When Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star, there’s a very real chance he killed at least a few people who worked for the Rebellion.
In Andor Episode 10, we learn the network of Rebel spies included people who, on the surface passed for high-ranking members of the Empire. So how many other spies were like this? Andor doesn’t tell us exactly, but one thing is clear: this is a twist that not only redefines this series but also redefines the classic Star Wars trilogy. Spoilers ahead.
Andor Episode 10’s Lonni twist, explained
In what was without a doubt the biggest twist in Andor yet, we learned in Episode 10 that a high-ranking ISB officer named Lonni Jung (Robert Emms) is actually a Rebel spy who is deep undercover. Lonni directly assists Dedra (Denise Gough) and has passed on everything he knows about Imperial intelligence to Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård).
At the end of this episode, Lonni tells Luthen he wants out. The pressure of pretending to be loyal to the Empire is too much for him, he has a wife and kid, and being a deep plant for Luthen is just too dangerous.
Brutally, Luthen tells him no, adding that if Lonni tries to slip out of his duties, Luthen can easily blackmail him. Luthen makes it clear to Lonni that everything the Rebellion does at this stage is simply a sacrifice so future generations can benefit from a world without the Empire. Luthen tells Lonni the Rebellion is fighting for a future many Rebels won’t live to see. When Lonni asks Luthen how any of his is fair, and what Luthen has actually given up, Luthen spits back: “What have I sacrificed? Everything!”
Luthen has an interesting point, and it makes almost everything in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi feel very, very different.
Rebels who kill Rebels
If Andor has made one thing clear, it’s that members of the fledging Rebellion will kill other Rebels to preserve their secrets. But what the big Lonni twist suggests is that some Rebel spies are so deep undercover that most other Rebels may not even know about them. In the classic 1994 film Clerks, the notion that the Rebellion may have killed innocent contractors first entered the mainstream. This vintage fan theory has always been funny, but now, it has a new wrinkle.
It’s not just that Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian might have blown up neutral construction workers. It’s now clear that some high-ranking Imperial officials — specifically a few who worked in intelligence — were actually double agents for the Rebellion.
Based on what we know in Andor, it seems there may have been way more undercover Rebels than we’ll ever know about. When you consider how many Imperial officers were serving on a Star Destroyer at any given time, it stands to reason that at least a few of them were spies under strict orders to never break cover no matter what.
Luthen made one thing very clear: even if the Rebellion was going to free the galaxy someday, none of the people working the espionage game were going to get out alive.
Star Wars: Andor streams on Disney+.
