I’ve been hanging out these past few days with my brother, and it just so happened he was in the process of finishing watching Rogue One. He hasn’t seen Andor yet (I’m doing my best to get him to queue it up!), but since he was about to continue on to A New Hope, I said I’d watch it with him since I recently rewatched Rogue One after finishing Andor.

Well…obviously it goes without saying that the o.g. Star Wars is a true cinematic classic and a worthy achievement on so many levels. It’s the one that begat all the rest. But wow, the tonal shift from the Tony Gilroy-led cinematic universe to the George Lucas starting point is startling. It leads you to wonder if we’re even looking at the same story being told.

But then we went right onward to The Empire Strikes Back and, wow, another major tonal shift! Now the truth is I’m biased because I’ve always considered this to be the best film by far out of all the SW #movies. It’s in a league unto itself. However, I was worried going into it that it still wouldn’t gel with my raw feelings about the true modern masterpiece that is Andor.

I’m happy to say that my concerns were unfounded.

The Empire Strikes Back not only remains a masterpiece of #SciFi storytelling & production, but it definitely feels like it pulls the threads well that were laid out in Andor. While of course the central plot points are about Luke Skywalker and Yoda and learning the ways of the Force and all that jazz, there’s also this menacing sense of forboding throughout. The Empire is truly frightening, Darth Vader and the Emperor are truly terrifying, the Rebellion is back on its heels and struggling to survive; it feels like the march to freedom and justice is perched atop a knife’s edge.

The very title feels more fleshed out now: The Empire Strikes Back. In the first movie, we didn’t know much about the Empire other than it had an ultimate weapon and the Senate was dissolved and then the rebels blew it up and the only one to make it out alive was Darth Vader. And even he remained quite the mystery.

But with the backdrop of Andor (and Rogue One), we have such a weighty sense of just how despicable and “inevitable” the Empire seems, and in this sequel to the o.g. movie we continue to feel that awful formidability. It won’t be until Return of the Jedi that we witness the dramatic downfall of the Empire and…well, to be honest, all we really get to see is the dramatic downfall of the Emperor along with Death Star II (and a redemption arc of sorts for Darth Vader). Uh…how exactly does the Empire get taken down for good, anyway? (Don’t ask J.J. Abrams that!)

That’s a tale for another time though. Right now, I’m basking in the afterglow of watching The Empire Strikes Back, a film which remains not only a pinnacle of its genre but transcends into epic mythmaking which has changed culture forever. I’m glad this movie exists—if for no other reason than without it, we never would have gotten Andor…which from the looks of things, has also changed culture forever. 🙌