Andor Episode 8 Brings Back A Face From Rogue One You Probably Forgot About

There will be spoilers for "Andor" Episode VIII – "Narkina 5"

In the previous episode of "Andor," our title character, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) was arrested for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to six years of labor. In the latest episode, "Narkina 5", he's sent to prison on Narkina 5, a watery moon of the gas giant Narkina. As Cassian is processed into the prison, he's introduced to Kino Loy (Andy Serkis), the foreman and fellow prisoner in charge of keeping everyone on the fifth floor in line. 

Loy tells Cassian exactly how things work on their assembly line and how dangerous it can be to step out of line. He also introduces Cassian to his table-mates, the other prisoners he'll be working with. If they work well together, they'll get to have flavor in their food. If they take last place in productivity, they'll all be tortured. They're all strangers to Cassian, but one, in particular, stands out for fans of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," offering a glimmer of hope for the story and a clue to where it's heading next.

Ruescott Melshi, played by Duncan Pow, is a prisoner in the same cell block and table as Cassian. But just five short years later on the timeline, he's a Rebel soldier. It was Melshi who led the mission to free Jyn Erso from the Wobani labor camp at the beginning of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", with K-2SO in tow. Melshi would have to be good friends with Cassian to get to bring Kaytoo along with him on such an important, vital mission. 

Seeing his beginnings with Cassian, as they first meet in an Imperial prison, it makes a lot more sense why Cassian would task him with rescuing Jyn from an Imperial labor camp of her own, as he would be intimately familiar with how they work. Unfortunately for Melshi, the labor camp on Wobani is nothing like the prison he and Cassian shared years previous on Narkina 5.

When the Rebel council decides not to endorse the mission to Scarif to steal the plans for the Death Star, Cassian calls on a number of old friends and Rebel agents who have "done terrible things" to volunteer to lead an unsanctioned effort to complete the mission. Melshi is one of those volunteers and he shares the same fate as Jyn and Cassian on Scarif. He led the team that infiltrated the landing pads and was the soldier Bodhi Rook called upon to turn on the master switch that would allow the plans to be beamed to Admiral Raddus aboard The Profundity. He gave the last measure of his life to fight the Empire, and it's so great to see the humble beginnings of his story here on "Andor."

New episodes of "Andor" air on Wednesdays on Disney+.