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The final line of Andor's incredible finale, "Remember this: Try", evokes the voice of Karis Nemik, and it feels like a point of rejoinder to the philosophy. Maybe there is more in common between the two characters.

On the surface, and with some added background, the Clone Wars and the Prequel Trilogy giving us not-entirely-glowing insight into what Yoda was like before he was a mystic. Everyone taking an act of insurrection is benefiting from a collective rebellion of the whole, even if they aren't aware of it.

Image for article titled Do or Do Not, But There Is Also Try

We are reminded of the Jedi's recalcitrance as arbiters of justice and defenders of the common people many times before it was destroyed. The Jedi Order was in a spiral of decline as a moralistic entity and as an institutional arm of the Republic, laying the path of their undoing and the rise of Imperial authoritarianism. In this read of the Jedi, the one we are given in the prequels and in material like Clone Wars feels almost cruel in their hypocrisy--how dare Yoda lecture someone on attempting to do something, when he stood by as

It is against this interpretation that the Andor manifesto stands out. Andor is a series that is free of many of the mythical and spiritual trappings of other Star Wars material: the Force is never mentioned and neither are the Jedi, there are no magic powers and laser swords. There is no need for people to leverage a godlike power, or do nothing at all, just to keep trying, because perseverance in the face of darkness will bring. The larger cause is advanced in ways big and small with every act taken against the Empire because everyone involved in them is helping each other even if they don't know it. As long as you try, as long as you are brave enough to resist, you are a part of something larger than yourself.

Image for article titled Do or Do Not, But There Is Also Try

It is possible to talk about the same goals but in different languages with the same words. At least he will attempt to lift an X-Wing out of Dagobah's swamp, at least he will say, "Do or do not, there is no 'try'." There is no difference in terms of impossibility between lifting a rock with your mind to lifting a starfighter and trying at all. If you can do one, you can do the other, because you are placing your trust in the higher power that makes the universe work. You can achieve the impossible if you believe that every living thing in the natural world is connected by the Force and that there is a greater magical whole that you too are part of.

The spiritual language of the Force and the Jedi are not used in the way that Nemik is talking about it. As long as people have the faith to try and push back against it, they will aid the larger rebellion. Andor is still a deeply spiritual show even without Star Wars. It is possible to place those ideas in context of human emotion and connection instead of the Force.

Image for article titled Do or Do Not, But There Is Also Try

We may laugh and joke at The Rise of Skywalker's opening line, "The Dead Speak!," but in Andor they really do, something moreliteral than a Force ghost in recorded messages, and something similar. If the true higher power of the Force is in a shared connection across not just living things but across generations of people who believed in it, Andor believes in a similar thing.

For people to realize that they are not alone, and that as long as they believe they can forge a bond with a whole galaxy of existence and face the impossible, is what the two men want. They may have the faith to overcome it if they do so.

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