Andor Continuity Breakdown, Part One

Andor has quickly shown itself to be one of the most ambitious Star Wars shows so far, and while its overall story stands mostly on its own, it also has many small details littered throughout. I thought I would do one post to cover the first four of Andor‘s twelve episode run instead of one unreasonably long post by the end of the season.

The show opens with text identifying it as taking place as “BBY 5.” The BBY/ABY dating system, relative to the Battle of Yavin, was developed for publishing timelines in the 1990s and has become widely accepted as the most common dating system by the fandom. This is its first ever onscreen use, and it has particular relevance since it also serves as a countdown to Cassian’s death.
A Pre-Mor officer says that the vehicle Cassian uses is “some old thing,” speculating it could be an Orlean Star Cab. 1993’s Galaxy Guide 8: Scouts identified the Orlean Star Cab as the oldest ship still in service.
Another Pre-Mor officer can be seen eating blue noodles; though it could be serendipity, a recipe for glowblue noodles was included in the old HoloNet News articles and in the Black Spire Cookbook.
Bix’s secret code includes requesting a Bendine part, manufactured by a shipwright corporation first mentioned in Inside the Worlds of Episode I.
Maarva and Cassian discuss the backstory that they fabricated to cover up Cassian’s Kenari origins, including the claim that Cassian was born on Fest. While Fest is originally from The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide and a number of successive sources have given Fest as Cassian’s homeworld for years now, which we now know to have been an in-universe lie.
Cassian uses a Bryar pistol inspired by the one seen in Dark Forces and Battlefront, though there are enough differences to warrant them being separate models.
A number of familiar ships can be seen in the yard on Ferrix, including a Lancer-class and a VCX-100 from the animated shows.
Bix drinks caf, the common Star Wars substitute for coffee, though this is the first time it’s been identified onscreen. It’s been around in publishing since the 1990s and I believe it was an invention of Stackpole’s for the X-Wing novels.
Luthen flies a Fondor haulcraft, named for its origin at the Fondor shipyards first mentioned in Han Solo at Stars’ End, also featured prominently in Battlefront II.
Cassian was present during the Imperial campaign on Mimban, which was depicted in Solo. The planet originated in Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and this is its first namedrop in live action unless counting a deleted scene from Solo, since it was unnamed in the final film.
Similarly, the ISB meeting includes our first live action mention of Ryloth in an era-appropriate discussion about its rebellious tendencies. The same meeting has a mention of Arvala-6, presumably a neighbor of the Arvala-7 shown in the first season of The Mandalorian.
Partagaz questions why there has been an increase in protection and traffic around the Abrion sector, which he learns is due to construction shipments bound for Scarif. The sector comes from Zahn’s The Last Command, while Scarif’s placement there came from Rogue One supplementary material, which also established the Death Star’s construction being moved there during this era.
Luthen gives Cassian a Kuati signet made of kyber. Kuat is a rich shipyard planet dating back to West End Games material, recently also mentioned in The Bad Batch. More significantly, Luthen says it symbolizes the ancient uprising against the Rakatan invaders. The ancient and cruel Rakatan Empire was a significant part of Knights of the Old Republic, and this is the first time they’ve been notably referenced in recent storytelling.
Syril travels to Coruscant on a ship flown by Telgordo Travel, a company mentioned in a scenario from 1991’s Gamemaster Kit. The intercom in the Coruscant spaceport mentions flights to the other Core Worlds of Hosnian Prime from The Force Awakens, Plexis from Galaxy Guide 10, and Eufornis Major from Servants of the Empire.
Luthen’s collection includes fragments of stone tablets depicting the hand motions made on the carvings of the Mortis beings from Rebels, as well as artifacts that appear to be holocrons and a Kalikori. Notably, there is armor that looks identical to the design of Starkiller’s Sith armor in the expansion to The Force Unleashed that depicted a darker alternate timeline.
Mon Mothma’s Chandrilan heritage is referenced for the first time in live action, and her husband mentions meeting the Hanna governor. Like the planet itself, Chandrila’s capital of Hanna City was first mentioned in West End Games material.
The guest list for the party Mon’s husband is throwing includes Sly Moore from the prequels and Ars Dangor, one of Palpatine’s aides who was identified by the Imperial Sourcebook. Mon also references the Vizier, an indirect reference to Mas Amedda. The mention of his Grand Vizier title counts as our first nod to Underworld in the show, and marks another onscreen first as well.
Mon is angered by the Empire’s role in damaging Ghorman’s shipping lanes. This incident sets the stage for the Ghorman Massacre, the event that motivates Mon to finally publicly speak out against the Empire, which was first mentioned in The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook before being alluded to in Rebels.
Partagaz compliments Dedra’s report from Sev Tok, a planet that appeared in Adventure Journal.
The datapad Cassian is made to study mentions that the freighter they will be stealing is one of Sienar manufacturing, the same company that builds many of the Empire’s ships and that was initially created for The Star Wars Sourcebook.