Dedra's face and reaction when she realizes it was Syril who pulled her out of the chaos, was amazing. You could tell she was ready to die/fight for her life yet, was absolutely shocked to see that it was Syril. It even takes her a few moments to settle down and compose herself. That was some phenomenal acting on her part!
That was the most brilliant I have seen her. And that’s saying a lot. Did you notice that every time Syril showed up in her presence, he announced his name to her? As if he felt small and unremarkable to her.
When I saw Deedra it was the first time in my life I've fallen in love with a female antagonist on screen. Shes cruel, as the job demands, but I wouldn't call her evil. Shes surrounded by complacent men who doesn't think much of her, and actively sabotages her progress, but she succeeds on her own merit. Shes lovely. A true delight. Deedra is no more evil than corporations or politicians today. In fact, shes less evil. She might inflict pain on individuals, but corporations and politicians inflict pain on millions.
I absolutely love her performance. She communicates Deidre’s burning desire to push up through the ranks at any cost, sanctioned evil acts done breathlessly.
@@StarWarsFanatic correctomundo. Those fucks thought they were the second coming of Jesus Christ but in reality they were no better then the devil. The thing is its also on smaller levels as well. Marx, the bushes, the Clinton’s, mao, the current chancler to Germany and prity much the hole fuderal system (with strong progressive king/queen) in general. They think their doing good but that belief is only a blind to their evil, bad decisions or inaction. Theirs a reason why the game is the most dangerous, even if it doesn’t get you killed, you bite yourself in the ass in the end anyway.
Dedra is a nice breath of fresh air it's nice to see the empire threatening again on screen after 1980, OBK and Rebels are too childish to take seriously. Even though out of my top 3 Star Wars villains she's 2 (Krennic being first and Moff Gideon being the 3rd). Honestly I want a fake out redemption with Dedra she sees the flaws in the empire but still defends it anyway because she see's the rebels as bad.
There's no way Dedra could have found Cassian on Narkina 5. It's unclear whether anyone bothered to record a photo of him, but even they had there was no way to search by image anyway. The only reason Syril was about to find Cassian's photo was that Timm gave him a name. Furthermore, the records of Narkina 5 were probably not available to her branch of the ISB. Being related to the Death Star project, the records were likely restricted only to the relevant secret projects division.
I don’t wanna be all like “I told you so!” But Andor was the 1 I had hopes 4! I genuinely thought Rouge 1 was my third favourite movie in the franchise I’m so happy it’s panned out well! 👍🏼
@@StarWarsFanatic dude I sent you some emails there! Basically the topic is “Only a white human male Sith Lord would ever be able to completely control the galaxy like Palpatine could!” Humans are 2 numerical in a galaxy far far away no Alien Sith Lord could have done it 👍🏼 in my humble opinion 🤣👍🏼
Although the torture scene involved unbearable undertones, the grandeur of Andor is that we still feel mercy for Dedra when she gets mobbed in episode 12.
I think the fact that she's a woman, with ambitions of rising up the ranks of what's largely a boys club, is important to her character. Part of the reason we empathize with her is that this immediately puts her in an underdog position. She has suspicions that there is a larger rebel conspiracy at play and is repeatedly shut down by superiors, but she defies them because she's fighting for what she believes is right. And we as the audience of course know her suspicions are correct. Her torturing of Bix is totally evil. But it's probably imperial protocol and I wouldn't be surprised if it were backed by data (in their universe) to be the most efficient and effective way to get prisoners to talk. She could be justifying her actions by sacrificing a few individuals in order to stop a larger, dangerous rebel conspiracy and save countless lives. Her character is much more layered than just "pure evil." She's a hungry and ambitious underdog trying to rise up in the ranks and fighting for what she believes in. Even if it means going against her superiors. And yes, what she believes in may be misguided and evil, but maybe she can't yet see that from their little command center and her character later takes a turn. Or maybe she does indeed rise in the ranks and becomes an important imperial officer. Whatever it may be, I look forward to where they take her next.
I don’t disagree with this. I like flipping the script once in a while. In one video I’ll call her evil, and in the next I’ll say she’s misunderstood. Honestly, I think she’s the Imperial equivalent to Saw Gererra. Someone who has a goal of peace but uses extreme tactics to achieve it. Just on opposite sides of the war. In other words, peace is a matter of perspective.
