This article contains major spoilers for Andor Season 2, episode 8, "Who Are You?"
Andor's Week Three was brutal in more ways than one. After plenty of build-up, fans finally saw the Ghorman Massacre. We knew it was coming, thanks to Star Wars Rebels, which laid out the parameters of the historic event. However, there was one character who had no idea it was coming:
Syril Karn, which led to one of the best stories of the show.
If you have never heard the phrase "Leopards ate my face," it's a political meme that's been on the rise over the last few years. The meme came from Twitter user @cavalorn, who wrote, "'I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party." It parodies the people who later regret their vote when, say, they voted for a fascist party to be the president and then act surprised when fascists do fascist things.
This idea was also the summary of Syril Karn's story, leading to one of the most satisfying Star Wars deaths I've ever seen.
From episode one of Andor, Syril has been all about justice and order. He obsessed over not only following the rules, but being the best at following the rules. As long as he was benefiting from a fascist system, he thrived in it, because the Empire wasn't negatively affecting him. The Empire wrote the book for him to follow to a T, which was perfectly fine for him. He believed in their justice and order so much that he could never fathom he was being lied to and played.
That's the thing with people like Syril: It's about power and control. Voters like these feel powerless. They eat up lies that people are "invading" and "stealing their jobs," which is Step One in fascists taking over. They sew a lie that Justice and Order are needed. They skew the truth, invalidate the press, and put the blame on other people. It's as true today just as it was in 1945. Tony Gilroy was not mincing words, purposely coding Syril's story as being about a white man blaming all of his problems on a brown man "who lost him his job."
Because of his emotionally and mentally abusive upbringing from his mom, Eedy, Syril always wanted to power and control he never got. He tried to wield his little bit of power on Morlana One when he was a glorified mall cop. Cassian killed two Morlana officers in self-defense, and Syril made it everyone's problem. His obsession with finding Cassian cost him and his superior their jobs. At no point did Syril see flaws in his own actions, which included disobeying orders, going behind his superior's, who knew better, back, and kicking off the rolling stone that would become the Ferrix riot. Instead, he blamed it all on Cassian, who was only in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Season 2, thanks to his relationship with Dedra Meero, he finally felt like he had some control. He was aiding her in her ISB work, getting promotions, and helping to look for those outside agitators on Ghorman. The ISB gave him a rulebook and laws to work inside of. He got to play at being the secret agent he always wanted to be. Syril is so blinded by wanting to control others to make up for the hurt he felt that he could never conceive that he was being preyed upon and used by the Empire he loved so dearly.
He couldn't see that he was openly being lied to. That he was the outside agitator Dedra and her boss Partagaz had orchestrated with their machinations. Syril spent two years getting to know the Ghormans and being the ISB's puppet. So, when the Ghorman Massacre kicked off, Syril had the entire truth. He'd lost the illusion of control he thought he had. He watched as his own actions were slaughtering people. He realized it was his fault, becoming disillusioned with the Empire.
When fascism finally impacted Syril Karn, he'd never thought the leopard would eat his face.
Then, we go to my favorite moment of the episode. In the fray of the Ghorman Massacre, Syril finally sees Cassian after two seasons. It's his character defining moment. Now that he could see the Empire for the monster it was, would he choose a better path? Would he help this rebel spy? Would Syril fight against the system that hurt him?
NO! Of course not! Because he doesn't see the system hurting him and doesn't see the leopards for what they are. He only sees the brown man who supposedly took everything from him. In fighting Cassian amid the fray of the massacre, Syril snags a blaster in their fistfight. He points it at Cassian, waiting for the rebel's big moment of recognition, to see the so-called justice that Syril has spent years building up in his head--
And Cassian has no idea who the heck Syril Karn is. The axe forgets, but the tree remembers. The last words Syril Karn hears is Cassian Andor saying, "Who are you?" and then gets shot in the head by Carro Rylanz, the leader of the Ghorman Front who Syril had infiltrated.
Syril Karn's demise might just be one of my favorite deaths in Star Wars. In his last moments, he sees it's all for nothing. He was a pawn. A puppet. Nothing. That's the thing about fascist governments: They do not care about you. As Mon Mothma said in her episode 9 speech, the monster will come for you. They don't care about loyalty, how many times you voted for them, how many donations you gave them, and how much you hated on the other side.
They only care about their own power, keeping themselves in office, and that leopard will eat your face for them to keep it.