Warning! This article contains spoilers for Andor episode 11.Andor season 1, episode 11 featured a sequence in which Luthen evades a new type of Star Destroyer for the Star Wars universe. After his encounter with Saw Gerrera, Luthen is accosted by an Imperial cruiser whose crew attempts to board his ship. This forces Luthen to escape by attacking specific elements of Star Wars' newest Star Destroyer and evading a squadron of TIE fighters sent after the Rebellion conspirator.
This new type of vehicle for the Empire is named the Arrestor Cruiser. While not as large, and slightly different in design compared to a conventional Star Destroyer, the Arrestor Cruiser is now a confirmed part of the Empire's arsenal in space warfare. Technically, the Arrestor Cruiser is not brand new to Star Wars, as it appeared in an Imperial recruitment video viewed by young Han in Solo: A Star Wars Story. However, given how brief that appearance was, Andor marks the first full view and utilization of the Arrestor Cruiser Star Destroyer.
The Arrestor Cruiser Is Based On Original Star Destroyer Concept Art
While technically first appearing in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the idea for the Arrestor Cruiser goes all the way back to the first movie and Colin Cantwell's initial concept art for a regular Star Destroyer. In an Instagram post in 2018, shortly before the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Cantwell revealed that his concept art was being used for the film. Cantwell also stated that the concept art for the Arrestor Cruiser was drawn in 1974, three years before the original Star Wars' release. Bringing this concept art back for the Arrestor Cruiser in both Solo: A Star Wars Story and Andor is a great way to honor the artists from the franchise's inception, all while introducing new, cool Star Destroyer designs to Star Wars.
How The Arrestor Cruiser Compares To A Star Destroyer
It is worth exploring how the Arrestor Cruiser compares to a Star Destroyer given its initial inception as the latter. While Solo: A Star Wars Story does not provide any evidence for this, Andor episode 11 does. In terms of its design, the Arrestor Cruiser still holds a more arrow-like shape than a regular Star Destroyer, which is more conical. The front of the ship would be the bottom of the "arrow," with a huge satellite dish at the fore. Two other satellite dishes flank it, on the base corners of the arrow-like tip. Finally, in terms of visuals, the command deck is much smaller on an Arrestor Cruiser, not sticking out as high as that of a Star Destroyer.
Another thing that Andor episode 11 fleshes out, is how different an Arrestor Cruiser works compared to a typical Star Destroyer. Its name lends itself to its function, as the Arrestor Cruiser is a ship that is used to ensnare suspicious ships and freighters for inspection. This is done using the three satellite dishes present in its design, which serve as tractor beams to stop the ships in question from escaping. Regular Star Destroyers are more used as frontline ships in space warfare and are much more well-equipped for combat, meaning that the Arrestor Cruisers are much more useful as capture ships, as seen in Andor.
New episodes of Andor release on Wednesdays on Disney+.
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