@@StarWarsFanatic even more extreme than saw by the end I think is luthen. Dedra is actively trying to protect the galaxy from what she thinks is dangerous. And she's right, because luthen is actively trying to harm the galaxy in order to prove just how evil the empire is. He out-crazies even saw by sacrificing Krieger and later revealing his ultimate goal. Such good writing on such a good show.
Great video, as usual! Meero started out in enforcement, on the front-line, and so has a different perspective than her peers, who likely haven't held a blaster since basic.
Dedra Meero. My girl Dee is Marvelously Wonderful, isn't she. A real peach of an Imperial Officer (Like my boy Moff G). Syril should have "seized the day" and bedded Dee right then & there in that storage room. Dee was ripe for the picking at that moment. Unfortunately, Dedra's story arc is probably a short one - Not to rise to the level of Moff G, or greater. She's a great young villain with great POtential. That's why me & Syril love her so much. Thanks for the gentle treatment of Dedra, Gerald.
I wouldn’t say Dedra Meero is evil. I’d say she is dedicated to her beliefs in the totalitarian sense. Like Luthen Rael, she has basically given up everything (even her humanity) to achieve what she believes is right. The way that I would compare this to is Samuel L. Jackson’s character in the 2010 thriller “Unthinkable” where Jackson interrogated a terrorist to gain information. That interrogation was BEYOND brutal and even had some on his team questioning the brutality that was done to obtain said information (just like Dedra Meero brutal methods with Bix Caleen). Eventually, those on Jackson’s team realized that what he was doing and the measures he was taking was necessary, a “means to an end” so to speak. Just like Syril Karn believes COMPLETELY in order/justice and Luthen Rael believes COMPLETELY in the Rebellion, Dedra Meero believes COMPLETELY that the Empire’s way is the right way. Misguided?….yes. Evil?….I don’t believe so. Honestly though, I thought her and Syril was going to kiss or something during that last scene on Ferrix! Ship “Syro”!! (Syril/Meero)🥰 This is the way. I have spoken….
Honestly I just kept forgetting to subscribe but I did today. Fantastic breakdown and analysis of a villain who you almost want to be successful. And Andor is the best Star Wars series, hands down. Great work.
While Dedra is evil beyond redemption, I actually find her kind of relatable. She wants to rise up and be recognized in a male dominated group, but we have to remember at heart she’s a fascist. The portrayal of the character by Denise Gough is phenomenal.
In the Original Trilogy we never really got to see what everyday life was like in a totalitarian Empire, and the story focused on a small handful of individuals rather than civilian populations. It's only been since Rogue One that the perspective has broadened outward.
Wow Gerald awesome video totally agree with Dedra being evil and I hope she gets put under the headphones and left till her eardrums pop great Star Wars Fanatic
I love Dedra and, to a degree, the Empire. Being a male Registered Nurse, I feel that my female counterparts don't respect male nurses that we invaded their territory and like Dedra, I am forced to fight for respect I think Dedra feels the same in the Empire as she's the only female in a male dominated military complex. She tried at first to get files from Blevin, but when he shuts her down and calls her work ethic into question to Partigaz, it is at that moment she becomes more nuanced in her way of doing things. Yes, her method of torcher of Bix was brutal to put it mildly, but I am sure what Vader did to Princess Leia on the death star was worse. We just didn't see it.
While I’m sure Dedra will take the blame for Ferrix, I’m not so sure she’s fully responsible or to blame. She was the one ISB Supervisor who believed that the P.O.R.D. and other public measures ordered by the Emperor in the wake of Aldhani was absolutely the wrong measures to take because they played directly into the hands of what she was beginning to piece together, correctly, as a larger organized rebellion. The Ferrix uprising is a perfect example of her fears made reality. So if she’s guilty of anything, it was her inability to see what was happening before her very eyes after she had so clearly intuited that it would happen when the Empire cracked down and tightened its grip after Aldhani.
I was thinking a while back that Axis was possibly a name the Empire used to describe him. But I’ll have to watch the show again. Maybe I’m way off base with that.
