How Old Is Dedra Meero in Andor?

One of the most surprising questions to come out of the new season of Andor so far is how old is Dedra Meero?

Meero is a prominent Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) Supervisor and the major antagonist in the Star Wars series Andor.

However, the Season Two episode “Harvest” has caused a new fan controversy surrounding her age.

While discussing her family with Syril’s mother, Eedy, Dedra says, “My parents were criminals. They were arrested when I was three. I was raised in an Imperial Kinderblock.”

Some fans have taken the quote literally, presuming she was in Imperial custody since she was three. If Dedra was placed in Imperial care at age three, and the Empire began in 19 BBY, then she would have been born in 22 BBY.

That would make her just 17 or 18 during the events of Andor. For someone of her rank and experience, that seems unusually young.

This has sparked fan speculation that Andor creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy created a continuity error. While possible, this isn’t necessarily the case.

Let’s explore Dedra Meero’s age, dissect the quote in question, and try to figure out how old she is in Andor.

Spoiler Warning: This article is largely spoiler-free. However, it does reference a specific scene of Andor Season Two, Episode Three – “Harvest.”

What Is Dedra Meero’s Age in Andor?

Dedra Meero’s age is not explicitly stated in Andor.

However, context clues suggest she is between 23 and 27 years old at the start of Andor Season One and 24 to 28 during the first arc of Season Two.

Since each story arc in Andor Season Two advances by one year, she would be between 27 and 31 years old when the series ends in 1 BBY.

What does BBY mean? It stands for Before the Battle of Yavin, the space battle in A New Hope. BBY and ABY are used to keep track of events in the Star Wars Timeline.

Assuming she was 3 in 19 BBY and with Andor Season One set in 5 BBY, the youngest she could be at the start of the series is 17.

In order to say she was raised in an Imperial Kinder-block, she would presumably need to be younger than 18 when the Empire was formed in 19 BBY. That means she couldn’t be older than 34 at the start of Season One.

Still, it makes more sense if she were between 3 and 14 years old in 19 BBY. Why 14?

Well, we know that Ezra Bridger infiltrated the Imperial Academy on Lothal as a cadet at age 14. Ezra’s cover in that story arc has him transferring from a private academy, suggesting cadets began their training slightly younger.

Let’s also consider that Dedra is a lieutenant in the ISB. Presumably, that means 2 to 4 years of officer training, plus potentially a year or two of service in another branch.

Taking all those details into account, it seems most likely that she was born sometime between 32 and 28 BBY. She would be between 9 and 13 years old at the end of Revenge of the Sith and 23 to 27 when Andor begins in 5 BBY.

That said, there are a lot of assumptions above. Without a definitive explanation from Tony Gilroy or Lucasfilm, we will never know Meero’s true age.

Parallels with Historical Military Organizations

So, how did we establish Dedra’s age? Aside from the in-universe data we used above, we also looked at real-world examples of military service.

Cadets can enroll at the United States Military Academy as early as 17, with most being between 18 and 23 years of age. Better known as West Point, cadets typically graduate in four years and are commissioned as second lieutenants.

While we don’t know much about the Imperial Academy, graduates were seemingly commissioned as lieutenants after graduation.

However, let’s consider the officer training under a more authoritarian regime.

The Nazi Party began indoctrinating children as young as 10 at state-run boarding schools, ensuring loyalty to the party above everything else.

Top performing candidates began officer training school as early as 17, often graduating in less than 2 years.

These schools were usually brutal, forcing children to compete against each other. This ensured that only the most ruthless made it into positions of authority.

Given Dedra’s personality, ambition, and fanaticism for the Empire, it seems likely that she was indoctrinated at an early age.

We see Ezra undergo rigorous and competitive training on Lothal. If anything, Dedra’s training on Coruscant would be more intense.

During the Soviet era, children with certain aptitudes were enrolled in specialized schools that prepared them for careers in the military or intelligence fields.

Similarly, spy agencies like the American CIA or the British MI6 often recruit individuals with few familial ties and indoctrinate them at an early age.

It seems likely that the Galactic Empire would similarly treat children under the care of the government as a source for potential talent.

And let’s not forget that the Jedi began indoctrinating children at a very young age, too.

Does Dedra Meero’s Age Create a Continuity Error in Andor?

Some fans claim that Dedra’s age creates a continuity error in Andor. Here is the dialogue from the Season Two episode “Harvest”:

Eedy: Tell me about your family.

Dedra: I don’t have one. My parents were criminals. They were arrested when I was three. I was raised in an Imperial Kinderblock.

Eedy: Well, nothing delicate about that, is there?

Dedra: We had everything we needed.

Eedy: Except a mother’s love.

Dedra: We didn’t know what we were missing.

If you interpret Dedra’s conversation with Eedy literally, she has been in imperial custody since she was 3. And at the start of Andor Season One, the Empire is only 15 years old.

That makes her just 18 years old at the beginning of the series. However, Denise Gough, the actor who portrays Meero, was 41 or 42 when filming Season One. Similarly, they were 44 or 45 when filming Season Two.

So, does that age disparity create a continuity error? – Perhaps.

But Tony Gilroy and crew have given the final season of Andor a lot of thought. It seems unlikely they made a mistake.

