SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Episodes 4, 5 and 6 of “Andor” Season 2, now streaming on Disney+.
For the second week in a row, “Andor” killed off a major character in shocking fashion. This week, rebel assassin Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) was accidentally shot by a Ghorman revolutionary during a routine attack on an Imperial transport ship.
When we saw Cinta in last week’s episodes, she went undercover as businessman Tay Kolma’s (Ben Miles) driver and covertly killed him on orders from her rebel spymaster Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård). Now, the tables have turned on her, just when it seemed like she and her girlfriend Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) were about to put their rebel lives behind them and focus on their relationship.
Cinta arrives on Ghorman to assist a hasty counter-mission led by some local revolutionaries. The Empire started mining the planet for energy and suppressing the Ghormans, so the upstart rebels attack a transport ship full of supplies. The only problem is the Ghormans are woefully disorganized and unprepared. A rogue bystander gets a little too curious about what’s happening and gets into a scuffle with a Ghorman, resulting in him accidentally firing a laser that kills Cinta. Vel is heartbroken, but the mission must continue, and she barely gets a moment to process Cinta’s death.
With Variety, Sethu discusses shooting that death scene, why Cinta is like the grim reaper “just short of having a scythe” and what her future with Vel would’ve been like if she had survived.
What has the fan reaction been like to Cinta’s death?
The fans have been quite respectful about not giving out spoilers. There’s a few that are commenting on my Instagram page, but I’ve just had an influx of DMs of people saying “Oh my God, I can’t believe they’ve done this to you. I’m so sorry.” It’s lovely to see that people cared about Cinta in the way that I care about her. It’s been really heartwarming. I could go into depth about what I love about her ending. I just thought it was so cleverly done and is so truthful in how people experience death. You don’t get to say goodbye to someone, and you don’t get closure. It can happen suddenly and totally unexpected in something that was meant to be mundane and smooth, which is how they saw the mission. The thing that Vel and Cinta were nervous about was going about starting a relationship after this. So for it to fall apart within a mission that was meant to be so straightforward is shocking.
What was that day on set like?
It was really heavy. I found it really difficult to not cry. I just felt for Vel and the kid. You have that moment of wanting to prove yourself, and he overshoots, literally. It was such a sad day in that everyone felt very tender. There was a real sense of mourning. It was weird; I felt like I was dying. Everyone was very gentle with me. There’s this huge argument, then the realization and everything has to move quick. All of it was done so tenderly. I was under the blanket pretending to be dead in the scene where Vel — she doesn’t even get a private moment with Cinta — has to move on with the mission immediately. She’s just letting loose what she thinks, and it was so powerful to hear it. I felt anger toward him, but I also felt heartbreak and his shame. This colossal figure that was meant to be a legend, he’s taken that potential away from someone.
What was your reaction to reading the script for the first time and finding out Cinta’s fate?
Tony Gilroy called me and told me about it before the script even arrived. It’s a weird reaction to have, but I felt excited. I felt very sad that I wouldn’t be able to hang out with my friends and be on set for longer, for sure, but I thought it was such a brilliant ending. My belief was that Cinta was always going to die in the rebellion. I couldn’t really see someone like her outliving a rebellion. It’s just so horrific, but I just felt it was so brave and unapologetic and that’s what makes “Andor” and “Rogue One” different from the other “Star Wars” shows and films. It’s the stories about the grassroots people. It’s not actually about the heroes. We’re not looking at a Skywalker that can do mind tricks. These are the people who have to spill blood to lay the groundwork for someone greater to emerge.
Why did you think Cinta was always going to die in the rebellion?
She’s been used as a weapon by the rebellion. She’s the assassin, the one who’s constantly in a fight-to-the-death mode. Vel is used as a spy, and obviously she’s put in life-threatening situations, but Cinta is the one who wields the blade or the gun. She’s the one who people see in the last moments of their life. Who knows how many people she’s killed. When you’re in that position time and time again, I think the probability of you being on the receiving end of that is a lot higher.
Speaking of being on the receiving end, at the end of Episode 3 we see Cinta pose as Tay Kolma’s chauffeur and drive him away, presumably, to his death. We don’t see what happens, but what do you think she does to him?
Ben Miles, who plays Tay Kolma, and I were both talking about this because obviously it’s not the script. So we were like, “What do you think happens?” And Ben was like, “Oh, it’s never a good thing if we come across you, though, is it?” I love that it’s this unspoken thing. It’s like seeing death when she turns up. I’m just short of having a scythe.
Where has Cinta and Vel’s relationship gone between the first and second seasons?
Vel is the more emotionally vulnerable one than Cinta. In Season 1, what Cinta prioritized is that the rebellion always come first. Obviously, in this season that’s changed so much and she is a lot more vulnerable. They were separated, and she talks about a mission that went wrong and she’s injured and incapacitated for a while. When something like that happens to people who are driven, I don’t think she’s really thought that far ahead. All she focused on in the last season is how to fight. When she’s separated from Vel, and she’s having to reevaluate her whole life, that’s when she thinks about what comes after the revolution. What am I fighting for? What is a good life? If I don’t fight for this for myself, no one’s going to. Luthen has his great, big plan, but it doesn’t actually include individuals, like Cinta and Vel. She is taking a step back and looking at her life and what she wants from it.
Cinta’s death is accidentally and totally avoidable. What do you think that says about the state of the rebellion?
Rebellions are led by humans. Nothing will run smoothly, because everything is a variable that could go wrong and the biggest variable is personality and ego. There’s this kid who just wants to prove himself. We’ve all been in that situation where we’ve done something and we got a bit carried away and it’s cost us. For him, it’s the ultimate cost and somebody’s life, of someone who, as Vel puts it, was worth much more than his in terms of the contribution to the rebellion.
If Cinta had survived, would she and Vel have left the rebellion or continued fighting for the rebels?
I think they would have left and gone into hiding somewhere if they could. Well, I think that’s what they would try. That would be the dream. But I actually suspect that they probably would end up staying in the rebellion, because that’s what Cinta believes in still.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Read the full article here
