of Star Wars’ Wildest Easter Eggs

Andor is so refreshing partially as a result of it doesn’t really feel just like the sort of Star Wars present that’s going to drop the whole lot, level at a well-known character arriving onto the scene, and go “look! Star War!” And but, out of nowhere, this week’s thrilling episode dropped possibly one of the vital absurdly deep-cut canonizations this period of Star Wars has ever seen.

“Aldhani” picks up rapidly where Andor’s three-part premiere left off, as Cassian and Luthen race away from the planet Ferrix, and the latter simply as rapidly pushes the previous into taking up a brand new mission on the titular planet. Before the 2 half methods, Luthen gives Cassian a reassurance—each a metaphorical down cost for the gig, and a request that he return again from it to ship the “gift” in particular person. It’s a necklace, adorned with huge blue crystal: kyber, the crystalline useful resource very important to each the Jedi and Sith, and in Andor’s future, the superweapon programs of the Death Star. But it’s not the Kyber that’s the Easter egg right here. It’s what Luthen tells Cassian about it.

“Blue kyber. Sky stone. The ancient world,” the person mutters, earlier than including “celebrates the uprising against the Rakatan invaders.”

Out of nowhere, Andor casually dropped the primary Disney-era specific reference to a deep, deep lower piece of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic lore. It’s the sort of factor, not like Star Wars’ latest nostalgic, cameo-laden self-references, that will go by most viewers utterly. But for the individuals who realize it, it’s an out of nowhere shock to your system.

Who Were the Rakatans?

The Rakata first appeared within the 2003 Bioware online game Knights of the Old Republic, a beloved Star Wars recreation that’s set to get a lavish remake (… at some point). An historical race of cone-headed, fish-eyed aliens, it’s revealed that they’re the architects behind the devastating weapon on the coronary heart of KOTOR’s climactic act, the Star Forge—a large automated factory-fortress that, channeling the ability of a star and the Force itself, may endlessly churn out fleets and armies of droids to wage conflict with.

And once we say historical, we imply historical. KOTOR is about about 4,000 years earlier than the Star Wars motion pictures, and the Rakata had been round virtually 30,000 years earlier than that. Believed to be the primary species within the galaxy to develop hyperspace journey, the Rakata had been masters of technological prowess to some extent that might even be inconceivable within the “contemporary” time of Andor, not to mention the time of their peak in the established order of the galaxy. But they weren’t simply good with machines, the Rakata may wield the Force as effectively—having discovered of its powers from a equally historical race known as the Kwa, however ignoring their teachings of stability to solely faucet into the harmful energy of the Dark Side—and what made their expertise so highly effective was a fusion between their mechanical means and this religious one which gasolineed each side of Rakatan society.

But the Rakatans had been additionally power-mad assholes, so that they used this superior tech and Force mastery to develop the Infinite Empire—a militaristic, galaxy-consuming imperial would possibly that subjugated virtually all the identified galaxy, from the core worlds to the outer rim. The Rakatans had been merciless galactic masters, enslaving whole species to construct their conflict engines, wiping out whole planetary ecosystems to terraform them as they noticed match, and eradicating any opposition to their rule virtually instantly. The Infinite Empire dominated the galaxy for over 10,000 years with an iron grip… however it wasn’t precisely Infinite.

A mix of things finally toppled the Infinite Empire—laying the trail for the muse of the primary Galactic Republic—however virtually exterminated the Rakata solely. The Star Forge itself truly performed a component in that downfall, because it started to feed off of the Force throughout the Rakata, amplifying their aggressive tendencies to the purpose {that a} mixture of slave world uprisings and in-faction rivalries gave manner to an enormous civil conflict. This was a part of a one-two punch that completed off the Rakata: round 25,000 years earlier than the occasions of the Star Wars motion pictures, the species was hit with the outbreak of a lethal plague that didn’t simply decimate the Rakatan folks, however robbed them of their connection to the Force, making them incapable of utilizing their very own expertise. Worlds within the Infinite Empire took benefit of the Rakatan’s weak spot to stand up and expel them, finally pushing all of them the best way again to their homeworld of Lehon. Even then, the Rakata couldn’t assist however grasp for energy, turning on the remnants of their very own folks and turning Lehon right into a war-ravaged smash of islands. The survivors fled underground, devolving into pockets of tribal civilizations over the centuries, till their as soon as all-encompassing maintain of the galaxy was all however forgotten.

Have the Rakatans Been Mentioned in Star Wars Canon Before?

Andor could be the primary time that the Rakata have been explicitly name-checked on-screen, however it’s not truly the primary time they’ve popped up within the Disney period of Star Wars’ rebooted canon. Bits and bobs of lore and particulars from throughout each Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, The Sith Lords, have made their manner into up to date canon within the years since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, however for the Rakata and the Infinite Empire particularly, issues have been far more obscure. The world Rakata Prime—not Lehon—was talked about within the Force Awakens visible information’s map of the identified galaxy, whereas Lehon and the Rakata had been famous as the primary hyperspace-capable species within the galaxy in, of all issues, a licensed model-making journal to construct the Millennium Falcon launched in 2015. The species has additionally been talked about in Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars roleplaying recreation sourcebooks, which have unfastened canonical validity.

The iconography of the Infinite Empire has additionally appeared on-screen, even when it was by no means instantly recognized as such. One of the treasures in Dryden Vos’ assortment in Solo: A Star Wars Story is a small chest described within the movie’s accompanying visible information as a Wraith Box, a chunk of Rakatan expertise that seems within the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Meanwhile the image of the Infinite Empire—a form akin to the hexagonal bipyramid construction of the Star Forge itself—has a teeny blink-and-you’ll miss it look in Star Wars Rebels’ second season. In the season finale “Twilight of the Apprentice,” which itself takes place on KOTOR II planet Malachor, Ezra, Ahsoka, and Kanan briefly stroll previous Sith ruins that function the symbol of the Infinite Empire carved over all of them.

What Does This Mean for Andor?

Absolutely nothing. And that’s nice! Well, presumably Luten nonetheless needs his necklace again after Cassian completes his job, however that’s about excessive because the stakes get when it comes to this reference. The Rakata are lengthy lifeless and gone by the point of Andor, so it’s not like they’re going to indicate up. Like we stated earlier, that is the right sort of transient Star Wars indulgence—one thing that can fly over the pinnacle of an off-the-cuff observer as only a piece of background fluff, however one thing that can have a really particular sort of Star Wars fan sending their eyebrows into the higher ambiance.

And that’s simply good. Not each Star Wars reference must be A Thing, or a prelude to much more specific connections or ramifications. The galaxy far, far-off is supposed to be big, and it could possibly deal with simply having some texture for texture’s sake, whereas linking again to its long gone. Someone acquired Stellan goddamn Skarsgård to say the phrase “Rakatan” on TV in 2022, and whether or not that both makes you wish to journey again in time 20 years to blow your youthful self’s mind broad open or means zilch to you even after it’s all been defined, that’s simply neat. Nothing extra, nothing much less.

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