One Way Out (Andor - S01E10) - Live Action Series

Discuss the latest Chapter! (Discussion)

"And what did you sacrifice? Calm, kindness, kinship, love..." SPOILERS.

An indecent proposal

Let's not talk about the plot for One Way Out all that much, because the plot is not really the major focus of the most recent Andor episode. Yes, we do get to see the quite action packed and dramatic prison escape staged by Cassian and the other inmates, but two character driven scenes are, in my opinion, the real focus here and both deal with the same thing: sacrifice, what lengths are you willing to go to fight evil, and if that fight will change you for the worse.

Mon Mothma is visibly shaken and upset after her talk with Davo Sculdun

Let's talk about the Mon Mothma scene first. It's just three people talking, Tay Kolma has brought along a person Mon Mothma would rather not meet, but she did eventually agree to meet fellow Chandrilan Davo Sculdun. He can help with her money problem. But as it turns out his offer comes at a price. He wants Mon Mothma's daughter, who is just 13, to marry his son, yet another wonderful arranged marriage. It is custom on Chandrila to marry at 15, at last in certain circles and it's obvious Sculdun wants a piece of Mon Mothma's power, wealth and influence for his own family. And like in feudal European times a marriage between the two families seems like a great business proposition to him, in exchange for him helping Mon Mothma with accessing her funds without the Empire noticing it. However, Mon Mothma sternly refuses the proposal. At least for now. And the question is: how far are you willing to go in your fight against evil? What will you sacrifice? Will you sacrifice your own daughter, sell her off like some prize cow? Or do you keep some principles and standards? For now Mon Mothma seems to value her own integrity and morality over the big cause, defeating the Empire. Would an arranged and potentially unhappy marriage for what is basically still just a girl be justified if it helps funding the rebellion? What are you willing to sacrifice? And it's not even your own sacrifice, but that of your daughter?

Sacrifice is the major theme this week

Let's skip to the end of the episode, where we are looking at the subject of personal sacrifice from another angle. In a very surprising twist we learn that ISB supervisor Lonni Jung is actually a rebel who went deep undercover six years ago and infiltrated the ISB. He has some crucial info for Luthen Rael, but he wants out, he has a family now, a newborn daughter, and he asks Luthen to let him go. And after a brief exchange Lonni quite angrily asks Luthen what it is he has sacrificed, since Lonni is putting not just his life, but the life of his wife and daughter on the line, should the ISB find out about him. We get yet another stellar performance by Stellan Skarsgard when he, as Luthen, explains what he has sacrificed for the cause. His inner peace, love, kinship... and he is forced to use the methods of his enemy so he can defeat them. Luthen is very well aware how ruthless he has become and we get a glimpse at the inner life of someone who sacrificed and abandoned his own principles and morality, in many ways he has stared into the abyss for too long.

Luthen doesn't like the person he has become

And the theme of sacrifice is further explored when we learn what info Lonni has for Luthen. He informs him that the ISB on to the attack of the rebel cell on an Imperial installation and that they will be slaughtered, unless the rebels do something and call off the attack. However, Luthen follows Winston Churchill when he declines to act on the info. Because calling off the attack would reveal to the ISB that they may have a mole problem, and Lonni is much more important to Luthen and the rebels than a rebel cell 50 people strong. You can feel Luthen's regret and pain when he says that he lost calm, kindness, kinship and love. Because he has to make the tough calls. And in many ways he is correct, an inside ISB informant is incredibly valuable, but it also means he willingly sacrifices 50 rebels for the sake of one informant, a bloody price. And it's obvious that this weighs heavily on Luthen. But he sees no alternative. An interesting detail is that Luthen denies any involvement with the Aldhani attack even though Lonni is, technically speaking, an ally and fellow rebel. But of course Luthen doesn't trust anyone and should Lonni be compromised it's best he doesn't know the truth. Lonni reveals one more crucial thing to Luthen, he alerts him to the new rising star in the ISB, Dedra Meero who is on his track. Luthen brushes this off and says she's on a wild goose chase, but we know she's not. But my feeling is that we have seen the beginning of the end for Dedra, since she will now be a target for Luthen and the rebels.

