Trigger Warning: This article discusses scenes of sexual assault
Star Wars: Andor was unlike anything that Star Wars fans had ever seen in its first season, and its second season has already promised more of the same. Andor Season 2 is already critically acclaimed, with the first three episodes getting rave reviews from fans and critics. Andor has something for every fan — from Star Wars Easter eggs to the return of fan-favorite characters like Mon Mothma — but Season 2 has already had its share of controversy, with the episode “Harvest” containing a scene that has caused something of a storm in Star Wars fan spaces. You already know what scene we’re about to discuss — the attempted sexual assault of Bix by the Imperial lieutenant Krole.
There are several schools of thought about the scene, and it is definitely a triggering moment for survivors of sexual assault. There’s a question of whether the show needed to go that far with the scene, and there’s a question of whether such behavior belongs in Star Wars productions in general. It’s a valid conversation to have, but it also underplays how important the scene is to the story of Andor, the plot of “Harvest” as an episode, and, most importantly, to show the realities of fascism to the audience in a time when we need to pay more attention to this sort of thing. It’s a harrowing scene, but it’s one that we needed to see.
The Sins of Fascism
A key part of the plot of the first three episodes, but especially “Harvest,” is the role of women in a fascist society. Mon Mothma basically sold the hand of her daughter to the wealthy industrialist Davo Sculdun in order to keep supplying the nascent Rebellion with funds. Over the first three episodes of Season 2, we see how the Chandrilans ignore the problems of the outer galaxy — with tradition. Tradition is a key part of any fascist system, and throughout “Harvest,” we see women forced into roles that deny their agency because of tradition. Mon Mothma is forced to plan a lavish ceremony for her daughter to marry someone who doesn’t seem to care about her at all, and has already hurt her in some way we aren’t privy to. She’s taken away from the work of fighting fascism because of her people’s traditions. She’s not a woman controlling her own destiny, despite being a powerful Senator; she’s a wife and mother and that’s more important than who she is beyond that. That’s her only role in the ceremony.
Then there’s her sister Vel. Vel is a queer character. She was in a relationship with fellow rebel Cinta. Looking at the Chandrilan customs of the episode, it’s clear that homosexuality is at least frowned upon; Vel’s same sex relationship is one that is only a part of her life outside of her homeworld. We see the two distantly interact, and it’s obvious they’re still in love. Yet, the traditions of Chandrila don’t seem to acknowledge that part of her life. And of course, as mentioned earlier, there’s Leida Mothma, who has embraced the traditions of Chandrilan culture — which Andor Season 1 establishes has become more in vogue since the rise of the Empire. Fascism always plays into the traditional past, using that as a way to rubber stamp their crimes — they pull the wool over the eyes of their followers, pretending to support the traditions that made them “great,” yet uses those traditions to abuse anyone they see as lesser, like women.
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This thread runs through the entire episode — fascism makes women victims in every way. It robs them of any purpose outside of being a wife and mother. It takes away the choice people have to love whoever they want. And it victimizes women like Bix, women who are on the margins of society, women no one will listen to. It’s easy to take Mon Mothma’s decadent party and compare it to the assault and say that one is better than the other, but the point is that one leads to the other. It was hard to watch the scene with Bix and it should be hard. The sad fact is that, even outside of fascism, this is something that happens everywhere. It’s happening here, right now. Men with power use that power to take what they want, often by force, especially from those “weaker” than them.
We like to talk about the things we “shouldn’t” see. People on social media since the episode came out on Tuesday have been talking about why this scene shouldn’t have been there, that it was too adult, too triggering. However, these are some of the same people who want to see an R-rated Vader movie that’s just the hallway scene from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. They’re fine with horrific violence; they just don’t want to be reminded of the sins of fascism, the sins of power. They don’t want to be confronted with what is, unfortunately, the reality of fascism and war. Andor Season 1 was a warning of what embracing fascism can be, but Andor Season 2 feels like the real world right now. That’s why we have to see things like this — we have to have the language to call it out, and the only way to have that language is to talk about it.
Sometimes, the Painful Things Are Necessary
Andor is a very different Star Wars experience than any other, yet it stays true to the central tenet of the franchise — that fascism must be fought. Seeing Bix get tortured last season was hard; this was even harder. Even her winning the fight against Krole, which seems like a triumphant moment, is still sad because she should never have been put into that position. No one should. But just because no one should, that doesn’t mean we don’t need scenes like this. This happens. This is reality. It’s one thing to see the fascists create a weapon that destroys planets; the common person can’t perceive what billions of deaths actually mean. However, seeing women, women who should be living their best lives, being victimized, is much more personal. We can understand that; we have wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and girlfriends. Some of us have even experienced this sort of thing and know the powerlessness. We know how this feels. We are Bix.
“Harvest” is a brilliant episode because it’s so subtle up until Bix and Krole. I’m sure there are some people who didn’t even see the thread that connected the episode’s plots, the thread of female victimization. We see a decadent party, and we think, “Well, how can they be victimized? They’re drinking and dancing.” But it’s all right there, and the moment the scene with Bix and Krole starts, it’s easy to look back and see the thread. I understand that this moment could be triggering to a lot of people, and for those people, I feel like they are warranted in not liking this scene. However, the people saying that this is too “adult” or that “we don’t need to see this because we know the Empire is evil” are full of it. We need to see this. We need to see the horror of fascism. We need to know the consequences, and we need it to make us angry. We need to get past the shame of it, and get into to the fight.
Andor airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+. If you or anyone you love is a victim of sexual assault, call 1-800-656-4673 or go to rainn.org/resources.
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