Andor Creator Tony Gilroy Shrugs Off That Star Wars 'First' In Episode 6, Stands By 'Tough' Cinta Decision

The following contains spoilers from Episode 6 of Andor Season 2, now streaming on Disney+.

Love and war affected rebel operatives Vel Sartha (played by Faye Marsay) and Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) in the sixth episode of Andor Season 2.

Reunited on Ghorman after more than a year apart, to help the untested Ghorman Front get their s–t together, Vel told Cinta, "I told Luthen I would only take this assignment if you were on it." Cinta in kind said, "You're the only reason I'm here."

Cinta — last seen in Episode 3, driving Mon Mothma's pal Tay Kolma off to... a dire fate — went on to share that she had been in an "accident" that Luthen wouldn't let her tell Vel about, and "had to rest up for quite a while.

"It's been a long year," Cinta sighed, during which she "had time to think." About...?

"I thought about you," she professed.

That night, Vel and Cinta met with the Ghorman Front, taught them the importance of following orders, and scrutinized their plan to intersect and rob an Imperial truck delivering munitions that night.

Afterwards, in private, Cinta apologized for their time apart, saying she was "confused" and "wasn't thinking clearly" after her accident.

"All the more reason [Luthen] shouldn't have let you say no," Vel contended.

Cinta noted, "We're worth more to him separate than together," but that will no longer fly with Vel.
Moving forward, "That's something we'll have to talk to him about," she avowed, affirming her investment in this relationship.

A moved Cinta then pulled Vel into a passionate kiss that marked the 48-year-old Star Wars franchise's first same-sex liplock between featured characters — a significant step up from a fleeting smooch shared by background characters Larma D'Acy (Amanda Lawrence) and her wife Wrobie (Vinette Robinson) in 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.

Andor creator Tony Gilroy, though, was not out to mark a milestone.

"I think it's a mistake to try to underline everything and put a halo on things," Gilroy explained to TVLine when asked if the same-sex kiss' significance was not lost on him. "I don't think about it, it really doesn't come up," he added. "We treat it like a regular thing."

What Vel and Cinta represent is simply "a relationship, an interesting relationship," Gilroy elaborated, one that helps paint a bigger picture "about revolution and what it costs you to be involved in it, and the kind of courage it takes. I'm trying to really take attendance on all of the aspects of what a rebellion or a revolution or a commitment like that would do to people, and [theirs] is another relationship that has its own pressures."

Alas, Vela and Cinta's rekindled flame was rudely doused when, after pulling off the aforementioned heist, the latter was caught in the line of friendly blaster fire. Cinta died on the spot, in Vel's arms.

After everyone was tucked safely away in the exfil vehicle, the Ghorman Front member who accidentally shot Cinta bemoaned his mistake, earning a firm reprimand from Vel. "You're taking her with you wherever you go for the rest of of your useless life," Vel assured the lad. "You'll make up for this forever."

TVLine asked Gilroy about the decision to kill off Cinta so soon after her reunion with Vel.

"Look, this [season] is taking place over four years during a war," he reminded. "If people don't go down in a variety of ways, it would really be disingenuous. I don't think it would feel right to people.

"It's a tough decision to make, tough phone calls to make to the actors," he conceded. But in times of war, Gilroy noted, "s–t happens."

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