My observation is: Star Wars is best without lightsabers.
this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
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Star wars is best with writers and directors that respect the source material and tell a story within it rather than paint their story to look like Star wars.
I think even more important is that they tell a story they want to tell, and are interested in. Anyone can make Star Wars slop. To make something like Andor requires passion.
Not every story belongs or fits in star wars though. Most of what Disney has done falls in this category, but TLJ and the acolyte are the worst offenders.
I disagree. TLJ was a garbage story, but nothing about it couldn't work in the Star Wars universe. It's like saying you can't tell a children's story in the LotR universe, but The Hobbit exists and is good (not the movies).
Star Wars is large, and there's space for any story you want to make. It just happens that Disney wants shit ones that are just about cashing in on the name. However, there's space for CRPGs, like Knights of the Old Republic. There's space for FPSs, like the Republic Commando. There's space for classic heros journeys, like the original trilogy. There's space for children's TV shows, like The Clone Wars. There's no good story that can't fit in the universe. It just needs to be good, and made by people who care.
Part of the caring is taking the time to understand the universe and how it works. Disney has repeatedly just done things "because plot" that have massive ramifications for the universe as a whole, which makes things not fit. You can't just make spaceships naval vessels and planes, even if that was their original inspiration, they've evolved to their own thing in universe. You can't just treat Jedi as space cops, because that's not really what they were ever intended to be, it's actually a pretty major plot point in the prequels that them taking a more active role in supporting the Republic led to their demise.
As another example, you could make a Witcher like story in Star wars, but you couldn't just make Geralt a Jedi and call it a day.
Rogue One was enjoyable. Andor was great sci-fi, even could have stood alone outside of the Star Wars universe.
Andor was an incredibly well-crafted story that just so happened to fit nicely within the Star Wars universe. Part of what made it so good was that it didn't rely on established Star Wars success patterns to be successful, it took the risk of doing its own thing. Some people criticize it for that because they think Star Wars is just another action flick like Need For Speed or John Wick.
Andor is the best Star Wars related content ive seen in a very long time. It checked all the boxes.
Stellan Skarsgård’s monologue as Luthen Rael in S1 is… chillingly good. And I identify with it more and more every day.
Also:
ONE WAY OUT
😭😭😭
That series is full of amazing monologues.
Agreed! And it increased my enjoyment of Rogue One, which speaks to how good it is I think.
I watched Andor seasons 1 and 2 then watched Rogue One. If I saw Rogue One first, there's no way I would have watched Andor.
Rogue One had zero character development. The plot was way too rushed. It was an OK movie at best and nowhere near Andor
Rogue one is a terrible movie that ends with the best fan service battle of all time.
I'm not a Star Wars guy but a friend talked me into Andor and I'm so glad he did. It has none of the elements that made me shy away from the franchise.
Rogue One, on the other hand, has almost all of those elements. Bad pacing, predictable "twists," characters I'm told to care about but never learn enough about.
I'm glad it did but I was shocked that people liked Cassian enough in Rogue One to make the show. He was so one dimensional!
I'll get hate for it, but I honestly think Andor is a 6 or 7 out of ten that feels a lot better due to the absolute garbage that has been Disney Star wars. Andor has pacing issues and tons of characters that don't ultimately matter, but the good bits are really good.
To each their own but I appreciated the amount of characters because it drove home how many people are involved to make something happen. There were a few arcs i wish ended sooner and one predictable death I found very annoying, though.
Rogue one was great but Star Wars got messed up by Rian Johnson. Otherwise it makes great sense. The shortened fan edits even more so…
Rian needs to fuck off into the night à la Star Wars…
Knives out is cool.
There's no sense in going back and forth about this. However, the reason why the later movies failed was because of JJ Abrams and his puzzle box bullshit. The last Jedi is the third best core storyline movie in the Star wars franchise, behind episode 4 and episode 3.
In other news, 2+2=4!
Both are very enjoyable but Andor is in another league in terms of storytelling and acting imo.
