There’s lots of things that carry over from the human world into the Star Wars movies and TV series; notions of family and love, good and evil, and even bricks and screws. One thing that doesn’t spread through the galaxy it seems, is swearing, after it was revealed the finale of the Star Wars series Andor had one key word censored out by Disney.
Andor episode 12 featured one of the best Star Wars scenes of all time, as Maarva (Fiona Shaw) rallied the citizens of Ferrix to fight back against the ISB and the Galactic Empire in an impassioned speech from beyond the grave. Her words not only inspire a small community, but send shockwaves through the galaxy, helping Cassian and Luthen Rael to understand what it takes to lead the Rebellion.
In an interview with Empire, Denise Gough, who is part of the Andor cast as Dedra Meero, explained how a key line in Maarva’s speech was changed by the House of Mouse.
“Fiona’s voice was over all of us. Except, at the end, she didn’t say, ‘Fight the Empire!’ She said, ‘Fuck the Empire!’ Which we were all really excited about. But we weren’t allowed to keep it, obviously,” Gough revealed.
The thriller series excelled in its more mature and nuanced approach to storytelling, and including the first F-bomb in the Star Wars timeline would have been a most fitting moment. But sadly, it wasn’t to be.
Nevertheless, Andor gave us a sci-fi series from a galaxy far, far away that didn’t rely on lightsabers, no mention of Jedi and Sith, and none of the legacy Star Wars characters you might expect to see make a Star Wars cameo in other shows.
We’ll have to wait and see if there is any swearing allowed next time around, when the Andor season 2 release date drops. If you want to know more about Andor, check out our guides to characters like Syril Karn and Mon Mothma.