Andor (Star Wars: Andor) - Disney+

[F-ZeroOne]

I suppose an argument could be made that there have been a number of real world examples where security services have been caught with their, er, Stormtrooper armour down.

[Big s]

44 minutes ago, F-ZeroOne said:

I suppose an argument could be made that there have been a number of real world examples where security services have been caught with their, er, Stormtrooper armour down.

Yeah, but that’s usually been with no previous warnings or under riot situations 

[electric indigo]

Nice arc. I wonder who will be the final target.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

20 hours ago, Big s said:

It wouldn’t be that hard. It’s a senate building and would already have had plenty of security and it wasn’t a riot situation, so a lockdown would have been very easy. It took them forever getting from that first door to the car, they should have been ready after reporting a security personnel murder

Eh... clearly it is that hard.  Not just because we clearly see Imperial stormtroopers fail to lock down the building and catch the escaping Mon Mothma in Andor, but because this is not even close to the worst security failure we see happen on the Senate's premises.

In The Clone Wars, a group of bounty hunters led by Cad Bane were able to break into the Senate offices and take a group of ten senators (incl. Padma Amidala and Bail Organa) hostage and would have killed all ten with a bomb to cover their escape if not for Jedi intervention.  Several senators were also murdered in their own offices during that same period.  The Supreme Chancellor's office was also broken into three times in quick succession around the events of Revenge of the Sith.  Once by General Grievous to abduct the chancellor, once by Mace Windu and three other Jedi to assassinate Palpatine, and once by Yoda to assassinate Palpatine.

That's just the short list that I can remember offhand.  There are more.

 

Like Cassian noted way back in season one, the Empire's biggest problem is overconfidence.  Cassian was able to rob the Imperial naval yard at Steergard with a pure Bavarian fire drill.  Just put on a uniform and acted like had every right to be there, and nobody even questioned it.  He does the same in "Welcome to the Rebellion". 

Spoiler

Cassian is able to walk right in through the Senate's service/press desk with forged credentials because he's able to pass off not being in the system as a bureaucratic snafu, and then goes where he pleases totally unchallenged by any kind of security.

Likewise, Bail Organa is able to manipulate Senate rules to grant Mon Mothma the floor for her speech and nobody in the ISB was ready to stop her because they were totally convinced that the day's agenda was set in stone and she would have no opportunity to speak.  Security wasn't on alert, because the ISB was convinced there was no chance of trouble that day.  So when sh*t did go off, their ability to cut off the broadcast was compromised by literal-minded adherance to orders (impl. to be malicious compliance on the part of facilities staff) and the one person in a position to stop Mon Mothma from escaping was immediately shot dead after being accused of being a rebel spy.

With the ISB's eyes on the ground dead and the room's unarmed security guard in no position to call it in accurately (if at all), Cassian was able to walk Mon Mothma right out of the building while the panicking ISB struggled to get to grips with the situation and deploy security forces they'd been convinced up to that moment weren't needed.

Even her ISB agent driver was a bit of overconfidence.  They never thought to properly secure her car because, hey hey, she's a pacifist.  The most she's going to do herself in the presence of an armed ISB agent is huff and puff and clutch her pearls indignantly.  She'd never willingly travel under armed guard.  So Cassian rolling up pretending to be ISB and then blowing him away was a complete surprise.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

18 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

Nice arc. I wonder who will be the final target.

Kathleen Kennedy really does need to fly that AC130 out to Tony Gilroy's house and beg him to replace Dave Filoni.

The difference is so huge it crosses the line twice and is actually pretty funny.

[Big s]

23 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

That's just the short list that I can remember offhand.  There are more.

And that would be the perfect reason to upgrade security. If they don’t have security at each entrance, then that’s just poor writing all around.

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

And that would be the perfect reason to upgrade security. If they don’t have security at each entrance, then that’s just poor writing all around.

They do have security at the entrances.  We see it in the episode.  They have rows of some kind of metal detector equivalent and security personnel checking IDs at the building's entrances.

What they don't have is loads of armed guards on the grounds.  Why would they?  Like Cassian noted back in season one, the Empire is so arrogant and so self-satisfied that they never even consider possibilities like this.  The Empire's whole schtick is presenting a picture of stability and safety.  That the new government has everything under control.

Quote

Cassian: They're so proud of themselves, they don't even care. They're so fat and satisfied, they can't imagine it.
Luthen: Can't imagine what?
Cassian: That someone like me would ever get inside their house. Walk their floors, spit in their food, take their gear.

The Senate we see in Andor is the very picture of a government building in peacetime.  They have security at the doors and at key points to keep the public out of areas that they're not meant to access, but it's all kept deliberately low key to project a sense of confidence and control.  If the halls of the Imperial capital aren't a supremely safe place, the Empire's public image as a "safe and secure society" is at risk.  Putting a huge number of soldiers in or around the building at all times to lock it down on a moment's notice would be a very visible contradiction in the Empire's messaging to the galaxy.  Proactively preventing threats to maintain that air of control is the ISB's job, but as we saw they're as overconfident as any other Imperial bureau and dropped the ball.

[sh9000]

https://www.kcrw.com/sponsored/kcrw-partner-screening-andor-season-2-episodes-8-9

There's a screening of episode 8 and 9 on the Disney lot today.  If I had known about it earlier I would have tried to RSVP.  Pretty cool to watch some episodes on the big screen.

[Big s]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The Senate we see in Andor is the very picture of a government building in peacetime.

Even a senate in peacetime is guarded. And it really didn’t seem like peacetime with all the rebel threats going around. 

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

Even a senate in peacetime is guarded.

Indeed, but not by a large enough force to conclusively lock down every single potential entrance and exit as we've seen in real world examples.

 

1 hour ago, Big s said:

And it really didn’t seem like peacetime with all the rebel threats going around. 

As far as the Empire is concerned, it's peacetime.

At this point in Star Wars history, the Rebel Alliance doesn't exist yet.  The Empire has yet to encounter a Rebel movement that's large and well-organized enough to present a real military threat to its control of the galaxy.  Up until now, they've only really encountered independent rebel cells of squad or at best platoon size that carry out nuisance attacks on lightly defended Imperial ships and bases.  The game changes when Mon Mothma declares the founding of the Rebel Alliance after reaching Dantooine, but even then the Empire doesn't truly start taking the Rebellion seriously as a threat until the destruction of the first Death Star.

[Big s]

37 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Indeed, but not by a large enough force to conclusively lock down every single potential entrance and exit as we've seen in real world examples.

Maybe by underdeveloped countries, but I can’t think of a first world example