Early drafts of the series included segments of Dedra in the Imperial Kinder-block. While those were ultimately reduced to a few lines in just one episode, it seems unlikely that the entire backstory was erased.

Assuming that Dedra lived a hard, competitive life growing up in the Empire, it seems likely that she would have been extremely mature for her age. At 15 or 20 years old, she would have easily behaved 5 to 10 years older.

As such, casting an older actor makes sense. Denise Gough assumed the role of Dedra when she was 40 years old, filming Season Two at 43 or 44.

Her age and maturity likely gave her the necessary life experiences to portray Dedra’s ambitious and ruthless character accurately.

 

Hypothetical Dedra Meero Biographical Timeline

It is important to note that the following biographical timeline is entirely speculation. However, this hypothetical timeline fits what we know about Dedra Meero’s life and the Imperial system before the events of the Andor series.

This timeline assumes that

Early Life

Dedra Meero was born in approximately 28 BBY.

Her early life was marked by significant trauma when her parents were arrested when she was just three years old, around 25 BBY.

This early childhood event significantly shaped her development and eventual allegiance to the Empire.

Following her parents’ arrest, Dedra was placed in what was initially a Republic orphanage.

She would have been nine years old at the fall of the Republic in 19 BBY.

Imperial Indoctrination

Under Palpatine’s rule, Republic orphanages were reorganized into the Imperial Kinderblock system.

Dedra received heavy indoctrination during her most impressionable years.

While having dinner with Syril Karn’s mother, Dedra describes her upbringing in the Imperial Kinderblock as providing “everything we needed,” though as Eedy Karn pointedly observed, it lacked “a mother’s love”.

This institutional upbringing appears to have played a crucial role in shaping Dedra’s unwavering loyalty to the Empire and her eventual career path.

Dedra probably began her military training at an Imperial Academy on Coruscant as a junior cadet around 15 BBY when she was just 13 years old.

Based on her skill and intellect, she was likely selected to continue at a senior academy, potentially graduating around 11 BBY.

She then likely spent another two years at the ISB Academy, graduating around 9 BBY as a junior lieutenant at approximately 19 years of age.

Her training was presumably extremely brutal, forcing her to become the ruthless ISB agent we see in Andor.

Working for the Imperial Security Bureau

Dedra Meero then likely worked in junior roles at the ISB, presumably within the Investigations branch. She possibly served under

Through her hard work and dedication to the Empire, she quickly rose to the rank of full lieutenant.

Sometime around 5 BBY, she was promoted to ISB Supervisor at age 23. Dedra was initially responsible for two sectors, which included an Imperial naval base at Steergard and a prison at Sev Tok.

Other Potential Ages for Dedra Meero

Until an official source confirms Dedra Meero’s birth year or age, her age is merely a guess based on the limited information provided in the series. As such, she could conceivably be any age from 14 to 35 at the beginning of Andor.

The table below establishes potential ages at key points in the Star Wars timeline.

The years listed from left to right across the top of the table indicate notable years in the timeline. The years from top to bottom are the possibilities for Dedra’s birth year.

The intersection points of the rows and columns indicate Dedra Meero’s age relative to those important events.

 

Dedra Meero’s Birth Year	Age During Revenge of the Sith (19 BBY)	Age During Andor Season One (5 BBY)	Age During Andor Season Two, Arc One (4 BBY)	Age During Andor Season Two, Arc Two (3 BBY)	Age During Andor Season Two, Arc Three (2 BBY)	Age During Andor Season Two, Arc Four (1 BBY)	Age During Rogue One (0 BBY)
19 BBY	0	14	15	16	17	18	19
20 BBY	1	15	16	17	18	19	20
21 BBY	2	16	17	18	19	20	21
22 BBY	3	17	18	19	20	21	22
23 BBY	4	18	19	20	21	22	23
24 BBY	5	19	20	21	22	23	24
25 BBY	6	20	21	22	23	24	25
26 BBY	7	21	22	23	24	25	26
27 BBY	8	22	23	24	25	26	27
28 BBY	9	23	24	25	26	27	28
29 BBY	10	24	25	26	27	28	29
30 BBY	11	25	26	27	28	29	30
31 BBY	12	26	27	28	29	30	31
32 BBY	13	27	28	29	30	31	32
33 BBY	14	28	29	30	31	32	33
34 BBY	15	29	30	31	32	33	34
35 BBY	16	30	31	32	33	34	35
36 BBY	17	31	32	33	34	35	36
37 BBY	18	32	33	34	35	36	37
38 BBY	19	33	34	35	36	37	38
39 BBY	20	34	35	36	37	38	39
40 BBY	21	35	36	37	38	39	40

The Republic is reorganized as the Galactic Empire under Palpatine at the end of Revenge of the Sith in 19 BBY.

Andor Season One is set in 5 BBY, with Season Two taking place between 4 BBY and 1 BBY. Rogue One is set in 0 BBY, immediately preceding A New Hope.

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Another Way to Explain Dedra’s Age in Andor

There is another plausible way of answering the question of how old Dedra Meero is.

To put it simply: she might be lying.

Deception is an integral part of her role as an ISB agent. Everything she told Eedy about her childhood could be a lie.

In an empire where trust is scarce and betrayal is common, concealing personal details like her age could be a protective measure.

By withholding such information, Dedra could protect herself from vulnerabilities others may exploit.