In the latest episode of Andor on Disney+, Mon Mothma meets with the shady Davo Sculdun, to talk about hiding her Rebel-related transactions. Davo’s condition of bringing his son to Coruscant horrifies Mon Mothma, but why? Spoilers for Andor Episode 10.
Andor has just concluded its third arc with Episode 10, with Andor (Diego Luna) and the rest of the prisoners escaping the Imperial prison on Narkina 5. It continues Mon Mothma‘s (Genevieve O’Reilly) story too, where she finally meets the shady banker Davo Sculdun to talk about her finances.
As a condition for his help, Sculdun asks Mon Mothma if he can bring his son to Mon Mothma’s Coruscant apartment, which horrifies her. She rejects his help and sends Davo away. Why she does this isn’t explicitly mentioned, but their conversation beforehand makes the reasons clear.
Who is Davo Sculdun?
Andor has introduced many new characters to the Star Wars universe, including the mysterious Davo Sculdun. He is first mentioned in Episode 9 by Tay Kolma (Ben Miles), to try and help hide Mon Mothma’s huge credit donations from Imperial audit. Tay Kolma says that Mon Mothma needs a 400,000 credit loan to paper over it and that she’ll need a Chandrilan banker with treasury relationships, and suggests Davo Sculdun. Mothma recoils at this suggestion, calling him a thug.
Davo Sculdun is the latest in the corrupt, rich thugs to be introduced to Star Wars. While Sculdun is a new character, audiences will be familiar with other corrupt bankers in Star Wars. The Banking Clan offers out loans to the Separatists and the Republic but is seen as a corrupt institution.
In Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes about deregulation, Padmé goes to see how much interest the Republic would be charged on a loan to fund more clone troops, and is horrified to find that it would incur a charge of 25%. The Banking Clan representative sarcastically remarks that war is distasteful, but he’s happy to profit off it.
Other corrupt figures include Senators such as Orn Free Taa of Ryloth, who lavishes on Coruscant while his people suffer under a Separatist occupation.
What is Chandrilan marriage culture?
The topic of Chandrilan marriage has come up a lot in Andor and often comes up in relation to Mon Mothma and her husband Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie). Andor shows audiences that it’s not filled with warmth, as Perrin seems to disapprove of his wife’s political life.
Tony Gilroy has explained that while Mon Mothma loved Perrin to start with, her marriage to him wasn’t one purely of love. Gilroy has previously stated that she and Perrin got married at 16, that it “was a very big thing on Chandrila” and that it was “somewhat of an arranged marriage.”
Sculdun explains that he loves the clarity of the Chandrilan marriage, saying that boundaries can be liberating and that the old ways have value.
Mothma’s marriage is unusual on Chandrila, with couples traditionally getting married at 15. Andor seems to be forging a new path for Chandrilan marriage culture, introducing arranged marriages.
Why does Davo Sculdun want to bring his son to Coruscant?
In Episode 10, Sculdun makes his full appearance in Andor, talking about the huge loan that Mothma needs. He initially promises to handle this transaction free of charge, arguing that he doesn’t need any more money because he’s incredibly rich already. When Mothma insists on repaying him, he comes up with an unusual request.
It starts off innocent enough, with Sculdun simply wanting to return to Mon Mothma’s apartment, as he doesn’t get to see Coruscant often. Mothma sees this as a reasonable request. But Sculdun continues, saying that he would like to bring his 14-year-old son with him to meet Mothma’s 13-year-old daughter. This horrifies Mothma, and the reason why is that Sculdun wants his son to marry Mothma’s daughter.
This would be a favorable marriage for Sculdun, as it strengthens his ties to the Chandrilan political elite.
Mothma is horrified at this suggestion, as she sees Sculdun as a criminal, and doesn’t want anything to do with him. Mothma is seen as a moral and righteous person, so the idea of her selling her daughter to a criminal repulses her. Adding to this, it’s clear her marriage with Perrin isn’t happy, so she wouldn’t want to put her daughter in the same position.
Sculdun leaves empty-handed though, as Mothma refuses. But the episode closes out with her still having a huge financial problem, and she’s running out of options to fix it.
So, that’s why Davo Sculdun wants to bring his son to Coruscant. You can watch Andor with a subscription to Disney+.
