Hell Yeah,Andor‘s Cool, Casually Queer Women

Star Warshas long hada rocky account with textual queerness — while LGBTQ characters have lento but sure enough begun to fly high in the pages of books , games , and comics , on screens self-aggrandizing and small the issue havebeen decidedly mixed . It ’s fitting then that Andor , a shock to Star Wars ’ system as of late , is embolden in its own plan of attack .

This calendar week ’s sequence , “ The Axe Forgets , ” largely pursue the rebel cell that Cassian ( aka Clem ) has been introduce into on Alhdani by Luthen , as they all prepare for a dangerous mission to slip payroll data from the Empire . As with much of Andor ’s strength so far , it is an episode that is deft and rich in a grounded texture with how it border on its characters , as we get to learn a little more about just why these masses have been bring together in a ill-affected causal agent .

We learn of their anger , of their vengeance , of their ideology , all these different citizenry all with valid reason for fighting the Imperial automobile . But in a similarly deft scene , we quickly learn , as electric cell fellow member Skeen fill up Cassian in on the myriad personal political sympathies of his fellow insurgent as they wake up in their camp , that some connections go beyond drive . It ’s a tiny , but significant minute : Cinta , played by Varada Sethu , leaves one of the slackly constructed huts in the encampment , gathering things . As Skeen describes her as tougher than she look , Faye Marsay ’s Vel walks out from the same hut behind her , draw close in a mantle .

Screenshot: Lucasfilm

“ She ’s already sharin ’ a blanket , if that ’s what your wonderin ’ , ” Skeen simply severalise Cassian , and we have , in such a quiet import , Star Wars ’ second faggot duo in live - action medium .

Vel and Cinta ’s family relationship is not presented as the be - all and closing - all of queerness in Andor . There is no grand erotic love confession , no expressed familiarity , but a relationship that is paint quietly — in a communication channel like Skeen ’s , or the way Vel ’s attitude to Cassian turns on a dime bag when he briefly flirts with Cinta over his wounded weapon . It ’s there in glances as they stand with each other side by side , or it ’s in looks of discomfort when , as the cell stool its way to commence their mission and Cassian reveal his own mercenary aims for being part of their cause , Cinta softly admits that Vel did not even tell her that she already have intercourse this . But it is a relationship nonetheless , and albeit one sketched out loosely , it experience more powerfully heavy than a character screaming it from the rooftop , or perhaps a blink - and - you’ll - girl - it kiss at a victory solemnisation .

It feels , just as the rest ofAndor ’s messy , flawed figuresdo , whether within the Empire or without it , just like a part of this humans , seamlessly and without question . It is represent as no stranger than if Vel or Cinta had partake a cover with Cassian , or Nemik , or Skeen , or Taramyn : it just is . Andor excels atthe lived - in feelingthat Star Wars often love to provoke of its worldbuilding , but that is usually a descriptor it saves for prop and exotic conception , spaceship and blasters . Rarely so much does it apply to its type , especially ones that take on mythical position like itsgrandest heroes and villain — by choice larger - than - life next to the regular people of the galaxy . But Andor have this feeling , of make a world that is capable of such phantasy as Star Wars and render it complicatedly human and actual , and indeed survive - in , and applies it to everyone . And that everyone , just as in our own globe , includes faggot multitude .

Screenshot: Lucasfilm

It ’s perhaps telling that Star Wars has been around for as long as it has , and it is this quash , barely touched and subtle family relationship in Andor that still stand as one of its most visible funny relationships , on screens big or small . The franchise , for all it successes on the page — which , cynically viewed , can be pushed apart at a moment ’s notice by the colossus of idiot box and motion picture as not “ tangible ” Star Wars in the eyes of many — or for all itstiny , frustrating stepsin hot - action and animation , has a long way to go when it comes to giving us fag characters as richly elaborate and celebrated as its heterosexual ones . We might not know how much long Vel or Cinta have in Andor ’s earthly concern , life sentence under the Empire is always a risky venture for any rebel . But in the here and now , their apportion blanket brings vital grain to its world , and Andor is all the better for touching upon it .

desire more io9 news ? insure out when to expect the latestMarvelandStar Warsreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on photographic film and TV , and everything you need to know aboutHouse of the DragonandLord of the Rings : The Rings of Power .

CassianDarth VaderFictionFilmsStar war

Screenshot: Lucasfilm