This article contains spoilers of Andor Season 2, episode 6, "What a Festive Evening."
For anyone who has followed my work the last several years here at Dork Side of the Force as the openly queer Site Expert, I've become known for raging about poor queer content in the Star Wars franchise. I never shied away from calling out Disney burying Orka and Flix from Star Wars Resistance. I will correct factually incorrect headlines from other publications about Vel Fartha and Cinta Kaz. I've questioned if Vel and Cinta were even good queer representation. And I will promote podcasts from LGBTQIA+ Star Wars creators.
So it might come as a surprise that I'm totally okay with Cinta Kaz's death in Andor Season 2, episode 6, "What a Festive Evening."
We should also clarify at the top that this is not Fridging, as she didn't die for a man's pain, which is the classic definition of Fridging a woman. Though, it could be argued Cinta's death will move Vel's story forward, so maybe not a full Fridge but a soft "Cooler." And it's not "Bury Your Gays" as our girl Cinta wasn't "killed off disproportionately often and/or without justification." In fact, there is some equality going on here with the other characters. Now that that's out of the way...
There are three main reasons I'm not mad at Cinta's death, two from me and one from a friend shared with permission.
My first reason is that if the character isn't in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I was already expecting them to die. Brasso in Week One was the first confirmation of that. Unless they are Cassian Andor, Mon Mothma, Saw Gerrera, or Director Krennic, the character has a massive target on their back. Anyone who knows a doomed romance trope could see that Vel, Cinta, or both were in danger after they reconnected. With all the romance in these episodes, Bix Caleen's target got way bigger too. Everyone who is not in Rogue One has an equal chance of dying in Season 2.
And I think there is a beauty to that. Isn't that what we want in queer rep? As long as the writing in a piece of media is good, don't we want equality compared to cisgender heterosexual characters? My friend Charles from Gold Squadron Gays brought up a good point in the Dark Side Divas Discord (both are excellent shows if you're looking for some good LGBTQIA+ podcasts to listen to). Shared with his permission, he said:
"For me, with queer characters in fiction, the same way they’re allowed to be flawed or even evil - done consciously and well by good writing and an avoidance of negative tropes or stereotypes - they should be allowed to die if it’s a story anyone can die in. History is full of queer heroes who died in war against fascism, and we didn’t know about them."Charles from Gold Squadron Gays
And Charles is right. There is method and purpose behind Tony Gilroy's storytelling in Andor. This isn't for shock factor or queer baiting the fans just to rip Cinta away after the box was checked that they got their queer rep in.
Which is the third reason. I can see Tony's method for Cinta's death, because the point is the pointlessness. It's supposed to be cold, just like when Brasso died. Brasso didn't get turned into a Ferrix brick, and we don't see Cinta's funeral. It's supposed to be a tragedy. The truth is, it's ultimately the Empire's fault. Sure, Vel and Cinta probably wouldn't have met if there were no Empire. But Cinta would still be alive with her family back home if they hadn't been slaughtered by stormtroopers. But because a fascist government rose up, Cinta chose bravery and strength to fight back.
I do think there are criticisms to be had about this death. It sucks that one of our BIPOC characters were killed over the white Ghorman characters who made it out. Cinta died to push along a white woman's story. My Southeast Asian friend texted me last night about how crushed she was because she so rarely gets representation in Star Wars. Cinta was barely in the season, and she's gone. I wouldn't have minded if she died later in the season, if only to give her and Vel more time together and have some good rep on-screen.
Also, I'm personally tired of the trope of "We broke up. We're back together--oops! One of us died!" in media. I bet Bix will fall into that trope before the season ends.
As for killing off one of the few on-screen queer characters of the franchise? Yeah, this gay lady writing on this Star Wars site is actually okay with how this turned out.
Andor Season 2 is now airing on Disney+.