There's No Sex in Star Wars, and Disney Made Sure Andor Creator Knew That
Star Wars remains a franchise that spans generations and has been around while the nature of what is acceptable (and to some degree demanded) of a movie or TV show has changed massively. Just imagine Game of Thrones being released in the 1970s!
And while Disney may not be quite as easily shocked today, they made it clear to showrunner Tony Gilroy that, while gritty was expected, there was a clear line that was not to be crossed.
For the most part, of course, it's been pretty easy to avoid sex throughout the various films and TV shows. Ignore Leia's, at times cringy, relationship with Han Solo and her scantily clad figure chained up in Jabba the Hutt's palace, both of which were exceedingly tame by modern standards, and where else would sex really have its place?
This has always been a family-friendly franchise focused on the battle between good and evil – and that's the way Disney wants it to stay. As its name suggests, war is a major part of the story – but blood and gore have never been a feature.
Andor though has added a new dimension to the Star Wars universe. Its focus is not on the big battle at the top, but on the individual people affected by the Empire's tyrannical rule. As the story of an upstart rebellion, it is by its very nature gritty.
Arguably, it's the most mature and complex storyline the franchise has ever seen. And Cassian entering a brothel in the first episode doesn't feel out of place at all. But would the story have been enhanced by viewers seeing what was actually going on in there?
Probably not. And part of the reason for that is that the setting alone explains that we're now in the darker part of this universe. In fact, you might even suggest that showing sexual acts would have been gratuitous given that it has never before featured.
Likewise, the sex between Bix and Timm in episode 2 is implied. We all know what's happening but, once again, anything more than we see would be unnecessary.
When he came to write the show, Gilroy knew he wanted to push boundaries and appeal to a more mature audience than was targeted with previous spinoff shows.
Interestingly, though, when interviewed for Variety, Gilroy was quoted as saying: "We can't have sex… We can't do some things that we would want to do." So, maybe without the intervention of Disney officials, Andor would have had some slightly more adult content.