The newly revealed presence of Saw Gerrera in the upcoming Andor trailer sets an impressive Star Wars record that few other characters have been able to attain. Played by Forest Whitaker, Saw Gerrera is an uncompromising resistance fighter who spent nearly his entire life fighting against galactic tyranny. Now, it looks like the character first envisioned by George Lucas will reach a major milestone in the Star Wars canon.
First appearing in the animated Clone Wars series, Saw Gerrera was a resistance leader on the planet of Onderon. Aided by Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano, Gerrera and his forces fought back against the Separatists and their droid armies who were seeking to take over the planet. Following the Empire's rise from the Republic's ashes, Gerrera would continue to fight, having formed a group of insurgents known as The Partisans. Despite his methods being seen as too violent and brutal by the Rebel Alliance, Saw Gerrera believed in the dream of freedom at any cost, right up until his death on Jedha following the Empire's single-reactor test of its new Death Star (as seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story).
Now, it looks as though this new prequel series will reveal Saw Gerrera's role in the birth of the Alliance (likely before he was labeled a paranoid extremist). As seen in the new Andor trailer, Stellan Skarsgård's new character Luten Rael is seen meeting with Saw in the hope of gathering heroes to fight back. However, Gerrera's appearance in Andor sets a major record with the character appearing in a canon Star Wars movie, a video game, books, comics, every canon animated series, and now this upcoming live-action series. It's a very rare feat that only the smallest handful of characters have been able to achieve in the galaxy far, far away.
Why Saw Gerrera Is So Important To Star Wars Canon
Going beyond the fun detail that George Lucas created Gerrera as a leading character for his unfinished Star Wars: Underworld live-action series before the Disney era, Saw is so important to the Star Wars canon because of what he represents. Uncompromising in his dream of freedom, Saw was driven throughout his life to gain victory at any cost. As such, many of the Alliance leaders would come to see him as a radical who was too volatile to support what they saw as their arguably more noble methods. However, Andor will likely reveal the hypocrisy of those views. While the Alliance may seem more noble and heroic on the surface, the threat of the Empire had to have forced the Rebels to get their hands dirty in its earliest days while still having assassins and shadow agents working in secret (like Cassian Andor in Rogue One).
Understanding that war often requires brutal methods born out of desperation and a need to do whatever it takes to survive (and one day win), Saw is arguably more honest in his fight against the Empire than the Separatists that preceded it. As such, it will be interesting to see how the rift will form between his forces and the Rebel Alliance. In any case, Saw Gerrera will hold a rare position in the Star Wars canon when Andor comes to Disney+, having an appearance in every single form of media set in the galaxy far, far away.
Andor releases its first three episodes on September 21st on Disney+.