In one of the opening scenes of Rogue One, we are introduced to Cassian Andor. We are made aware fairly quickly that Cassian is part of the Rebel Alliance thanks to a conversation he has with an informant called Tivik. During the conversation, Tivik tells Cassian that the Empire are constructing a ‘planet killing’ weapon before the latter shoots and kills the former.
Many Star Wars fans were confused by this scene at the time of the film’s release as it was unusual to see one of the film’s protagonists killing someone so coldly. If you’re still unsure as to why Cassian killed Tivik, you’ve come to the right place as that is what we are going to be discussing today.
Why did Cassian kill the informant?
There are two key in-universe reasons why Cassian killed the informant and one, just as important, out-of-universe explanation. Let’s take a look at them.
#1 Cassian was worried about the informant being captured
The main reason why Cassian killed Tivik was because he was concerned about what Tivik would do with the information about the Death Star. Tivik had come to Cassian with information about the Empire’s ultimate weapon, notifying him that the source of this information was a defected imperial pilot – later revealed to be Bodhi.
If you’re still confused between Andor and Endor, you can check out this guide here.
Within seconds of finding out this information, a group of stormtroopers interrupted the conversation and asked the pair for identification. Instead of providing them with identification, Cassian shot them both dead.
This prompted more stormtroopers to start heading in their direction which panicked Tivik because he had severely injured his arm. This meant that the only escape route from the troopers – climbing up and away – was going to be next to impossible for him.
You can find out why the stormtroopers’ aim was so bad here.
Cassian knew this as well and was concerned about what would happen when the stormtroopers inevitably captured him. Although Tivik was a reliable informant for the Rebel Alliance, there was no way of knowing how he would respond to interrogation and torture at the hands of the Empire.
If what Tivik had told Cassian was true, and if the Empire knew that the Rebels were aware of this, they would be able to put contingency plans in place to protect the Death Star. While this defected pilot was still alive, Cassian knew the Rebels had a golden chance to extract important information about the Empire and its weapons.
He knew that the risk was too great and in the split second he had to make a decision, he figured that the best option for the Rebellion was to kill the informant before the Empire got hold of him.
#2 He was injured and a liability
Another key reason why Cassian decided to kill the informant was because of Tivik’s physical condition. It was clear that Tivik was in discomfort with his arm because he had it wrapped in a sling meaning that it was going to be difficult to escape by climbing.
Cassian probably considered the possibility of helping Tivik escape by putting him on his back or by helping him along while climbing. Ultimately, though, this would have slowed Cassian down significantly and could have resulted in both men being killed.
If both of them had been killed, no one would have known about the legitimacy of the defected Imperial pilot and the Rebels wouldn’t have known what to believe. However, by Cassian passing this information on, the story would have been legitimised.
Cassian calculated that sacrificing Tivik so that he wouldn’t slow his own escape down was in the best interests of the Rebellion. If Tivik hadn’t injured his arm, it’s very unlikely that Cassian would have taken the decision to shoot him in the back. Instead, they both would have escaped together.
To show the audience that the Rebels were in a dark and desperate place
The final reason why Cassian killed the informant comes from a storytelling perspective. The director of the movie, Gareth Edwards, wanted to set the tone for the film early on and this did exactly that.
Ultimately, this was a period of darkness in the Star Wars universe. The Empire had a stranglehold on the Galaxy and the Rebellion were having very little joy in their attempts to overthrow them. They were desperate, as displayed by Cassian’s desperate actions in this scene.
One of the reasons why this shocked people is because the protagonist in Star Wars movies is usually morally correct. They don’t typically do anything against the grain, but in this Star Wars movie, one of the main characters was killing another ‘good guy’ straight off the bat without, seemingly, a second thought.
This was the cold-blooded attitude that the Rebellion had to adopt otherwise they would never have managed to bring about the collapse of the Empire and Edwards wanted to get that message across instantly.
This theme carried on throughout the film, with all the main characters dying for the cause during the final act.
Conclusion
To conclude, Cassian Andor killed the informant at the start of Rogue One for three reasons:
- He didn’t want the informant to be captured by the Empire;
- He thought the informant would disrupt his own escape;
- Gareth Edwards wanted to show the audience how dark a time this was in the Star Wars Universe.
We hope that you will now watch this scene differently, and perhaps even sympathise with Cassian’s actions. After all, if it wasn’t for calculated decisions like this, the Rebellion would never have gained access to the Death Star’s plans!
Cassian was one of the rebels that perished during the Battle of Scarif, and you can find out who else died here.
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