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‘The messier, the better': How ‘Andor' created the epic, heart-shattering Ghorman Massacre
For the heart-shattering episode of Andor titled 'Who Are You?,' which brings to screen the Rebellion-galvanizing Ghorman Massacre, editor Yan Miles' mantra was: 'The messier, the better.' What begins as a peaceful protest among the people of Ghorman turns into a slaughter incited by the Empire. Screams pierce through as flares, smoke, and death consume every chaotic, yet controlled frame.
As roughly 350 extras fight for their freedom and lives, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) attempts to assassinate Imperial officer Dedra Meero (Denise Gough). 'The whole thing unravels in front of him,' Miles tells Gold Derby. 'He's not there to protest. He knows these people, he knows what happened before — but now he becomes the witness. He becomes us. The plaza is a circle. You could call it a clock face. People go around, people go in and out of buildings. Cadets come out. People sing. It was always moving, but Cassian stayed centered.'
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Lucasfilm
In the chaos, Miles creates both emotional and visual clarity — often in a matter of seconds. 'There's a nice example of it where it's less messy,' the editor said. 'There's a [shot of a] group of Ghormans coming through with the flares, going underneath the colony now; we're sort of with them. And then we cut to the guy in the café, the waiter, seeing people walking past behind the glass, all moving in the same direction. Then a profile shot of an oblivious stormtrooper, turning his head and watching the Ghormans go by. It's three shots.'
Lucasfilm
Another impactful sequence concludes Imperial lackey Syril Karn's (Kyle Soller) arc — all without any lines of dialogue. Amid the mayhem, Miles shifts to slow-motion, an out-of-the-ordinary but fitting stylistic flourish in the otherwise grounded Tony Gilroy-created series. 'He's witnessing it — it's gone beyond the beyond,' Miles said. 'Lasers going past, people being shot, but he's just standing there like he's bulletproof. He's lost in it all. He doesn't care anymore. Everything's just gone.'
Then the question becomes for Syril: 'Who are you?' It's posed during his hand-to-hand brawl with Cassian, the man he's spent years chasing. 'In the scene with 'who are you?,' there was a lot of debate on set,' Miles shared. 'Tony wrote it, 'Who are you?' Tony, [director] Janus Metz, Diego, and the people around asked, 'Are there any other versions where Cassian does remember Syril?' We did a cut where he does remember and says, 'It's you,' and then Syril lowers the gun.'
Lucasfilm
That debate was quickly resolved in post-production. 'I told Tony I have the other version,' Miles said. 'He went, 'No, no, no, no, it is, 'Who are you?' Andor doesn't know this guy. This guy's a nobody. It's the worst thing that could happen to any of us, isn't it? You could be doing something for years and years and one day you wake up and you're like, 'Who the hell am I? What am I doing?' That's life itself. Tony's words were, 'Who are you?''
Gilroy joked to Miles that if he didn't use that line, then he couldn't keep the slow-motion shot of Syril. 'Tony's genius is, if you're going to do something bold — like a slow spin shot or a poetic line — you have to earn it,' Miles added. 'Otherwise, it doesn't belong in this universe.'
After Syril's death, his former partner, Dedra, displays startling vulnerability. She is alone and out of control — perhaps her greatest fear. 'Denise did lots of different stuff in that scene, which I was going to show all in one shot,' Miles explained. 'But then I gravitated toward three or four shots. It starts when she raises her head — just the vulnerability to it. In the next shot, she's focused on her neck — which is Syril, what he did to her earlier, the grappling. Then I jumped to where she goes to the wall and does that thing with her hand — there's fear in it, and then she stops it. She controls it. Then I hard cut to her straightening her jacket — imperial, composed. It's the beginning of her demise.'
Lucasfilm
Miles continued to tell the story of 'Who Are You?' even as the credits rolled. When the Ghorman anthem is first sung, it's like angels singing in the quiet before the storm. But in the aftermath, a lone voice remains. 'We were finishing the episode,' the editor recounted, 'and I had this solo recording from one of the assistants. She sang the anthem right there in the cutting room, on a USB mic. The most amazing voice. I thought, 'Why not put her voice over the credits [as temp music]?' A year later, I watched the episode on Disney+ and there it was. I'd forgotten I'd even left it in. Gave me goosebumps.'
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