Cassian Andor graced the screen in Disney’s Rogue One, a gritty depiction of the intergalactic rebellion. Rogue One was a stand-alone movie that connected Star Wars Episodes I-III, Clone Wars, Solo, and Bad Batch with Star Wars Episodes IV-VI. It served as a pseudo-puzzle piece that connected the Clone Wars era to its later half (and explained how the rebels famously acquired the Death Star blueprints).
Andor tells the story of Cassian (Diego Luna) five years before the events of Rogue One. In doing so, the series serves as a link to Star Wars creations that do not primarily feature Jedi. Andor explores the rebellion in all its glory without Jedi/The Skywalker Saga as a central premise or even an on-screen presence.
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However, a popular fan theory suggests otherwise. Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) portrays an elusive, calculating character who coordinates the early stirrings of the rebellion. At a glance, Luthen appears to be a mysterious rebel leader without a complete backstory. When examined more intently, Andor provides compelling evidence that Luthen is (or was) a Jedi.
Influence from Star Wars Literature
Lucasfilm
In the books Master and Apprentice and Dooku: Jedi Lost, a side character bears striking similarities to Luthen Rael. The novels introduce Rael Alverross, the first apprentice and former padawan of Dooku. In the last literary appearance of Alverross, he rebuffed Dooku’s offer to join him in his “newfound power.” Rael turned away his former master and the accompanying dark side, and he explained his intention to return to the temple on Coruscant. He informed Dooku that he had chosen the light and proceeded to end contact, thus concluding his story so far.
Rael voiced his intention to return to Coruscant, but the last known location for the outcast Jedi is on the planet Pijal. This led to an overall murky understanding of where Rael ended up around the events of Order 66. What if Rael never journeyed back to Coruscant? Could Luthen have altered his name, donned a new identity, and left the Jedi Order altogether?
Luthen’s Holocrons, Kyber Crystal, and Lightsaber
Disney+
Luthen’s curated shop of antique relics spans the galaxy; he offers cultural artifacts from Chandrila, Mandalorian armor, masks from fallen Jedi temple guards, and notably, Jedi and Sith holocrons. Those holocrons could be part of his “cover” on Coruscant. Sith artifacts are known to “mask” Jedi and force-sensitive individuals. This would make it significantly harder for Inquisitors or Darth Sidious to sense Luthen on Coruscant.
Yoda took similar action in Star Wars Episode V. The fugitive Jedi master took refuge on the planet Dagobah. There, Yoda resided near a cave that hosted a dark side nexus. Because the nexus site was so rich in the power of the dark side, it is likely that its prevalence in the force overshadowed Yoda entirely.
Later in the series, Luthen presents Cassian with a blue Kyber crystal as collateral for the Aldhani bank heist. For context, Jedi earn Kyber crystals during their training, and those same crystals serve as the power source for lightsabers. Because Kyber crystals are very rare, Luthen having one is inherently abnormal and suspicious. Granted, he could have stumbled upon it as a collector of rare items, but his reverence and sentimentality for it suggest there’s something more to the story.
In addition to his Kyber crystal, Luthen is seen wielding a unique cane. The cane is inspected by one of Saw Gerrera’s guards, and in the short close-up, it resembles the hilt of a lightsaber. Given what audiences know so far, it could simply be a coveted historic relic with a coincidentally similar design. However, if this is a lightsaber, it makes sense that the over-prepared, paranoid, clandestine rebel would hide it in plain sight. Whether it is an overt lightsaber-cane combination like Master Tera Sinube in The Clone Wars or a concealed wand-cane combination like Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter, the design of the cane appears far too coincidental.
What Luthen Admits In His Monologue
Many Star Wars fans were struck by Luthen’s monologue in episode ten. When his embedded Imperial spy attempts to leave the rebellion out of fear, Luthen emphasizes the importance of their collective sacrifice in the fight for freedom. Luthen delivers a chilling monologue, and in it, there are breadcrumbs leading to his backstory.
He tells the spy that he used to be a “savior against injustice” and had to leave behind his intrinsic values. He tells the spy that he abandoned these values in order to “embrace his anger,” implying that anger and his former code of life were mutually exclusive. Luthen had to give in to his anger rather than use it to fuel his actions. Much like Anakin Skywalker, Luthen allowed himself to feel the “dangerous” emotions outlawed by the Jedi.
He says, “I wake up every day to an equation I wrote fifteen years ago from which there’s only one conclusion: I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape.” The monologue clarifies that an important event set Luthen on the path of rebellion, espionage, and violence. It is important to note that Andor is set in the year 5 BBY. When looking at the timeline, Order 66 and the events of Episode III: Revenge of The Sith happen approximately fifteen years prior. If any event were to provoke insatiable anger and a desire for vengeance in a Jedi, it would be the brutal massacre of their people.
While evidence suggests that Luthen is a Jedi, there is nothing to emphatically prove it. He could be Rael Alveross. He could be a different former Jedi with a yet-to-be-revealed backstory. He could be smuggler Antron Bach from the canon short story The End of History, a character that worked to hide Jedi artifacts from the growing Empire. Or, at the end of it all, he might be exactly what he appears: a quirky, eccentric collector with a few coincidental possessions.