Oh dear, someone's lost the house and the kids _to a frowning hairknot_ ... *Dedra Meero is **_the most likeable_** female character of the first season* , despite her authoritarian demeanor, _appearing_ unapproachable _like a concentration camp guard_ - when in fact, she is the only person within her agency who is *capable of working with others to solve a problem* - and _who doesn't work for the enemy_ , yet... Cassian Andor shoots people when _in doubt_ that letting them go may effect his survival - even if his role as a thief doesn't apply _at all_ since _we never saw him stealing or being deviant other than the trope of living on a scrap yard_ - Meero orders _psychological_ torture to uncover _a real plot of militant radicals_ . As *_the audience is never shown a moment when she is confronted with imperial atrocity_** and has to rationalize her line of work in order to continue* - a potential of her character arc, e.g. to be recruited by the very 'Axis', she is hunting - she is formally as 'evil' as every citizen of the American Republic who fails to account for several million dead, caused by Dulle's CIA covert operations in numerous wars abroad and thousands of deads by Hoover's FBI, domestically since the National Security Act of 1947. All _we know from what we see on screen_ is: _the imperial bureaucracy is largely detached and incompetent_ - viewing the rebellion to be a pointless nuisance - and *she is not* ... That is where the analysis starts - and as with other characters, writers may have had *_a normative carricature_*_ of 'a white person'_ in mind, but - _subconsiously_ - the imaginary creation gained a life of itself... Dedra Meero is shown as possessing the initial experience to raise through the ranks into _the board_ of the secretive Imperial Security Bureau, founded by former chancellor Palpatine to purge separatists of the galactic 'COMPNOR' into which the republic had transformed during the vicious Clone Wars (historical judgement is to be based upon historical context - which *_only the franchise audience knows to be obscured as Palpatine is 'Sideous' to them_* ). There she appears to be accompanied by a staff officer who _she treats as an equal when speaking her mind_ and _by whom she is supported in pursuing an unpopular, unsettling theory that frames isolated, seemingly petty events into a strategic picture of significant threat_ - proving her as *_imaginative_* and thereby *capable to align to shifting circumstances* ('Systems change or die !')... Meero is then shown in her struggles amidst her institution - against *the formalism of galactic sectors that festers 'resort egotism'* to outright moles, groomed by the very terrorists, the agency is supposed to uproot (a common occurence during the Cold War on both sides) - which grants her in fact less agency against a steeper antagonism than Andor, the supposed protagonist within the liberal, _indoctrinated_ mind... While the season ending may come across as her initially effective pursuit, crossed - again in fact, the events on Ferix where a mere set up for her to meet her fate: Syril Karn - not 'a stalker' as the writers may allude to - but *the informal 'wild card'* with whom she will become able to outplay the intrigues against her - like a true sovereign... Now, tell Your kids that sometimes families don't evolve along an idealized role model, but that with Your support, You all will make it.
really intresting video. so i quess you don't like Dedra but Bix? ;) i find Meero is one of the best female villains star wars had yet.maybe its because they don't have much woman who did this job or real woman.her charchter is really intresting i don't find she is that much evil because im Ep. 12 the one officer want ro have sinpers to stand one the funeral but she said she want just a blockade. i'm sry but english is not my regular language.
Ok but more evil than Tarkin? She’s like a lower level less visionary version of Grand Admiral Thrawn-A clever, decisive, civil servant with a tireless will to do what she was born to do-Detective work. Just as Thrawn was born to be a military strategist, who’s playground in grand strategy, not tactical maneuvering. Hardly the most evil amongst the likes of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. She’s a Stasi functionary, a CIA type.
To be honest... I found the character of Dedra to be quite cartoonish and stereotypical , like a moustache twirling villain, quite exaggerated and forced . I just couldn't take her seriously for some reason. She didn't scare me and I don't see her as evil. She really reminded me of governor Price from Star Wars Rebels.
@fourth horseman If you thinkDeadra is a breath of fresh air then …? … I got an ex-wife I could set you up with! Maybe that will get her off my case!!! 🤣 they both even dress the same 🤣🤣🤣
She is not evil She wants to prove herself in a world full of men She doesn't order mass killings and is about order rather than punishing out of pure evil Your analysis is wrong
Bruh... Look at the torture scene and how proud she was about that and tell me again she isn't evil. Literally proud of the scientist who likes to use screams of dying children from a whole ass population they wiped out as a torture method that likes to talk about it like it's the newest iPhone. Like even if I would believe that would be necessary, I would still be freaked out by that guy and question who I'm working for. She doesn't. She is happy to have him serve under her. Also don't forget: -her giving permission to 1 of her officers to publicly hang a civilian -her treating the whole population of Ferrix like pawns in trying to catch Cassian because he MIGHT lead her to Luthen. All while looking down on them from the top of her tower. To quote her actor: "You'll root for her at first but once she gets her way, she's no longer a woman in a world full of men, but a fascist in a world full of fascists."
