This article contains spoilers for “Andor” season 2, episode 1.
As a grounded take on the political machinations of the galaxy far, far away in general and the birth of the Rebel movement in particular, “Andor” season 1 was a deep dive into the darkest depths of the Galactic Empire’s most mundane evils. From the way the Empire manages its prisons to the ruthlessly clever tactics it uses to whittle away the original cultures of the planets it has colonized, this often makes for somber viewing. However, “Andor” season 2 doesn’t take long to introduce an even worse everyday evil — and it’s one that might just be the single most terrifying part of the “Star Wars” universe yet.
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In episode 1, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016) villain Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) calls some of the show’s familiar Imperial faces to a meeting about exploiting planet Ghorman’s resources and potentially destroying it. Since this is a problematic move from a PR standpoint, Krennic also decides to pull out the big guns to shape the public opinion. Said guns are Shambo (Fred Haig) and Osar (Tom Durant-Pritchard), two heavily “Mad Men”-coded suits from the Ministry of Enlightenment. This office, we find out, is the Empire’s official marketing/propaganda department, and the two immediately unleash a very Don Draper (Jon Hamm)-style pitch about a smear campaign that turns the galaxy against the Ghormans by associating their public image with their creepy silk spiders. While they’re at it, they casually reveal that they’ve been manipulating the planet’s public image all along.
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Even other Imperial villains are unnerved by the Ministry of Enlightenment
The icy mood during the pitch — not to mention the visible disomfort even the well-established soulless bureaucrat Krennic shows — confirm that even the rest of the Empire is disgusted and disconcerted by the Ministry of Enlightenment. The only person who shows a touch of begrudging appreciation to their plans is Partagaz (Anton Lesser), who’s effectively the head of Space Gestapo, so that’s not exactly an endorsement.
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It makes sense that the Empire, a galactic dictatorship headed by an evil Sith politician that likes to keep up appearances in everything from uniform design to a rigid chain of command, has a propaganda office. “Star Wars” – and “Andor” in particular — has been known to flirt with elements of dystopian sci-fi, and fraudulent information from the ruling party has been a staple of the genre for a long time. In fact, the Ministry of Enlightenment seems to draw at least some inspiration from George Orwell’s 1949 landmark “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and its Ministry of Truth.
The Ministry of Enlightenment might make its on-screen debut in “Andor” season 2, but Shambo and Osar’s demeanor and casual comments of operational history make it fairly apparent that the organization has been around for quite some time, and it has likely made copious operational contributions over the years. The knowledge of the devious nature of their job is just one thing that makes them so creepy, too — the very un-Empire-like cheeriness and enthusiasm with which they suggest methods to enable what amounts to a genocide truly makes them stand out among the franchise’s usual “just doing my job” villains. Sure, there might be deeper pits of casual malevolence in the galaxy than the Ministry of Enlightenment, but it’s very difficult to imagine one.
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