Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) may be a relatively new addition to the Star Wars saga, first appearing the fifth season of The Clone Wars, but he has a much longer history with the saga. According to Lucasfilm Story Group’s Pablo Hidalgo, Saw was originally meant to appear in George Lucas’ live-action Underworld series. When ABC shelved the show in 2012, Lucas introduced Saw in The Clone Wars, and his story has since continued in live-action projects like Rogue One and its prequel, Andor.
Though he’s described as “the original Rebel” and has no love for the Empire, Rogue One leaned heavily on his connection to Anakin Skywalker, who trained him in combat before becoming Darth Vader. These two characters become subtle foils to each other after the Clone Wars. Like Vader, Saw is a bit more machine than man, an extremist who uses reinforced armor and cybernetic legs to survive. But where the prequels gave us a detailed look at how Anakin became a dark lord of the Sith, Star Wars has yet to do the same for Saw. Fortunately, that’s beginning to change with this season of Andor, which brings the insurgent back to the fray and fills in a small part of his backstory.
