Season One of Andor concluded with a bang. A series of them actually, as the people of Ferrix stood against the Empire in what could only be described as a revolution. The revolt may go down in the books as the first open act of defiance against the Empire, but as audiences already know, the Empire isn’t going down quite yet. In fact, it’s still building to its peak level of terror. To that end, the episode came with the first post-credit tag of the series which served as a chilling reminder that the worst from the Empire is yet to come.
Set deep in space, the tag shows a group of small droids shuffling around and installing some very familiar-looking components into a much larger assembly. As the camera pulls back, it’s revealed that the droids are putting together a layer of the Death Star’s Superlaser. Given Andor’s 5 BBY setting and the massive undertaking of assembling a station the size of the DS-1, its construction fits the timeline as well as many fan theories that have swirling about since Episode 8.
The Superlaser’s power came from the combination of 8 separate laser beams which were converged into the one massive, planet-killing beam that made the Death Star the most terrifying weapon in the galaxy. Though no details were given, it seems as though the droids are using the components to assemble channels for the individual beams.
Of course, the most chilling aspect of the post-credit scene is the realization that the components being installed were built by Cassian and his fellow inmates in the prison on Narkina 5. The tag adds context to so much of Andor, Rogue One and really any other projects that take place in the timeline prior to A New Hope. The prisoners at Narkina 5, a place that felt so incredibly oppressive, were working tirelessly and competitively to create the Empire’s most oppressive weapon.
For Cassian, coming to learn that he’d build part of the Death Star could go a long way in explaining his commitment to its destruction in Rogue One, where he’s willing to give his life to ensure the plans get to the Rebels. Finally, with the Empire becoming aware of the growing threat of a Rebellion and the fact that the tag shows the importance of the parts the prisoners have been building, it provides a terrifying additional layer to the idea that the prisoners of Narkina 5 were never getting out and also that by escaping, they may have paused the project just long enough to let the Rebels catch the break they needed to ultimately destroy the Death Star!
