The genocide of the Ghor in Andor is one of the most shocking moments in the last 30 years of Star Wars media. The event that was originally fleetingly mentioned in Star Wars: Rebels depicts the slaughter of peaceful protesters on Ghorman on the orders of the ISB. Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) puppeteered the situation on Ghorman to start a riot, giving the Empire an excuse to take complete control of the planet and, crucially, the rare mineral Krennic needed to build the Death Star.
However, everything didn’t go to plan. Yes, the overall objective was achieved after a calculated sniper shot took out one of their own Imperial officers, but the ISB would have wanted a Ghorman crowd that seemed more violent and aggressive than the one they got. The protest sure started that way, but one man saw what was happening and took a different, more peaceful path. That man was Lezine, played by the terrific Thierry Godard.
So, let’s stop for one second and appreciate the arc that this minor character had and acknowledge his very important role in the rebellion.
Lezine is sort of a nobody.
We first meet him at an underground town hall organised by Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel). He is a normal-looking but burly dude who is one of the most animated speakers at the meeting. Asserting that the Empire is building an armory in Palmo, the capital city, Lezine calls for action before it’s too late. Crucially, he projects a combustible personality that could be deemed a liability to covert operations.
“…at night, when we’re trying to sleep, when we try to forget – our city is being destroyed!”
It’s this aspect of his character that probably saw him excluded from the first Ghorman heist overseen by Vel and Cinta, and unfortunately, that led to Cinta’s ultimate demise. Lezine, not knowing what was happening (and possibly a bit sauced), argued with a young Ghor called Samm, who inadvertently ended up shooting Cinta dead. Lezine, seeing the result of their actions, carried the Axis operative away from the scene.
This led to him joining the Ghorman Front, where his character shows a lot of growth. It is Lezine who calls for the group to remain united against the Empire and stop infighting. No matter what, they are Ghor, and the enemy is the Empire. He did not care how they chose to rebel as long as it was together. This was a far cry from where we first saw him, banging his fist on the podium while ensuring he had his say.
“Look at us. Look at what they’ve done to us. Poisoned us – as if they’re in here laughing at us. I don’t care – if you fight or lay rose petals in the street – or hide in the basement. I don’t care for any of it. We are the Ghor! If they take that from us, then what’s worth saving?”
Then, on the day of the Ghorman genocide, it is Lezine who de-escalates the protest, switching tactics from angry fist-pumping to singing the national anthem. This action, although it didn’t stop the massacre, helped the cause in more ways than he knew.
When Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) said that when their Ghor rebellion goes up in flames, it will burn very brightly, he was not kidding. The ripples were felt across the galaxy. Hell, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) spoke out in the Senate against the flipping Emperor about it! But how would that have gone if the Ghor actually initiated the violence?
OK, you could say that the Imperial propaganda machine had already spun the truth in the Empire’s favor. You could even say that the ISB made it look like it was the Ghor that started the violence. However, you can’t erase the experiences of the eyewitnesses and survivors of the massacre. That message was relayed across the galaxy that it was a PEACEFUL protest. The singing of the national anthem ensured that.
Lezine, a minor character with a full freaking character arc, made that happen. It made Mothma’s speech a lot easier (not easy, just easier), and that, in turn, helped legitimize the rebellion and grow its ranks. His de-escalation of the protest in Palmo meant Mothma didn’t have to address the Ghorman Front’s methods and could stress that the Ghor were innocent victims.
I’m not saying Lezine is a major deciding factor for the rebel victory at the Battle of Yavin, but he freaking played his part.
And that’s why I want to give him his flowers.
