Despite the success Rogue One received upon its release, it's safe to say that most Star Wars fans were surprised when a Cassian Andor series was announced. Well, not only we have finally received an entire season of a show based on a secondary protagonist from a spin-off movie, but it also became one of the best things to come out of the franchise in recent years, if not ever. The story of how small revolts across the galaxy grew to the rebellion we've seen in the original trilogy was an excellent idea, and it was executed to perfection.
Even though Andor is a more self-contained series than shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, it still is Star Wars. This means that it still takes place in a larger universe (pun intended), and there are many Easter eggs to the franchise's wider lore to explore.
10 Andor's Home World
Cassian is from a planet called Kenari, and he's found by Maarva and Clem, who rescued the boy from an outsider attack. When creating documents for his new identity, they've marked his home world the planet Fest.
Curious enough, after Rogue One but before the series, it was stated through websites and even the movie's visual guide that his home world was Fest. It's not clear why they've decided to change planets or if lying about his home world was a planet thing, but it's nice to see that the change in the series was canonized through a fake identity, instead of a full-on retcon.
9 The Rakata
The Galactic Empire isn't the first empire to be a menace in the Star Wars universe. When Luthen talks about his kyber crystal, he mentions Rakatan invaders from a long time ago, and that the crystal is to celebrate the fight against them.
The Rakata were the main species that made up the Infinite Empire, which appear in some legend stories that take place in the past, such as Knights of the Old Republic. They're also mentioned in the MMORPG The Old Republic, though their Empire has already fallen by then.
8 Belsavis
Speaking of the Infinite Empire, another name dropped was the planet Belsavis. This is a planet prison, used by different civilizations throughout the eras. Though the Rakata were responsible for the creation of the prison in the Legends canon (all of which was taken out of canon after Disney bought Star Wars), the Republic and the Galactic Empire have also used such a planet for their political endeavors. Essentially, it's not a nice place to visit, regardless of the period.
7 Imperial Security Bureau
The ISB plays a major role in the series, with several of the antagonists being high-ranking members. Though it has never had a prominent role in live action, They're not a new group simply introduced for the series. They've appeared in both Star Wars: Rebels, and Battlefront 2, as well as in novels such as Thrawn, and some Darth Vader comics, and are even mentioned in other projects, like Jedi: Fallen Order.
6 Ruescott Melshi
If you don't remember (or know) who this character is, that's very understandable. A lot of characters are introduced in this series for shorter story arcs. Melshi, played by Duncan Pow, is one of the prisoners on Narkina 5, along with Andor. They met each other there, planned a prison break, and escaped together, in some of the best episodes of the show.
However, this is not the character's first appearance. He was introduced in Rogue One, as one of the many rebels in the nascent Rebellion. He is there to help Jyn when she was caught, and he assisted the protagonists in the battle of Scarif. Sadly, that also means, that like almost every other rebel that fought on Scarif, he did not make it off that planet.
5 Starkiller's Helmet
Luthen's shop may as well be an Easter egg factory. There are a lot of interesting details in there, such as a Twi'lek heirloom, stone carvings with hands, resembling The Father, The Son, and The Daughter from Clone Wars, a set of Mandalorian armor, Jedi and Sith holocrons, among many other things.
However, two of his wares demand more attention than the rest. The first one is a helmet that is similar to Galen Marek's, also known as Starkiller, a secret apprentice of Darth Vader from the Force Unleashed series, which is no longer considered canon. As for the other...
4 Indiana Jones References
This isn't the first time Star Wars and Indiana Jones reference one another, and it most certainly won't be the last. Continuing the trend, Luthen's shop features the Sankara Stones, which feature heavily in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.
In the back room, you can also spot what appears to be Indiana's whip that, for some reason, is frozen in carbonite. The reason why it would be frozen is a mystery, but it does seem to be the whip.
3 Skeen's Tattoos
When Cassian gets invited to partake in a massive heist, he meets new characters, who will take on this dangerous mission alongside him. One of them is Skeen, a grizzled survivor of this harsh universe. One of their scenes together shows that Skeen has some tattoos, and they even talk about it.
One of them mentions Krayt Head, which the official Star Wars website notes is a prison, making sense since he also has a number along with that tattoo, his prisoner number. Another tattoo is a mark called By The Hand, a shadow empire controlled by Thrawn, albeit still in service of Palpatine. His third tattoo is simply another prison code, indicating that he likely went to at least two different prisons.
2 Colonel Yularen
This character once again graces us with his return. He was once nothing more than a guy in the background in the original Star Wars movie but, as it's common with the series, he obtained more development in other sources of media, appearing in Clone Wars, and now here.
In the original movie, where the character didn't even have a name, he was portrayed by Robin Clarke. His voice in the animated series was performed by Tom Kane, and his latest appearance in Andor was played by Malcolm Sinclair.
1 Lieda Mothma
Another surprising inclusion in the show is that of Mon Mothma and more importantly her family. This includes her beloved husband Perrin Fertha, played by Alastair Mackenzie, and their daughter, Lieda, played by Bronte Carmichael.
While this is her first canonic appearance as well as her first live-action depiction, the character was not created for the series. Her existence was mentioned in Dark Empire Sourcebook (a TTRPG book), her first name was mentioned in The New Essential Guide For Characters, and she was finally identified as a Mothma in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Volume two. And now, she's here.