In "What a Festive Evening" (Andor 2.6), Kleya secretly removes a listening device from the Tinian Codex, an artifact in Davo Sculdun's collection. The Codex is a book that, like braille, is read by touch rather than sight; Kleya explains to Lonni Jung that "Tinians believed all language could be reduced to touch." The Tinians prized touch over sight so greatly that they considered sight a "disability" and blindness a "gift."
The contrast between these two kinds of knowledge – touch and sight – reflects a central tension within this three-episode arc (Andor 2.4-6). Luthen Rael and Kleya prefer to gather knowledge by watching and listening from afar. Luthen tries to compartmentalize his Rebel operatives as much as possible, separating Cassian Andor from Bix Caleen and Cinta Kaz from Vel Sartha. As Vel tells Cinta, "We're worth more to him separately than together." However, these pairs of lovers resist Luthen's way of doing things because they want to be together; they want to know each other intimately, not just by seeing each other but also by touching each other. Sight only offers a distant, detached kind of knowledge, whereas touch offers an embodied, intimate kind of knowledge.
At the climax of the arc, Luthen and Kleya must break with their typical strategy and rely on touch. The listening device in the Tinian Codex was originally meant to help them spy on Davo Sculdun from afar, but they must be physically present to remove it; Kleya literally has to blindly feel for the bug, which is hidden on the underside of the artifact. Lonni Jung, who has usually had only indirect contact with Luthen and Kleya, is unnerved by the change in tactics when Kleya enlists him to help (by pretending to flirt with him, putting her hand on his shoulder and taking him by the arm). When he panics and tries to back out, she has to grab him by the hand and hold him close, using his body to block Krennic and the other Imperials from seeing what she is doing.
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Characters: Bix Caleen / Cassian Andor / Cinta Kaz / Kleya / Lonni Jung / Luthen Rael / Vel Sartha
Shows: Andor
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Concepts: love / relics / sight and blindness / spies
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