Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy originally envisioned the gritty spy drama as a five-season series. Shortly after wrapping production on Andor‘s first season, Gilroy realized that wasn’t possible and reworked the plan so season 2’s 12 episodes would span four years, with each three-episode block reflecting a year gone by.
The result led to some storylines being cut. For example, a subplot in which Mon Mothma’s hedonistic husband, Perrin Fertha, revealed he’d known about Mon’s dealings with the Rebellion from the beginning. Andor’s first season, on the other hand, didn’t have to deal with cuts or deleted scenes. Or so it seemed.
Abrams Books recently released The Art of Andor by Phil Szostak, the official behind-the-scenes companion book for the Star Wars series. At over 288 pages, the book delves deep into the show’s development, from early ideas to visuals, worlds, and characters, including a crucial behind-the-scenes cut focusing on the guy we all love to hate: the ambitious, Empire-loving deputy inspector turned ISB informant and civil servant, Syril Karn.
Syril’s story begins in Andor shortly after Cassian Andor kills two Pre-Mor security officers on the planet Morlana One — part of Syril’s zone as Deputy Inspector of the Preox-Morlana (Pre-Mor) force. This event kickstarts Syril’s obsession with finding Cassian and bringing him to justice. With the help of Sergeant Linus Mosk and fellow Pre-Mor security personnel, Syril heads to Ferrix to capture Cassian.
During the flight to Ferrix, a scene — according to Martyn Doust, the prop master of Andor season one — shows Syril’s naïveté and inexperience as an officer hands him a blaster, in pieces, for the first time.
“Syril’s pistol was completely separate [from the rest of the Pre-Mor weapons]. It was meant to be the officer’s pistol version,” Doust explains in the book. “There was a sequence that didn’t make it through to the final edit. When he’s on the ship flying to Ferrix, the big officer in charge hands Syril a gun for the first time, in pieces. Syril never really had a weapon. So, the officer takes it back off him, puts it all together, and then hands it back to Syril.”
As we quickly learn in the first three episodes of Andor’s first season, Syril is driven by the need to prove himself. However, as the scrapped scene proves, Syril’s ambitions are outweighed by his relative inexperience, both with people and the world around him. He strives for greatness but is held back by his own anxieties, most of which are fueled by his relationship with his mother, Eedy Karn.
While there’s no reason given for why the scene never made it past the final edit, we speculate that it’s because Syril’s plans on Ferrix backfire, and his failure to capture Cassian leads to his being stripped of his duties and his return to Coruscant. With Syril being so humiliated as it is, adding a scene to highlight Syril being over his head doesn’t seem necessary and proves that, sometimes, less is more.