Sunday, November 6, 2022

The moment Syril stopped being a joke (spoilers for Andor Episode 9)


From episodes 2-8, Syril was becoming less and less of a threat. He was a power-hungry powerless nobody who wanted to play with the big bullies, with a vendetta against a main character who didn't even know he existed. Someone who you'd pity if they were a decent person, but laugh at their misfortunes because they're not. Then there was a moment in Episode 9 that completely changed my perception of him.When I saw him waiting for Dedra, I assumed he was going to try and beg for a job again. But instead he moved into her space, physically blocked her, and demanded what she had already refused. Even though she'd repeatedly shown that she had all the power and importance, his attitude was that he was entitled - not just to hunt down Cassian, but to Dedra's time and space until she gave him an answer he liked. The moment when he took hold of her elbow to stop her leaving was oddly chilling. It turned him from a cartoon space opera wannabe-villain into an everyday boundary-pushing harm-inflicting person. And notice that it was at this point - his demand for her time and attention - that she stopped seeing him as an irritating flea and made an actual threat to him.Andor has done a lot to show us the banality of evil and how reports, metrics and bureaucracy facilitate the Empire's cruelty. Syril's demand deepens that by giving us some real-life nastiness woven into their villains. And it was done without hitting people over the head with it too - I wonder how many people felt their opinion of Syril shift in this episode, from laughably pathetic to nasty, and weren't sure why.(I kept typing Cyril while writing this - Cyril is my dumb fluffy cat, who is a demanding asshole, but only in the loveable kitty way.) via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/OgBFNI4

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