Andor Star Unpacks Syril's Episode 8 Brawl With [Spoiler], Says Ending Was Filmed 'A Couple Different Ways'

The following contains spoilers from Season 2, Episode 8 of Andor, now streaming on Disney+.

In the end, Andor's Syril Karn nearly got his man.

Nearly.

Episode 8 of Andor Season 2 brought us to the Ghorman Massacre of Star Wars lore — or at least a version thereof. (In the old Star Wars EU, Moff Tarkin purposely landing his cruiser atop a plaza full of Ghor became known as the Ghorman Massacre. In Andor, that past incident is referred to as the Tarkin Massacre.)

As tensions started escalating in Episode 8 — between the Ghorman Front and the Imperial forces that quickly increased in and around the central plaza — Syril (played by Kyle Soller) had a near-miss with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the man the former Pre-Mor deputy inspector has pursued since Season 1, Episode 1, for the murder of two guards.

Destiny would bring the men together, though, after Syril — dazed upon learning the true nature of the Empire's plans for Ghorman, and Dedra Meero's (Denise Gough) complicity — washed his hands of his partner and ventured out into the crowded, agitated plaza. With Imperial troops ordered to fire at will and the massacre underway, Cassian tried again and again to get Dedra in his literal crosshairs. Once he finally did and was poised to fire his blaster rifle, who comes barreling toward him for a tackle but Syril!

An epic brawl ensued inside the cafe, with the men trading blow and after blow, throwing each other against walls and glass, and both being briefly concussed by a grenade that exploded nearby. Syril eventually gained the upper hand and stood above a supine Cassian, literally seething and primed to put down his prey with a blaster shot.

"Syril is pouring all of his frustration and anger and pain, of what he just discovered about Dedra and the Empire and the massacre that he's witnessing, into that moment," Andor star Kyle Soller told TVLine. "In a way, Syril blames Cassian for everything in Syril's life up until that point. Cassian has kind of become a totem for that, and Syril wants to destroy the totem."

But three little words that Cassian said to this stranger determined to end him — "Who are you?" (also the episode's title) — gave Syril just enough pause that Ghorman Front leader Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel) was able to blindside him with a blaster shot to the head.

For Syril, the fateful face-off was one years in the making. Cassian, however, scampered away, and likely never came to know why this stranger harbored such a deeply personal vendetta.

Soller told TVLine that Cassian's aforementioned three-word utterance to Syril was the subject of some debate.

"I remember speaking to [Andor creator] Tony [Gilroy] and Diego about this many, many times," the actor shared. "They couldn't figure out what the last line in that scene should be. Is it, 'Who are you?' Is it, 'You!'? Is it, 'Why are you here?' All these different permutations."

In the end, "I'm so thrilled they went with 'Who are you?'" said Soller, "because we filmed it a couple different ways."

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