By George Bate
While not as overt as those included in The Mandalorian, easter eggs and interesting references pop up all over the place in Andor‘s first season. Here’s an episode-by-episode breakdown of some of the easter eggs, references, and trivia facts in the Disney+ series.
There are more than 190 speaking parts in the first season of Andor, according to series creator Tony Gilroy.
Andor features the “Before the Battle of Yavin” system on screen for the first time.
The first moments of the pilot resemble Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049.
Andor occurs in BBY 5. This is the same year Ezra Bridger joins the Ghost crew, Jyn Erso is abandoned by Saw Gerrera, and Beaumont Kin is born.
The Kenari flashbacks in are set before the Clone Wars.
Adria Arjona, who plays Bix, previously appeared in Morbius. In a response to a question from Star Wars Holocron and The HoloFiles, Arjona said, “Andor was more immersive. I had the amazing gift to immerse myself in this city, Ferrix. But for Morbius, I was filming a movie and heard nothing about the release. Maybe that was a good thing!”
A ship of the same model as Ochi of Bestoon’s ship the Bestoon Legacy (a WTK-85A interstellar transport) from The Rise of Skywalker can be seen in the Ferrix shipyard.
Timm references making a run to Wobani, which is the planet in Rogue One where Jyn is imprisoned at the beginning of the film.
Alex Ferns, who plays Sergeant Linus Mosk, also played Commissioner Pete Savage in The Batman.
Luthen Rael’s starship computer in is voiced by David W. Collins, who previously voiced PROXY in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Luthen Rael mentions Rakatan invaders to Cassian in episode 4. The Rakata were an ancient warrior race who ruled the Infinite Empire thousands of years before the Skywalker Saga. This lore was introduced in the video game Knights of the Old Republic.
Both Cassian and Jyn are given kyber crystal necklaces at different points.
Coruscant, the Imperial capital of the galaxy, featured prominently in the prequel trilogy.
The McLaren Technology Centre in England was used to film a spaceport on Coruscant.
Syril’s mother Eady is played by Kathryn Hunter, who was also in the Harry Potter franchise as Arabella Figg.
Vel Sartha is played by Faye Marsay, who also played the Waif in Game of Thrones.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who played Skeen, previously played Micro / David Lieberman in Netflix’s The Punisher.
A suit of Mandalorian armor can be seen in Luthen Rael’s shop.
Luthen Rael has the helmet of a Jedi Temple Guard in his collection.
Luthen’s store features what looks like Plo Koon’s mask.
Luthen Rael mentions an antique from Utapau to Mon Mothma. Utapau is the planet Obi-Wan kills Grievous on in Revenge of the Sith, was the original name of Tatooine in Star Wars, and the original name of Naboo in The Phantom Menace.
A Twi’lek kalikori, an heirloom previously seen in Star Wars Rebels, is on one of the shelves in Luthen’s shop.
Luthen’s shop features Indiana Jones’ whip and Shankara stones from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom frozen in carbonite.
A suit of armor in Luthen’s shop in resembles the Dark Lord Starkiller armor worn by Galen Marek in The Force Unleashed.
Tablets with symbols that appear to be related to the World Between Worlds, the mystical reality seen in Star Wars Rebels, appear in Luthen’s shop.
Wulff Yularen, who first appeared in A New Hope, gives a speech to the ISB in Episode 4. During this speech, he mentions speaking with Emperor Palaptine.
Mon Mothma references her home planet Chandrila. The planet first appeared in the video game Star Wars: Rebellion and is the birthplace of Ben Solo / Kylo Ren.
Ryloth is mentioned during the ISB meeting in Andor episode 4. Ryloth is the home planet of the Twi’leks that debuted in Legends and has since featured in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch.
One of the Imperial Security Bureau officers in episode 4 mentions Scarif. This is the beach planet featured in Rogue One and the planet Cassian Andor eventually dies on.
Cassian names the Partisans as one of the many Rebel cells he’s heard of. The Partisans are a Rebel cell led by Saw Gerrera who were in Rogue One and feature in later episodes of Andor.
Mon Mothma speaks to the Imperial Senate in episode 6 about the planet Ghorman. Eventually, this is the site of a major Imperial massacre of civilians that leads Mothma to break away from the Empire and publicly denounce Emperor Palpatine.
Syril’s cereal includes blue milk, which first appeared in A New Hope and is available to try at Galaxy’s Edge.
In Luthen’s shop, there appears to be a Sith and Jedi holocron on a shelf.
The Imperial Senate, first seen in live-action as the Republic Senate in The Phantom Menace, appears in Andor.
Cassian (like Han) shot first.
Episode 7 features HoloNet News.
The Imperial Bureau of Standards was inspired by concept art for The Last Jedi.
The flashback scene with Clone Troopers and Cassian & his adoptive father takes place one year after the rise of the Empire. This was before the clones were phased out in favor of stormtroopers.
Mon Mothma in episode 7 says that the Grand Vizier has infiltrated her Separatist coalition meetings. The Grand Vizier is Mas Amedda, who appeared in the prequels and has since featured in various stories as a close associate of Palpatine’s.
What appears to be a Pantoran or Chiss, the same species as Thrawn, can be seen in the background of the Bureau of Standards in episode 7.
The planet Niamos was filmed at Cleveleys Beach in Lancashire, England, a few miles north of Blackpool.
Shore Troopers, who have previously appeared in Rogue One and The Mandalorian, are stationed on Niamos.
Melshi, played by actor Duncan Pow, originally appeared in Rogue One.
Andy Serkis previously played Snoke in the sequel trilogy.
The Narkina 5 prison resembles the Imperial logo.
Bix’s torture scene in episode 9 features a shot similar to Leia’s torture scene in A New Hope as the door shuts and the camera pans to the ground before tracking someone walking away.
Dr. Rhasiv is played by Adrian Rawlins, who previously played James Potter in the Harry Potter films.
Kino Loy’s arc in Andor is inspired by Bridge over the River Kwai, which featured Obi-Wan Kenobi himself Alec Guinness.
Padmé’s headdress from Attack of the Clones appears to be one of the items in Luthen Rael’s shop.
Death Troopers, who first appeared in Rogue One, arrive on Ferrix in the season finale.
Andor features a post-credits scene, similar to The Mandalorian Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett.
