Cassian

The adventures of rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) powered Andor‘s two epic seasons. But getting to know who he was through those he loves is what catapulted the character from Rogue One one-off into the pantheon of beloved Star Wars heroes. Seeing the added layers of his family and friend circle captivated audiences and introduced us to even more characters we hope to see more of in the future, including his partner and romantic interest, Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona). A rebel heroine in her own right, Caleen pretty much stole our hearts too, but dashed the hopes of Jyn Erso and Cassian shippers across the fandom galaxy.

The fleeting tension in Rogue One‘s elevator scene between the two rebels on the trail of the Death Star plans—who then embrace one another in their final moments—had the fandom taking the mere tease of a romance to mean more. It’s something Andor creator and Rogue One co-writer Tony Gilroy is well aware of.

“I knew very well what had happened with Jyn and Cassian in Rogue One and what had happened in the elevator,” he told Collider; it’s something he truncated in the process of re-working the film (there was a kiss shot originally).

“I knew that scene very, very well. I probably went back and looked at that. I was pleased to see that my memory of it was of all the other takes and other things, and I was really pleased to see how we’d edited that, that it was really ambiguous about what it was, and then I didn’t care anymore. I was like, ‘Okay. It makes sense.’”

He explained that Cassian and Bix’s love story realistically explores the dynamic of two people who have been in each other’s lives for longer than a mission, and who we meet while they’re very much not together. “I mean, they’re both pretty sexually liberated in their way,” he said. “I think that first kiss they had, I think the first person they ever slept with is each other. Who knows how old they were on Ferrix? Probably very, very young. And over time, they were together and not together.”

They’ve clearly had their own separate life experiences. “Timm starts off the show, and who’s in charge of that relationship, right?” Gilroy said, calling out Bix’s not-long-for-the-world jealous beau on Ferrix. “Cassian certainly has a rich history in just the little bit we see, and has alluded to, and his mother calls him out on all his girlfriends, and there’s Windi on Niamos. I think they have a very healthy idea of what the different calibrations of love are.”

So yes, Cassian and Jyn may have had a moment but its informed by the knowledge of their win against the Empire. “I mean, why wouldn’t you hold somebody’s hand at the end of the world?” Gilroy said. “I felt bad for the people who had invested so much time in the fan fiction and stuff like that. The people who really had gone deep on it. It’s not considered canon, and it’s not something I have to pay attention to, legally, within the order, but people worked hard on that stuff, and it meant a lot to them. You don’t want to trample on somebody’s flower garden, you know? But I have to do what I have to do.”

As the writer, who is actual steward of the lore, Gilroy at least offered his condolences for blasting the ship along with the Scarif shore Cassian and Jyn held each other on, stating, “I’m sure there’s somebody who will never get over that. I apologize. I really do.”

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Cassian Andor lived a lot of lives before he gave it all on the beaches of Scarif in Rogue One. And part of living those lives, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity, was that Cassian Andor had to not be Cassian Andor. The man loved a secret identity, and with it a new name to inhabit, but some were clearly better than others.

10) Fulcrum

Not even a real name as it’s an Alliance codename, so by default it has to be last. It is fun however, especially after his encounter with the Force healer in Andor season two, to imagine Cassian inheriting this title from Ahsoka Tano, an actual-honest-to-god-backflipping-and-lightsaber-wielding Jedi, and just having it completely break his mind.

9) Aach

This is one of several operational aliases given to Cassian in the Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide–used on Darknell while masquerading as a Senatorial contact–so there’s something oddly charming about the idea that Cassian having a Rolodex of other names he’s had to come up with for missions has been there since the very beginning. Come on though, Cassian, this one just sounds like you stubbed your toe before you could use the name you actually wanted to use, and rolled with it.

8) Willix

Another from the Visual Guide, Willix was an identity Cassian used on Ord Mantell as a government agent. Points for sounding better than “Aach,” at least.

7) Joreth Sward

The last of Cassian’s Visual Guide aliases, and he finally decided to give himself a full name! Aside from being a great name, Sward was an alias Cassian had while infiltrating the inner circle of an Imperial Admiral, Grendreef—a name that itself is actually a reference to the classic West End Star Wars roleplaying game, a frequent source of Easter egg references in Andor. Again, nice to know that that that’s a connection that’s always been part of this character.

6) Varian Skye

Varian Skye, fashion designer, definitely looked the part on Ghorman with that gorgeous caped coat and his ginormous sci-fi shades, but really, the identity truly only comes together with that name. There’s an airiness, it just sounds like a foppishly charming artiste who’s here to rub shoulders with fellow followers of fashion. The clothes may make the man, but the name makes the secret identity.

5) Clem

Sure we previously knocked points off for Cassian only giving a first name to an alias, but you gain a massive amount of “d’awwwwwww” points when it’s the first mission we see him go on for the nascent rebellion and he picks his adoptive father’s name to go by. What a softie.

4) Keef Girgo

An incredible Star Wars name. Andor gave us a few people with just Normal Real Names Spelled Slightly Differently (shout out to Timm, who sucked, but was also named Timm), but Keef being both so close and so far from Keith is perfect. Also just a real delight to hear Diego Luna say it and put a nice roll on that “r” in Girgo. Love a name with mouthfeel.

3) Kassa

Does Cassian’s birth name count as an alias? I mean, kinda, if you accept that eventually Cassian Andor the man becomes a very different identity than that of Kassa the young boy of Kenari, the latter of which remains compartmentalized in the former’s thoughts for the remainder of his life. What if taking on myriad identities came so natural to Cassian because he was used to giving them up from a young age? Sorry to get a bit deep in a shitpost list about Star Wars names for a second.

2) Cassian Jeron Andor

Again, only kind of sort of an alias as the true self, but you’re still rolling with me after the Kassa bit. But anyway it’s already a fantastic name, and Andor‘s revelation of Cassian’s life on Kenari then raises delicious worldbuilding and character questions about Clem and Maarva choosing to name him Cassian (did he tell them his name was Kassa, and they then anglicized it for Galactic Basic? What is the term for anglicization in a galaxy where English doesn’t exist?). But adding the middle-name Jeron? Baby, that’s Star Wars.

1) Ronni Googe

I love Ronni Googe. Even putting aside that he’s a journalist—thank you for the representation—even putting aside the Star Wars-ification of an otherwise perfectly real-world name, even putting aside that once again, this is a name with that wonderful mouthfeel element to it, Ronni Googe is a brilliant alias for a spy.

You see, as Cassian tells multiple people when he adopts this persona in season two to extract Mon Mothma from the Imperial Senate building, “Googe” is pronounced Goo-juh. That’s very Star Wars, but also, again, it’s a genius alias. Ronni Googe has had to tell everyone “Actually, it’s Ronni Goo-juh” all the time, it’s a name that stands out as a name, so you remember that and its pronunciation instead of what Ronni Googe actually looks like, and how uncanny a resemblance he bears to noted Imperial criminal and Rebel agent Cassian Andor.

It’s a conversation starter, a way to appear polite and charming and put someone on the backfoot when you have to tell them this is how you actually say it, and it’s easy to remember and appear naturalistic for a spy with a zillion other things running around in their head—because, again, Ronni Googe, Senate journalist for the Mid-Rim network, has had to tell people on and off the record every day of his damn life that it’s Goo-juh.

Two words, and a whole life for that identity is built. It’s a fantastic alias, it’s a fantastic Star Wars name, it’s the total package. An alias worthy of the mission it was deployed on.