Now that Andor Season 2 has wrapped on Disney+, Star Wars fans are doing what they do best… digging deep and connecting the dots. This time, the focus is on the Death Star.
It turns out that terrifying symbol of Imperial power, years in the making, was probably only fully operational for a few days before it was destroyed by the rebellion.
The Andor finale directly sets up Rogue One, which in turn leads immediately into A New Hope. That tight timeline has fans realizing that once the Death Star was actually completed and weaponized, it didn’t stick around for long.
“So, after watching Andor S2, and realizing this show wraps up immediately before Rogue One. And now doing the math, if I’m not incorrect the Death Star only operated for less than a month, after over a decade of construction. Right?” one Reddit user asked.
Another fan was quick to cut that down even further: “Not even a month. More like a few days at most. And it had been under construction for at least 19 years. Plans for it had existed for at least 23 years, even before the reign of the Empire began.”
Two decades of scheming. Billions of credits. Countless lives lost during its construction (shoutout to Clerks for asking the hard questions about contractors). And all of it blew up shortly after going live.
The Death Star did manage to unleash some serious destruction in its short lifespan, most notably obliterating Alderaan in A New Hope, and taking out Jedha City during Rogue One. But the long-term reign of terror Emperor Palpatine had planned? That never really had time to take root.
“And Palpatine’s entire long-term strategy revolved around the Death Star,” another fan pointed out. “He finally felt comfortable dissolving the Senate with the Death Star at hand… Only to lose it in a matter of days.”
It’s one of those ironic twists that adds a whole new layer of tragic overconfidence to the Emperor’s game plan. He bet everything on a weapon that barely got to stretch its legs.
Of course, the Empire didn’t learn their lesson. A second Death Star was under construction in Return of the Jedi, and was destroyed before it was even completed. By the way, we should get a series about the construction of that Death Star!
So while the Death Star will always be iconic, its time as the galaxy’s ultimate weapon was more of a quick, brutal burst than a prolonged era of dominance. And thanks to Andor, the full context makes it all hit a little differently.
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