Why Nemik’s Instruction To Climb Was A Heart-Wrenching Andor Callback To Rogue One

Delirious from pain and medication (it’s not unlikely that the “med-spike” is largely made up of adrenaline and painkillers), Nemik uses his final moments to navigate Cassian out of “The Eye,” a gorgeously rendered meteorological and astronomical phenomenon. Urging Cassian to drive the shift upwards into an ongoing meteor shower, Nemik screams, “Climb!” as Skeen and Vel cradle him.

The moment tragically mirrors the death of K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) in “Rogue One,” which was written in part by “Andor” showrunner Tony Gilroy. As Cassian and Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) are attempting to retrieve the schematics for the Empire’s Death Star weapon, K-2SO is shot in the back by incoming Stormtroopers. Unable to retrieve the plans remotely, the droid tells them to physically scale the data tower themselves — in his last moments, he shouts, “Climb!” @iriziaralanii on Twitter noticed the connection and compiled both clips for their followers.

Arguably, the singular line and the returning desperation to “climb” even in one’s final moments are indicative of both projects’ themes of struggling against institutional oppression. As Skeen says to Cassian Andor before dying, “We were born in the hole, all we know is climbing over somebody else to get out.”