In Andor‘s first season ISB Agent and Rebel spy Lonni Yung asked Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael what sacrifice he made for the cause. In a memorable response Luthen told him, “I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.” In the end Luthen was right about everything. His hate drove him to fight the Empire with the same terrible “tools” of his enemy. He gave up all inner peace and happiness for freedom. And, ultimately, “Axis” sacrificed both his life and his soul for a dawn he never go to see. All so the very people he saved would either hate him or never learn of him.
To some who knew (or knew of) the shadowy antiques dealer Luthen was a monster, not a hero. To the galaxy he helped rescue from darkness he is a nobody, a name lost to shadows. So what is his true legacy? What do we make of a man who did truly horrible things for a truly righteous cause? Especially in a franchise where some of the bravest acts of heroism feature far more powerful figures doing nothing? Luthen Rael was the exact kind of hero Star Wars needed. He is one of the greatest and most important characters in the history of the galaxy far, far away, a rebel and leader who taught us a lesson no Jedi ever could.
Andor was a show about rebellion, but it’s most enduring idea is not that rebellions are built on hope. It’s that rebellions are built by people actually doing something. Hope is a powerful idea, but ideas without action can never be anything more. Luthen Rael built a rebellion by doing what needed to be done. And he did so no matter how inherently abhorrent the act.
His covert efforts, which laid the very foundation upon which the Rebellion built itself on Yavin IV, are inherently at odds with one another. Everything he did was to stop fascism. His singular goal was to stop evil. But he was no hero. He certainly didn’t act like one. As he said, he could only succeed by embracing the same awful methods employed by the very fascists he dedicated his life to defeating.
He did not find strength in the light side like so many of Star Wars bravest. He found strength in darkness. Luthen let allies die when he could have saved them and killed without pause or second thought. He manipulated and abused everyone who ever served him. He would gladly let a whole planet burn, same as the Empire, if the fire would cause an inferno of rebellion everywhere else. There was no cost he was unwilling to let others pay.
It’s not that Luthen lacked a moral code. He knew right from wrong. It’s that he didn’t let ethics slow him down from doing the only thing that truly mattered. He knew no one would ever know peace so long as the Empire reigned, so he couldn’t let anyone stand in the way of its destruction. It’s why Luthen told Lonni he personally sacrificed “everything,” because to save everyone he needed to sacrifice his soul. He abandoned the very same ideals that led him to fight back in the first place. He became the very thing he hated.
It’s no wonder some on Yavin, even those who Luthen protected and worked with, didn’t fully trust him. A monster with good intentions is still a monster. Especially one who will never hesitate to sacrifice someone, even the innocent, if he thinks they stand in the way of good. To him, the ends always justified the means. It’s why he scared his own ally Mon Mothma more than anyone.
There’s simply no one in Star Wars like him. This is a franchise that began with a scroll of text telling us the galaxy has an objectively good side and an objectively bad side. It’s greatest heroes fight for the light side of a magical, all-encompassing Force while its greatest villains fight for the literal dark side. And yet, Luthen succeeded by doing evil things for the best reasons. He made it possibly for the galaxy to escape darkness by making his mind mind “a sunless space.” There’s no rebellion, no stolen Death Star plans, no Luke Skywalker heroics, no end of the Empire without Luthen Rael. He made all of that possible because he was always willing, no matter the cost and no matter what others might think of him, to do something.
Luthen’s defining trait was taking an unyielding, cold, pragmatic approach to solving a seemingly impossible problem. He wasn’t a hero because he was better than everyone else. He certainly wasn’t nearly as noble as most rebels. Luthen Rael was a hero because he was willing to make hard choices when the galaxy needed someone to do exactly that.
Long before Anakin Skywalker’s kid showed up and used space magic to blow up the Death Star, a regular man with nothing more than the will and conviction to act did exactly that. For those of us who love Star Wars, there’s a greater lesson to learn from Luthen’s life than Luke’s. We can’t use the Force, but we can always do something to fight evil. We always should. And unlike many leaders, both real and fictional, Luthen never found an excuse not to act. He never worried about how something might “look” or come across. His only concern was fighting back, however he could, always.
Days after Luthen’s death, “brave” rebel leaders on Yavin IV will suggest running from the Death Star. They will say there is no way to fight such a weapon. They will say there is no hope left for the galaxy. But they will be wrong. Not because rebellions are built on hope, but because they are built by people inspired by hope to do something. And that day Cassian Andor will inspire others to act. He will convince fellow rebels to go with him, to do what must be done even when their “wise” leaders demand they do nothing. He will do what Luthen would have wanted. Cassian will do what Luthen would have done. It will be an act of heroism that saves countless live. And it will be an act only made possible because years before Cassian met a man who showed him the value of doing something.
When things are darkest there is no time to talk. When lives are at stake optics and time are not luxuries to worry about. The only thing that matters is action. So no, Luthen Rael was not a heroic man. Even he knew that. Just as he knew that the people he fought to save would never even know to thank him for what he did. But unlike so many he was always willing to act. That’s what made him the hero the galaxy far, far away—and all who love it—needed when it needed a hero most.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist and obvious Luthen Rael enthusiast. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
Content shared from nerdist.com.