Hyperspace Theories

Episodes eight to ten of Andor center on a common theme: everyone is trapped in a literal or metaphorical prison. In this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss how writer Beau Willimon used this theme as the keystone for all of the characters in this story arc. Cassian, of course, spends this arc in the Narkina 5 prison facility, where the Empire uses convict labor in a prison-industrial complex to produce countless components necessary for the military-industrial complex necessary to sustain its galactic tyranny. Kino Loy, played by the amazing Andy Serkis, is both a literal inmate and a metaphorical prisoner of the gamified labor regime within the facility. Others play along too, at least until they realize the game is rigged and they can never “win” their freedom. Beyond Narkina 5, the theme pervades the other characters’ stories, too. On Ferrix, we see the ways Bix, Paak, Brasso, and Maarva suffer under Imperial occupation. On Coruscant, Syril thinks his connection with Ded