AndorJust Dropped One ofStar Wars‘ Wildest Easter Eggs

Andor isso refreshing in partbecause it does not feel like the kind of Star Wars show that is going to cut down everything , point in time at a familiar character arriving onto the vista , and go “ look ! Star War ! ” And yet , out of nowhere , this workweek ’s thrilling episodedropped maybe one of the most absurdly deep - cut canonization this era of Star Wars has ever seen .

“ Aldhani ” picks up quickly where Andor ’s three - part premiere left off , as Cassian and Luthen raceway away from the planet Ferrix , and the latter just as promptly pushes the former into taking on a new mission on the titular planet . Before the two part means , Luthen offers Cassian a reassurance — both a metaphorical down payment for the gig , and a asking that he return back from it to deliver the “ natural endowment ” in somebody . It ’s a necklace , adorned with massive blue crystal : kyber , the crystalline resource full of life to both the Jedi and Sith , and in Andor ’s future , the superweapon systems of the Death Star . But it ’s not the Kyber that ’s the Easter egg here . It ’s what Luthen tells Cassian about it .

“ naughty kyber . Sky pit . The ancient world , ” the military man mutters , before adding “ celebrate the uprising against the Rakatan invaders . ”

Image: Lucasfilm

Out of nowhere , Andor casually dropped the first Disney - era denotative citation to a recondite , deep cut piece of Star war : Knights of the Old Republic lore . It ’s the sort of thing , unlike Star Wars ’ recent nostalgic , cameo - laden self - references , that will slide by by most TV audience wholly . But for the people who know it , it ’s an out of nowhere impact to your organization .

Who Were the Rakatans?

The Rakata first appeared in the 2003 Bioware television game Knights of the Old Republic , a beloved Star Wars game that ’s do to get a unsparing remake ( … at some point ) . An ancient wash of cone - head , fish - eyed noncitizen , it ’s reveal that they are the architects behind the annihilative artillery at the spirit of KOTOR ’s climactic act , the Star Forge — a massive automatize manufactory - fortress that , channeling the power of a star and the Force itself , could endlessly churn out fleet and armies of droids to wage state of war with .

And when we say ancient , we mean ancient . KOTOR is place about 4,000 old age before the Star Wars film , and the Rakata were around almost 30,000 years before that . Believed to be the first species in the galaxy to develop hyperspace change of location , the Rakata were masters of technological prowess to a item that would even be unimaginable in the “ contemporaneous ” time of Andor , permit alone the time of their height in the status quo of the galaxy . But they were n’t just good with machines , the Rakata could manage the Force as well — having teach of its powerfulness from a similarly ancient wash call the Kwa , but ignoring their teachings of balance to only tap into the destructive superpower of the Dark Side — and what made their applied science so powerful was a fusion between their mechanically skillful ability and this spiritual one that fueled every view of Rakatan society .

But the Rakatans were also great power - mad asshole , so they used this advanced tech and Force supremacy to develop the Infinite Empire — a militaristic , galaxy - consuming imperial might that quash almost the intact known coltsfoot , from the core world to the outer lip . The Rakatans were cruel astronomic masters , enslave total metal money to build their state of war engines , wiping out integral planetal ecosystems to terraform them as they saw fit , and eradicating any opponent to their regulation almost immediately . The Infinite Empire ruled the galaxy for over 10,000 eld with an Fe grip … but it was n’t exactly Infinite .

Image: Bioware

A combination of factors eventually toppled the Infinite Empire — pose the way of life for the fundament of the first Galactic Republic — but almost exterminate the Rakata entirely . The Star Forge itself actually played a part in that precipitation , as it began to tip off of the Force within the Rakata , amplifying their belligerent tendency to the level that a combination of hard worker cosmos insurrection and in - faction rivalries gave way to a massive civil warfare . This was part of a one - two lick that finished off the Rakata : around 25,000 years before the events of the Star Wars movies , the mintage was hit with the eruption of a lethal plague that did n’t just carry off the Rakatan people , but robbed them of their connection to the Force , make them incompetent of using their own technology . domain in the Infinite Empire took advantage of the Rakatan ’s weakness to resurrect up and expel them , finally agitate them all the way back to their homeworld of Lehon . Even then , the Rakata could n’t help but grasp for power , turning on the leftover of their own hoi polloi and turning Lehon into a war - ravaged ruin of islands . The survivors flee underground , deteriorate into pockets of tribal civilisation over the 100 , until their once all - encompass clasp of the coltsfoot was all but forgotten .

Have the Rakatans Been Mentioned in Star Wars Canon Before?

Andor might be the first clock time that the Rakata have been explicitly name - check on - cover , but it ’s not in reality the first time they ’ve pop up in the Disney era of Star Wars ’ rebooted canon . Bits and bobsof lore and details from across both Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel , The Sith Lords , have made their way into contemporary canyon in the years since Disney acquired Lucasfilm , but for the Rakata and the Infinite Empire specifically , things have been much more vague . The world Rakata Prime — not Lehon — was bring up in the Force Awakens visual template ’s map of the known extragalactic nebula , while Lehon and the Rakata were observe as the first hyperspace - capable species in the Galax urceolata in , of all things , a commissioned model - making powder store to build the Millennium Falcon released in 2015 . The species has also been mentioned in Fantasy Flight ’s Star Wars roleplaying game sourcebooks , which have loose canonical hardiness .

The iconography of the Infinite Empire has also appeared on - screenland , even if it was never directly identify as such . One of the hoarded wealth inDryden Vos ’ collectionin Solo : A Star Wars Story is a low chest key in the film ’s attach to optical scout as a Wraith Box , a while of Rakatan engineering science that appears in the MMORPGStar Wars : The Old Republic . Meanwhile the symbol of the Infinite Empire — a shape akin to the hexagonal bipyramid structure of the Star Forge itself — has a teeny blink - and - you’ll miss it show in Star Wars Rebels ’ second season . In the time of year finale “ Twilight of the Apprentice , ” which itself takes place onKOTOR II planet Malachor , Ezra , Ahsoka , and Kanan shortly walk past Sith ruins that feature the allegory of the Infinite Empire carved over all of them .

What Does This Mean for Andor?

utterly nothing . And that ’s great ! Well , presumptively Luthen still desire his necklace back after Cassian completes his job , but that ’s about gamy as the stake get in term of this credit . The Rakata are long dead and gone by the clip of Andor , so it ’s not like they ’re going to show up . Like we said earlier , this is the perfect kind of brief Star Wars indulgence — something that will vanish over the head of a casual observer as just a firearm of background fluff , but something that will have a very specific kind of Star Wars fan send their eyebrow into the upper atmosphere .

And that ’s just honorable . Not every Star Wars reference needs to be A Thing , or a prelude to even more explicit connexion or ramification . The galax far , far away is meant to be vast , and it can handle just have some grain for texture ’s sake , while linking back to its retentive past . Someone got Stellan goddamn Skarsgård to say the word “ Rakatan ” on TV in 2022 , and whether that either make you want to move back in fourth dimension 20 years to blow your younger self ’s brain wide open or means zilch to you even after it ’s all been explicate , that ’s just neat . Nothing more , nothing less .

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Image: Bioware