The inmates revolt

And while I think that the two character scenes with Mon Mothma and Luthen are the meat and bones of this episode, we also see how Andor stages the prison break of course, and it's as action packed and dramatic as imagined.

We get to see the "Voice of God"

But from a plot perspective not all that much happens, we do however see how Cassian sets everything in motion, breaking a water pipe in the restroom to flood the floor. The arrival of Ulaf's replacement is the perfect opportunity to start the revolt and after initial misgivings Kino is also onboard and Cassian urges him to be the leader. The inmates quickly overwhelm the guards, the electric floor short circuits, thanks to the water damage caused by Cassian and after that Cassian and Kino make their way to the control room, where we get to see who the disembodied voice is. Yet another bland Imperial bureaucrat working in some clinically white office.

Several guards are hiding, they don't want to lose their lives, the heroes that they are

Cassian urges Kino to make a speech, to announce to all the inmates that now is the time to escape the prison and after a faltering start Kino does take on the role of leader. And Kino quotes Cassian's words to him, about rather wanting to die than giving the Empire what they want, which Cassian himself heard from Luthen first, it shows that words can affect change, words have power. And an initially faltering and reluctant Kino eventually makes a rousing speech, in what is a great performance by Andy Serkis. Kino is visibly inspired by Cassian, who in turn is inspired by what Luthen once told him. We do see how Cassian comes around more and more here, from being a selfish loner to selfless rebel. And the inmates do eventually make it to the exit. But there is one problem: there is no ship, nothing, just the ocean and the coast, not too far away, but you you need to swim.

Freedom

There is one problem though, Kino can't swim... and we never learn if he actually jumps in the water, which would mean certain death, or if he stays behind. Would he rather die trying indeed? Cassian and Melchi however make it to the shore and we see the two of them running away.

In my opinion One Way Out was yet another absolute highlight, not because of the rousing prison escape, which may surprise some, but because Andor takes the time to examine what it actually means to be a rebel, at what personal cost it comes. We have the deep undercover agent who is leading the extreme version of Mon Mothma's double life, he is literally in the belly of the beast. He fears for his daughter and wife. But Luthen won't let him go, he goes to great lengths to protect him, even if it means sacrificng 50 fellow rebels.

Then we also gain some insight into Luthen, and it's kind of heartbreaking to learn what being a rebel cost him. He has basically become a mirror image of the thing he hates, using the same tactics, being ruthless, sacrificing people if it means it serves the cause. His is a life with no real friends anymore, no love, in some ways this mirrors Cinta who is also someone who puts the rebellion first, above everything, even her own personal happiness. We usually only get to meet happy go lucky gung ho rebels, especially in the Original Trilogy, but Andor adds much more realism here. Being a freedom fighter is no fun. And often you are forced to do things you are not proud of. Luthen knows this, yet he still does all these things that more or less destroy all happiness for him.

In contrast to that we have Mon Mothma and Vel, both are rebels, but both still seem to be reluctant to give up all principles and all happiness for the cause. Now the big question is if one potentially very unhappy and miserable daughter is worth it if it helps the rebels. Would you basically sell your own daughter for the cause? Luthen would probably do it, he has crossed the line a long time ago. Mon Mothma however hasn't crossed this line. And the question Andor asks is if it's worth crossing the line, if you lose yourself, your core principles, your own morality. Do you really need to be like the enemy you fight to win? Or is there another way? We do know that Mon Mothma becomes the leader of the rebellion, not Luthen. And maybe that says something about whether or not the end will always justify the means... or if you need to find other ways to accomplish your goals, and not to become a twisted mirror image of the very thing you fight against. So my hope is that Mon Mothma will not accept the offer and will protect her daughter's happiness, a child really, just 13. Mon Mothma knows very well what it means to be in an arranged marriage and to have married at mere 15.

So One Way Out can maybe also be interpreted as a question... it is a direct reference to the prison escape, but in some ways it may also ask the question if there really is just one way out of Imperial tyranny, or if you have a choice to keep your own sense of morality and not to treat other people like pawns on a chessboard you easily sacrifice if it serves the bigger goal.

And with that we are left with the two part finale of season 1, beginning next week. One Way Out is a clear 5 holocrons for me, it was an outstanding character piece with some great action sequences as distraction. But the real highlights were the chilling scenes with Mon Mothma and Luthen Rael.