I like what I’ve seen from Andor so far. It’s a very good take on parts of the Rebellion we’ve never seen on screen before, though has been in books or comics. With that being said, the fandom is easily the worst Star Wars one I’ve ever seen.

If you’ve seen the first arc of season 2, you know a low level imperial officer tries to rape one of the female characters. I don’t think that belongs in a property like Star Wars. At most, there are ways to imply an attempt without needing to show it onscreen. This is not a “the empire wouldn’t allow it” problem because let’s be honest, stuff like this does happen with armies far from their homes. Always has, and sadly always will. My issue is purely that it does not tonally fit with Star Wars, or specifically most Science Fantasy/Soft Sci-Fi. Hard or Military Sci-Fi can get away with it, usually due to their more realistic or gritty tones. When I consume harder Sci-Fi, I am almost expecting more mature themes due to the genre it is apart of.

This take, that rape does not belong in a Sci-Fantasy setting with the tone of the original 3 or 6 movies, is considered blasphemy to a large portion of Andor fans, who will viciously attack you for having it. To them, even if you like the rest of the series but disagree on the inclusion of this scene, you are nothing more than a manchild who wants to see two people duel with lightsabers and nothing more. It’s a level of snobbery and elitism that you only ever see from the “media literacy” crowd that tried and failed to make people hate Starship Troopers, Helldivers 2 and Patrick Bateman. It’s one thing to enjoy a show without the Force or Jedi/Sith, I think it is a great change of pace compared to Ahsoka, which while I did enjoy it, did suffer from making too many characters have force powers. It’s another to lecture Star Wars fans on why attempted rape is good in a relatively light-hearted Science Fantasy property.

The other big aspect that makes the online Andor community the worst is how they spend more time talking about Trump than the actual show. The first arc of season 2 has a group of characters, on the run after the riot on Ferrix, hiding on an agri-world as illegal workers. A small imperial inspection team drops by to check work visas, and they capture many people who are there illegally. As you may guess, this has meant all conversation that’s not about why rape in Star Wars is a good thing and we should see more of it, is about Trump, evil right wingers and the poor undocumented laborers. The Empire is well within their right to want to know who’s there legally and who’s not, they make the laws and to our knowledge they are not shown arresting random people for no reason, only those who are breaking the law. This is a terrible way to show the empire itself being evil, and there are so many other ways to do it when you have a government that’s only a front for a cult of evil space wizards who want to control every person down to their individual thoughts (sounds familiar). The community at large has decided that this is an excellent way to attack Trump and those who want mass deportations, and thus won’t shut up about what is ultimately a shallow comparison that rips out all the nuance of the argument for a cheap dig.

How would I fix these issues?

1. Take out the rape scene, this isn’t Law and Order SVU this is Star Wars.
2. The plot needs a reason for our Ferrix characters to stop hiding and join the rebellion, while showing the Empire are evil. Instead of having the Empire arrest those who are there illegally, why not have them take everybody they can, after all the Empire needs the labor for the Death Star constructions as well as continuing to increase military production while decreasing costs. Easy, no political controversy.

TLDR: The Andor community is the most elitist Star Wars fandom I’ve ever seen, who like to watch rape scenes and complain about Trump.