WARNING: This post contains SPOILERS for Andor Season 2, episodes 10-12.
At the end of the Andor series finale, many Star Wars fans were shocked to see Bix back on a familiar planet -- one she never should have had to go back to. While a lot of people saw an ending that diluted and disrespected Bix's character, I instead saw a conclusion to a narrative that is much more powerful than most are giving it credit for.
Many of you will argue that Bix returning to the place of her trauma is lazy, irresponsible, or patriarchal nonsense. I see where you're coming from, and as always, your opinions and the experiences that shape them are valid. Your point stands. Why force Bix to go back to the scene of her assault? Hasn't she been through enough?
This scene happens fast and at the very end of the episode -- and the series -- so let's take a moment to slow things down for a second. We'll start with the facts. Yes, Bix appears to be living right back where she was at the beginning of Season 2, possibly still under the watch of the Empire. For her, seemingly nothing has changed -- except the baby, but that's a whole other conversation we don't need to have right now. She has been living in the same place where she was assaulted, and has presumably lived there for close to, if not more than, a year. Either she has been in contact with Vel, or Vel, at the very least, knows where she is. She is also living with familiar people whom she knew from living here before.
Now let's dissect these facts a little further, and of course, there will be speculation here because I only know what I've been shown. Cassian asks Vel earlier in this episode if Bix is safe, to which she replies affirmatively. Why is she safe? Because she's not alone. She's with people who will take and have taken care of her. She is probably in less danger where she is right now than she would be anywhere else. Let's assume that the Empire is so widespread in its takeover at this point that no matter where she might go, she is in the same amount of danger as anyone else. In similar danger to what she might have experienced earlier in the season. So either she's in danger of the Empire alone, in an unfamiliar place, or she's in the same amount of danger with added layers of comfort and safety. If nowhere is fully "safe," isn't she in the best place she can be?
Let's look at the timeline of this season as well. It has been about four or five years, canonically, since the lieutenant attacked her. This does not mean that she has gotten over her trauma or that it doesn't affect her anymore; that's not typically how trauma works. But can we possibly consider that returning to this place was a sign that she had put in the work to begin healing from that traumatic experience? Or even that returning there allowed her the space, tools, and opportunities to begin that journey of healing? Perhaps one of the reasons we're shown her fate at the end of the show is to say that Bix, a survivor, refused to let the Empire's tyranny ruin her forever. By returning "home," perhaps she is in her own way rebelling against oppression by not allowing her torment to define her future.
Also, don't forget that everyone, by the end of this final episode, is traumatized. That's not to minimize Bix's experience. But when I saw Bix standing there at the end, the first thing I thought was, "No one is ever going to be whole again after this." You can heal and still bear scars. You can overcome the most unspeakable atrocities and still suffer the pain of old wounds. Bix is just one example of someone who is doing the best that she can. How many choices did she really have when it came to finding somewhere to go after leaving Yavin? She made the best choice she could. And most importantly, she made that choice herself. She chose her path. No one can take that from her. There is power in that. Do not discount it just because it was not an ideal option. In war, most options aren't.
I can only speak for myself. But what I needed most, after watching Bix endure torture and assault and self-destruction for two straight seasons, was to see her still living, to see her moving forward. To see her in a place she could make into a home, with people she could count on. What I needed was to be reminded that the trauma forced upon us by oppression may begin to feel overdone, but that does not mean we cannot continue fighting for our better futures.
We got that. For me, for now, that is all that matters. Bix is okay. Bix is seizing back control of her life and deciding her own future. That feels like a worthwhile, respectful, and earned ending to her story to me.