No, 2 + 2 ≠ 24
I agree with the conclusion but I cannot understand why people continue to read the ____rant websites. Just the worst writing on the internet.
hot take, rogue one was when i knew the franchise would never come back. we went from inscrutable philosophy and heavy-handed metaphors in the prequel trilogy, into a universe built entirely on reference and spectacle. i really did not enjoy it and from what i can tell everything afterwards leans into that more.
and then, the sequel trilogy completely disconnected me from star wars. i don't know how it managed but it sucked all the fun out of it. i have so many books, so many old lego sets, so many games and toys, and i never want to touch any of it again.
Are you sure you're talking about Rogue One and not The Force Awakens?
the prequel thing with the airshield from spaceballs, yes
🗑️🚨📜
🥐👩⚕️🥐
1,2,3,4,5?!
Do you know how many Bothans died to bring us this!?
Fine, whatever, just get it into the targeting computers.
none, if that film is to be believed
Are you seeing someone about this?
Lmao imagine. "Psych, I don't like Star Wars anymore, can you help me?"
More about the fact that they hate Star Wars and are here in a star wars community just to complain about it.
i don't. i loved it once, and i keep coming back to see if i can again.
i really thought the sequel trilogy could be saved. rian johnson really had something, he understood the source material like few others, but then disney just steamrolled everything. after that it has all felt the same.
Have you watched Andor? I'm right there with you, but Andor is different. It somehow gets away from all the garbage Star Wars has become. It's the only Star Wars thing I've enjoyed for the longest time, and the only one I've watched since Obi Wan.
i thought that obi wan thing just came out. i don't care much for star wars in show format, and spending 20 hours on a story in the hopes that i may enjoy it feels like a waste of time. having dipped into star trek recently i've come to realise how much i love the syndicated show format where you can watch episodes in basically any order. the barrier to entry is much lower.
also having been in the sw fandom for over 20 years before being pulled out i'm wary of its tastes. a lot of it just boils down to pattern matching.
Obi Wan was about four years ago, in 2022.
I understand your position perfectly. Star Wars had been a part of my life since I was born basically. I also had a good ~20 years like Star Wars, then a while being skeptical, to now hating everything it's become.
Again though, Andor is a different beast. It is some of the best media ever made, in my opinion, not just Star Wars. Honestly, it's good despite SW, not because of it. Especially if you're on the more leftist side of politics, you'll enjoy seeing the things Star Wars was never brave enough to show.
Modern SW is all about trying to fit stuff you already recognize into anything they can. The story doesn't matter. If it can be made into a toy, even better. Andor is the opposite. There's very little merchandising opportunities, and almost every character is new. The only ones who aren't are Andor himself (who no one cared about), Senator Mon Mothma, and Saw Gerrera.
It doesn't use the crutch of nostalgia. It doesn't rely on old characters, and it doesn't even take place on planets shown in SW before. It is adament about making itself good enough on its own. Seriously, it's worth watching.
the depressive episode was definitely part of it but even with that handled i still don't like rogue one.
Just checking, because you're in a Star Wars community. If you've really soured so much on Star Wars it might be time to unsubscribe, unless you're seeking negativity for negativities sake.
i only browse all.
Block community will block it from browse all FYI. (At least in my client)
If that's what you're looking to do I mean.
i'm not :)
Eh.
I think andor was the least engaged I've ever felt by anything star wars. I understand the appeal I think but I'm just not very interested in the slow burn politics stuff. I don't need hours of content to explain to me that these guys do these things for these reasons and these others do these other things for these reasons.
Lol being downvoted for having an experience.
How dare I have an experience different from everyone else, shame on me lol
the whole point of posts and comment threads is to collect differing experiences into a pile so most reactions are equally valid.
Boy you're gonna HATE Dune
Dune does not explain anyone's reasons for anything. It's just a bunch of archetypes archetyping. I'll save anyone who wants it, 6 hours:
"We do what we must, because we can"
"Aiiieeyyaaaa yaaaaaaa!"
Beautiful movie though. Absolutely stunning. What it lacks in character development, it makes up for completely and then more, in visual storytelling. I highly recommend the watch, but you'd probably take more from it just setting the audio to a language you don't speak and letting the settings and angles and lighting talk.
I was talking about the books, which are totally different than the movies, and increasingly bonkers but yeah
The books explain it more. I have to imagine Messiah will too. But yeah, the movies could be only about revenge for all they tell you I think.
Rogue one was an embarrassment. Andor stands on its own as great tv, it's better than a lot more than just Rogue One.