#and if you're interested PLEASE look more into anti-colonial efforts in SWANA Africa and Asia

[laz-laz-ace-pilot]

I keep thinking about Wilmon Paak.

How his father was murdered by the Imperials to be a show of force, which ultimately led to Wilmon throwing the bomb at their hotel base. How the same egotistical officer wanted the Empire's weapons displayed outside for the same show of force, and how that exacerbated one bomb into many.

How he closely mirrors Cassian at that age, but with the support of the community behind him.

How we don't know if his father got a funeral, if the Imperials ever returned his body for cremation and bricking. Given that he was publicly hanged and deemed a traitor, I doubt they'd allow anything on the scale Maarva recieved.

But also how this is the first time I've seen a brown child fighting back against oppression that doesn't demonise him, or belittle or pity him. Years and years of NCIS bullshit and the like, with racist narratives of child terrorists who were misled, who were intrinsically more violent, who attacked the people 'who were only there to keep the peace'.

And this subverted that. Andor said actually no, the invaders are the aggressors and they murdered his father. His actions are the rational conclusion of unjust oppressive control he's under. The Imperials are never redeemed, there's no 'good people on both sides' - instead we see his father's murderer disheveled, crawling on his hands and knees, before demanding more violence against civilians.

Because historically, most rebels didn't look like Luke Skywalker. They looked like Variamkunnatha Kunjahammid Haji, or Omar Al Mukhtar, or any number of SWANA and Asian rebels faced with European invasion. They looked more like Wilmon Paak.

And Wilmon is protected by his community, gets evacuated out. No 'all terrorists get their justice' ending. He lives.

And I can't stop thinking about that.