Niamos!
In "Announcement" (Andor 1.7), Cassian Andor takes his cut from the Aldhani heist and tries to convince his mother Maarva to run away from Ferrix with him. Because of her commitment to the Rebellion, Maarva refuses to follow Cassian into the selfish, aimless, pleasure-seeking life he wants. Alone, Cassian runs to the planet Niamos, where he tries to drown his pain over this broken relationship with drugs and casual sex.
"Niamos" is also the name of a song in the Star Wars universe, which plays most significantly at the arranged marriage of Mon Mothma's daughter Leida in "Harvest" (Andor 2.3). When the song comes on, the delighted guests scream, "Niamos!" While Niamos plays, Mon Mothma gets drunk and dances aimlessly, trying to drown her pain over her broken relationship with her daughter and the imminent murder of her childhood friend Tay Kolma.
Niamos the song and Niamos the place both represent the attempt to escape from emotional pain with thoughtless material pleasure. At the wedding, Mon Mothma's husband Perrin toasts: "Pain will find you. Trouble and disagreement will arrive without summons. There's no choice in this... My hope is that you learn to reach past this constant cloud of sadness. Pleasure. Gaiety. Amusement. These are the hidden things. The music buried beneath all that noise." However, the "music" of the pleasure Perrin is talking about cannot truly heal the pain that Mon Mothma and Cassian are in; it can only numb it for a brief time.
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Characters: Cassian Andor / Mon Mothma
Shows: Andor
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Concepts: materialism / mothers / music / pleasure
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