Star Wars fans finally got their first dose of new series Andor, as three episodes of the show’s opening season went live on Disney Plus. With action aplenty, both in our titular hero Cassian Andor’s childhood days and adult life, there were a couple of curveballs thrown our way. One of the biggest was the retconning of Andor’s past, as we discovered he wasn’t from the planet Fest at all. Instead, audiences found out that Kenari, a planet completely new to Star Wars lore, was where Cassian once called home. Here’s what we know…
What is Cassian Andor’s real home planet Kenari?
Andor marks the first time Kenari has been mentioned in Star Wars history. The planet looks to be a forgotten one that people are banned from visiting. In episode 2 of the series, it is described as Mid Rim — a region of the galaxy that also contained the likes of Naboo and Kashyyyk.
As described in episode 2, the planet is “Abandoned after an Imperial mining disaster. Considered toxic, Imperial prohibition.” Though it looks unlikely we are going to see Cassian return to the planet in his adulthood, we do get glimpses of his past through flashbacks, where we watched him and his sister as children. While they speak their own language, what they are saying to one another is unfortunately left without translation, so viewers are left to decipher what went on in those earlier days, through the actions and body language of the characters.
Cassian has previously alluded to his childhood in the movie Rogue One: “I’ve been in this fight since I was six years old,” he told Jyn. It was a time when the Galactic Republic were in power, and we watched as a group of Kenari teenagers and young adults discovered that a Republic ship had crash-landed onto their planet. The officers on board were killed by gas likely released following the collision, but one member of the Republic was still breathing, and murdered one of the children.
The Kenari people look to enjoy living a life of solitude, only getting involved in conflict when it comes knocking on their front door, so this was an immensely tragic and emotional event for their people. It led to Cassian, then called Kassa by his sister, returning to the ship and smashing everything in sight.
How did Cassian end up with Maarva Andor?
While Kassa was letting his anger out on the ship, he was overheard by a young Maarva and Clem Andor. The latter wanted to retreat with what they had already salvaged, but Maarva pushed on. Upon finding Kassa, she made a vow to take the child with her, as she knew that if he were discovered by the Republic, they wouldn’t hesitate in killing him. Kassa resisted, but Maarva injected him with a sedative that allowed her and Clem to scoop him up and place him on board their own ship.
The dynamic between Cassian and Maarva in the present day is an interesting one. They clearly have a lot of love for one another, but after learning the truth of how they came to meet, and hearing of Cassian’s mission to find his sister who he was taken away from against his will, there is surely also some contention and rich history between the two. Hopefully, that will continue to be explored as Andor continues.
