Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Andor episode 11
Andor's Luthen Rael officially has one of the most impressive ships in the Star Wars galaxy, rivaling the Millennium Falcon when it comes to Imperial evasion and combat. In Andor episode 11, Luthen is caught by an Arrestor-class Star Destroyer with the intention of inspecting his ship, The Fondor. However, Rael deploys a series of surprisingly epic countermeasures that make the Falcon's modifications look tame by comparison.
Traveling throughout the Star Wars galaxy in the hopes of initiating a true rebellion against the Empire, it makes sense that Luthen's haulcraft would be built for resistance alongside his covert operations. While earlier episodes revealed that Luthen's ship was one of kind, Andor episode 11 truly sees The Fondor in action. With so many impressive capabilities, Luthen's ship was probably built specifically to help him escape the grip of the Empire and fight when necessary, whereas the Millennium Falcon was modified by Lando, Han Solo, and Chewbacca for more general smuggling jobs.
What We Know About Luthen's Fondor Haulcraft
Earlier episodes of Andor such as episode 4 saw Cassian quite surprised by Luthen's ship. Having flown similar haulcraft in the past, Cassian notes the ship's immense power as well as the unique droid mod, capable of calculating safe and unmonitored routes through hyperspace, an incredibly useful (and likely illegal) means of traveling the galaxy under the radar without piquing the interest of the Empire. However, Andor episode 11 shows just how formidable The Fondor can be when cornered.
Not only is Luthen's ship powerful enough to resist the Star Destroyer's tractor beam, The Fondor deployed devastating countermeasures which shredded the tractor beam completely. Combined with incredible firepower such as turrets and twin mounted lasers on either side of the ship, Luthen quickly takes out an entire wing ot TIEs before jumping to hyperspace, much to the shock of the Imperial officers onboard the Destroyer. It should also be noted that the ship's droid brain was able to rapidly generate fake ID codes. While it didn't work in this particular situation, it's still an incredibly useful feature to avoid confrontation and maintain Luthen's valuable anonymity.
Why Luthen's Ship Has Better Tech Than The Millennium Falcon
Considering all of its unique capabilities, it stands to reason that The Fondor was more than likely a custom-built haulcraft purchased by Luthen for the exact purpose it's being used for in Andor. In comparison, the Millennium Falcon was a normal Corellian freighter that was continually being modified for the purpose of smuggling. While it does feature above average weapons systems and unique droid brain similar to The Fondor, neither Lando nor Han modified the Millennium Falcon with resistance in mind, at least not originally in the Star Wars galaxy.
New episodes of Andor release on Wednesdays on Disney+.
Want more Andor articles? Check out our essential content below...
- Andor Episode 11 Star Wars Easter Eggs Explained
- Andor Cast & Character Guide
- BBY 5 Explained: Andor's Timeline Is More Important Than You Realize
- Star Wars' Corporate Zone Explained
- How Many Episodes Are In Andor (& When The Finale Is)