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Warning: spoilers for season 2 of Andor are ahead. 

One of the wildest sub-plots of Andor season 2 was the fallout of Syril Karn and Dedra Meero's relationship. The two Imperial officers shared a sense of both ambition and awkwardness, and watching their relationship develop gave Star Wars fans another look into life during the reign of the Empire. At least, for those who willingly chose to be on the side of the Empire. 

If you've watched the entirety of Andor season 2, you'd know that things don't end well for either Syril and Dedra. Syril witnesses a massacre of innocent civilians on Ghorman, overseen by Dedra, and he is killed by a local rebel while tussling with Cassian Andor. (Worse yet, Cassian doesn't recognize him.) A year later, Dedra overextended herself while trying to apprehend Luthen Rael, which resulted in Luthen being on life support in an Imperial hospital, while Dedra was interrogated by none other than Orson Krennic. Dedra's activities, in Krennic's mind, resembled that of a rebel spy - the last thing that Dedra was, in actuality. 

About this fall from grace for Dedra, actress Denise Gough said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, "That scene with Krennic is the ultimate collapse. She's being cast out of the gang by the new hotshot, and it's devastating to find out that she missed that Lonni [Jung had stolen her security cert]. Everything falls apart. Maybe if she hadn't been with Syril, she wouldn't have missed that. The moral of the story is, don't get a boyfriend."

Gough is pretty clear that Syril was, in many ways, Dedra's downfall; his death on Ghorman, she said, "ruins her... He's the only person who has ever seen Dedra Meero vulnerable." The year between that point and her own downfall, she reasoned, "would've been a year of putting herself back together after what she feels is a disaster."

For Gough, the Empire functions as an exclusive, backstabby "gang" as opposed to the Rebellion, which works more as a "tribe" built on "loyalty." I would describe Imperial officers as crabs in a barrel if it weren't for the fact that the Empire, during this period, has all the power in the galaxy. However, it should be noted that one Imperial officer's victory isn't necessarily presented as a victory for the entire Empire in Andor. This works in contrast with the Rebellion, where there's more of a spirit of "a rising tide lifts up all ships." After all, a life free of fascism is a life well lived.  

Andor is streaming in its entirety on Disney+.

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