Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) has long been established as a pivotal figure in the nascent fight against the Empire. In Andor season 2 episode 10 we learn how he and his associate, Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), first joined forces.

Luthen was the spymaster whose connection to Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) brought Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) into the Rebel Alliance’s orbit. All the while Luthen has hidden behind the carefully calibrated front of a respectable antiques dealer on Imperial capital planet Coruscant, with Kleya as his trusted number two.

As the Andor season 2 story has progressed, Kleya has become even more integral to the cause, keeping Luthen’s impulses in check when he gets a little carried away. Here’s what we learn about their long backstory in Andor season 2 episode 10.

Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution if you’re yet to watch Andor season 2 episode 10

Why does Luthen meet Imperial Security Bureau Supervisor Lonni Jung at the start of Andor season 2 episode 10?

Because undercover mole Lonni (played by Robert Emms in the Andor season 2 cast) has fired off the alert that means he’s discovered something massive in ISB HQ – namely that Emperor Palpatine’s beloved Energy Programme and the ruthless oppression of Ghorman are really just a cover story for that infamous, still top-secret battle station known as the Death Star. He also passes on the important news that Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) has worked out that Luthen is Axis, the Rebel kingpin she’s been obsessively hunting for the last four years.

Why does Dedra come to Luthen’s shop looking to sell a vintage Imperial Starpath Unit?

Dedra knows that the Imperial Starpath Unit Cassian stole in the very first episode of the show connects him to Luthen, so pulling it out when she’s about to make an arrest amounts to a cruel joke. It’s also a massive error of judgement that warns Luthen she’s on to him, giving him time to pick up a 6,000-year-old Nautolan bleeder (a dagger) from his shop and stab himself in the chest. This is a disaster for Dedra, who needs Luthen alive for questioning.

If she’s Luthen’s trusted associate, why doesn’t Kleya come to his rescue in Andor season 2 episode 10?

With the shop surrounded by Imperial troops, it’s simply too dangerous. Besides, it’s way more important that she gets Lonni Jung’s intel back to the Rebels on Yavin IV.

She also knows that Luthen has so much information about the Rebellion that his survival in Imperial custody would be disastrous to the cause – especially as the Empire have cruel and unusual ways of making people talk.

For that reason she knows that she must infiltrate the hospital where Luthen’s being treated to turn off his life support – even though it breaks her heart to do so.

How did Kleya and Luthen first meet?

An Andor season 2 episode 10 flashback reveals that Luthen was once Sergeant Lear, a soldier in an undefined military. It’s not clear who he’s fighting for, but – seeing as his unit is the one doing the attacking – it seems likely that he’s working for the Empire soon after the end of the Clone Wars. That said, he clearly has no sympathy for the cause, staying back in a military transport repeating “Make it stop! Make it stop!”, and subsequently delaying the ship’s take-off.

Then he finds a girl (played by Malory Towers’ April V Woods) hiding in an air vent – think Newt in Aliens – and everything changes.

What happens next?

Although Luthen replies with a coldly efficient “When it’s useful’ when the young Kleya asks if they’re now father and daughter, it’s clear that they quickly become a found family. That said, it’s an unconventional upbringing, as Luthen teaches the girl how to barter for antiques, and how to make a successful bombing raid on an Imperial convoy. Kleya also displays plenty of independent throught (and a social conscience), insisting on staying back to watch a public Imperial execution – a reminder of what they’re fighting for.

By going back in time to establish the roots of this surrogate father/daughter bond, Andor season 2 episode 10 eloquently explains why Luthen was never going to let Kleya go back to the shop to destroy the evidence of their spy operations – even though he’s already realised his days were numbered.

Every episode of Andor is now available to stream on Disney+. If you’re yet to watch the show, here are 7 reasons to tune in, even if you don’t like Star Wars.