Daughter of Ferrix

"Daughter of Ferrix" is the eleventh episode of the American streaming television series Andor, based on Star Wars created by George Lucas. It was written by Tony Gilroy and directed by Benjamin Caron.

The episode stars Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, who reprises his role from the Star Wars spinoff film, Rogue One (2016). Toby Haynes was hired in September 2020 after a production delay due the COVID-19 pandemic, and Gilroy joined the series as showrunner in early 2019, replacing Stephen Schiff. Both executive produce alongside Luna and Kathleen Kennedy.

"Daughter of Ferrix" was released on Disney+ on November 16, 2022.

Plot
Cassian Andor and fellow prisoner Ruescott Melshi manage to evade capture by holding onto the side of a cliff for several hours. When the patrols eventually leave, they explore the desolate planet eventually coming across a ship. They attempt to steal it from a pair of Narkinian fishers, but are caught in a trap. Andor and Melshi manage to prove they are prisoners, causing the fishers to decide to free them due to the Empire's destruction of their planet's wildlife in order to supply the prisons.

Maarva Andor passes away, and Brasso attempts to comfort a grieving B2EM0. Brasso carries her body away, observed by a crowd including disguised rebel Cinta Kaz and disguised Imperial Corv. Corv informs Dedra Meero, who attempts to condense her funeral procession in two days by ordering they demand permits for each attender. Corv also reveals Ferrix's tradition of turning the deceased ashes into a brick to then help build their community. Sergeant Mosk contacts Syril Karn, revealing this, and Karn decides to attend the funeral to catch Andor. A traumatized and imprisoned Bix Caleen is taken back into torture to see if she knew Anto Kreegyr.

Vel Sartha visits Luthen Rael's antiques shop, confronting his assistant Kleya Marki. Marki is angry at Vel for breaking protocol, but agrees to tell Rael of Maarva's death. Vel returns to the house of her cousin Mon Mothma and sees Mothma's daughter, Leida, partaking in an old courtship ritual in retaliation to her mother's objection against the Empire. Mothma confides in Vel about the Empire closing in on her missing money, grappling with the inevitability of her capture.

Rael goes to Segra Meelo and discovers Saw Gerrera has changed his mind and now wishes to join Kreegyr on his mission. Rael admits that Kreegyr will die on his mission, which is why he can no longer allow Gerrera to join him. Gerrera's paranoia quickly takes over as he demands which one of his team is secretly a spy for Rael. He eventually calms down, and reluctantly agrees to sacrifice Kreegyr.

Rael contacts Marki and begins to fly back to Coruscant when he is confronted by an Imperial Ship which demands registration. Rael tricks the ship into activating its tractor beam, using it to destroy the front of the ship before destroying the TIE fighters with lasers.

On Niamos, Andor retrieves his belongings and contacts his friend Xanwan on Ferrix, discovering his adoptive mother's death. He decides to return to Ferrix, whilst Melshi leaves to spread the word of rebellion. They part ways, hoping to meet again.

Development
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February 2018 that there were several Star Wars series in development, and that November one was revealed as a prequel to the film Rogue One (2016). The series was described as a spy thriller show focused on the character Cassian Andor, with Diego Luna reprising his role from the film. Jared Bush originally developed the series, writing a pilot script and series bible for the project. By the end of November, Stephen Schiff was serving as showrunner and executive producer of the series. Tony Gilroy, who was credited as a co-writer on Rogue One and oversaw extensive reshoots for the film, joined the series by early 2019 when he discussed the first story details with Luna. Gilroy's involvement was revealed that October, when he was set to write the first episode, direct multiple episodes, and work alongside Schiff; Gilroy had officially replaced Schiff as showrunner by April 2020. Six weeks of pre-production for the series had taken place in the United Kingdom by then, but this was halted and production on the series delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-production had begun again by September ahead of a planned filming start the next month. At that time, Gilroy, who is based in New York, chose not to travel to the UK for production on the series due to the pandemic, and was therefore unable to direct the series' first episode. Instead, the UK-based Toby Haynes, who was already "high on the list" of potential directors for the series, was hired to direct the first three episodes. Gilroy would remain executive producer and showrunner. In December 2020, Luna was revealed to be executive producing the series.

The eleventh episode, titled "Daughter of Ferrix", was written by Tony Gilroy.

Writing
Following the Narkina 5 prison arc, the final two episodes contained a connected story arc. When writing the scene in which Ruescott Melshi and Andor depart, Gilroy had decided that Melshi would not be coming with Andor to Ferrix, and also knew that Melshi would be motivated to be the "heroic version of that, which is, people have to know what he just went through", noting that all the characters had been "radicalized" following their incarceration on Narkina 5. He knew that while writing the scene, his first impulse was that the two characters could not be together. Gilroy was also satisfied that director Benjamin Caron had made the scene "feel like the end of Rogue One" (2016).

Casting
The episode stars Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Kyle Soller as Syril Karn, Adria Arjona as Bix Caleen, Joplin Sibtain as Brasso, James McArdle as Timm Karlo, and Rupert Vansittart as Chief Hyne.

Filming
Filming began in London, England, at the end of November 2020, with the production based at Pinewood Studios. The series was filmed under the working title Pilgrim, and was the first live-action Star Wars series to not make use of the StageCraft digital background technology. Filming locations included Black Park in Buckinghamshire, England for the flashback scenes, as well as at Middle Peak Quarry in Derbyshire, England.

Music
Nicholas Britell composed the musical score for the episode. The episode's soundtrack was released in December 2022 as part of the third volume for the series.

Release
"Daughter of Ferrix" was released on Disney+ on November 16, 2022.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 94% approval rating, based on 17 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Treating fans to a terrific dogfight while also breaking their hearts with a stern reminder about the cost of rebellion, Andor continues to impress."