Andor Episode 11: Did Luthen Rael have a lightsaber?

Were our eyes fooling us, or was Luthen Rael armed with a lightsaber in Andor Episode 11? Let’s have a closer look.

We know Cassian will become the Rebel spy who helps steal the Empire’s plans for the Death Star in Rogue One. We know Mon Mothma will succeed in her goals to cultivate a Rebel Alliance, despite political pressures all around her.

What about Luthen Rael, the mysterious spymaster who recruited Cassian for the Aldhani heist? He runs an antiques gallery in Coruscant, orders Rebel operations with Kleya, meets with Saw Gerrera – but nobody knows who he is or how he came to be.

Could it be… that he’s actually a Jedi? Well, Andor Episode 11 certainly seems to hint so, especially with the surprise appearance of a particular weapon.

Andor Episode 11: Yes, Luthen Rael had a lightsaber

In Episode 11, Luthen meets with Saw Gerrera once again, but before he’s allowed entry, his guards search him and pull out something very, very interesting.

Yes, it certainly looks like a lightsaber – did Luthen take it from his own gallery, or is he actually a Jedi? It’s a compelling theory made even more likely by this moment.

The clues are building: his attire is similar to a Jedi; his speech to Lonni, in which he spoke about being “condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them”, hints he may be using the power of the Dark Side for the benefit of the Rebellion; and then there’s his kyber crystal, which so happens to be the object found in a lightsaber.

When he gave it to Cassian as a deposit, he stressed that he’d want it back in the future. It’s possible he’s never used his lightsaber since Order 66 was enacted, but he still carries the hilt with him, and we’ll see him wield it after they reunite in Episode 12?

There are other questions to answer: if he’s a Jedi, who was his master; could he have served as a Jedi Temple Guard, given there’s a mask in his gallery; or is he maybe a “grey Jedi”, a Force-user who isn’t evil nor follows the ways of the Jedi to the letter? You can learn more about the theory here, and we’ll hopefully find out next week.

Andor Episode 12 will be available to stream on November 22. You can sign up for Disney+ here.