After waiting three long years, one of Star Wars’ most ambitious projects has finally released its second season. Said season would follow Cassian Andor’s final exploits leading up to “Rogue One,” along with the resolutions of various other subplots. However, since season one took place years before “Rogue One,” the producers had to make one-year time jumps every three episodes. Nevertheless, their method and story were both executed very well!
What’s Happened Since Season 1?
(Spoiler Warning!!!)
So much has happened since the desolation of Ferrix, especially thanks to the three-episode arcs and time jumps. In spite of this, the key plot points are overall comprehensible for anyone who has followed the story until now.
First, let’s revisit the star of the show himself. Andor has drastically changed since we last saw him! Instead of the reckless thief looking out for only himself, he’s a selfless patriot who helps Luthen Rael fight the Empire and defend its unfortunate citizens. Further, he deeply cares about the ones around him and goes to extra lengths to keep them safe, especially taking care not to endanger them by his own actions this time. However, as the story progresses, his motivations start to change even more. An excellent example is when Luthen had Andor go to Ghorman, in order to help the Ghorman Front start a rebellion against the Imperial occupation. Instead, Andor is encouraging them to be careful and not pick a fight with them. Luthen reprimands Andor for this, though, and doesn’t even seem to care about the Ghors’ lives as long as it agitates the Empire. Not wanting to take part in endangering thousands of innocent lives, Andor backs out of the mission. Unfortunately, he would still return to Ghorman for another of Luthen’s missions, and witness one of the most horrific moments in Star Wars history. Traumatized from the Ghorman Massacre, Cassian distances himself from Luthen and almost walks away from the Rebellion altogether. Yet he still remains with the Rebels and would take part in rescuing Mon Mothma, Kleya (Luthen’s assistant), and soon agree to meet with a contact on the Ring of Kafrene; transitioning into “Rogue One.”
Meanwhile, Mon Mothma’s problems continue to build until they finally reach her breaking point. The deal that she made with Davo Sculdun in season one has come to fruition, as they finally set up the wedding for their children. However, Mon grows increasingly uncomfortable as she is forced to watch her daughter go through an arranged marriage while also dealing with her old friend, Tay. While Tay has helped her move around her money in the previous season, he has reached his own breaking point, and Mon reluctantly agrees with Luthen that he has to go. The mounting problems would lead Mon to a rarely seen moment of weakness, as she’d drink and dance the night away to cope. This would only be the start of her problems, though, as the Ghorman Massacre shakes her to her core. Horrified at the unprovoked slaughter of innocents, she makes a speech about the death of truth in the Senate, and urges her fellow senators to keep it alive. But the icing on the cake would be when she full-on calls out Emperor Palpatine, officially making her an enemy of the state. Thankfully, Andor arrived just in time to save her from arrest and get her to safety. She would go on to lead the unified Rebellion movement, and move for Andor’s mission to Kafrene with the other Rebel leaders.
As for Luthen? Well, we not only get the continuation of his story, but we also get some background on him and Kleya. Apparently, Luthen used to be an Imperial sergeant who would take part in the desolation of Kleya’s village. Finding her at a young age, Luthen would protect and (unofficially) adopt her. From the brief flashbacks we got, Luthen would raise the child in his cunning ways, eventually turning her into the cold and calculating spy we see her as today. Anyway, back in the present, Luthen would continue to progress his rebellious plans against the Empire. While he would lead Andor’s missions, he would come under threat of discovery when Kleya’s listening devices would almost get discovered. Thankfully, Kleya would get to them just in time and Luthen would go on to direct his attention towards Ghorman. Since Andor wouldn’t do his dirty work, Luthen would send other rebels to stir up tensions between the Ghormans and the Imperials, which would cumulate into the Ghorman Massacre. While this wouldn’t impact Luthen the way it would with Andor and Mothma, it would drive him to lead the rescue mission for Mothma. However, Luthen’s problems would openly grow worse from here. ISB Supervisor Dedra Meero would finally catch up to him, exposing him as Axis and move in to arrest him. Obviously, he would never let it come to that, so he fatally stabs himself but would be rushed to a hospital in the nick of time. Not wanting to take any risks, Kleya would sneak into the hospital and make the heartbreaking decision to end Luthen’s life. With the heat on her now, Andor would return to Coruscant and whisk her away to the Rebellion where she would warn everyone about the Empire’s coverup to build a super weapon.
Which Predictions Came True?
In my last article about Andor, I played with different possibilities for the series’ future. But which theories would prove to be true? Which ones would be wrong? What about the ones that nobody expected? Well, buckle up and let’s dig a little deeper!
First off, as previously mentioned, Andor has allied himself with Luthen Rael’s rebel cell. Given the implications of the cliffhanger from the season one finale, anyone would’ve seen that coming. The two men always had that weirdly fitting relationship ever since they first met, because Luthen was the ruthless leader and Andor was mainly the guy who followed along. Even when their relationship would become strained as time went on, they were still (somehow) able to keep their act together on missions. However, since Luthen is never seen nor heard from in “Rogue One,” what happened to him? How did Andor break away from him and join Mon Mothma’s movement? While I expected these questions to be answered in this final season, it was still satisfying to watch those answers unfold the way they did. For instance, after Andor leaves Luthen, we get to see Luthen’s final days of rebellion. In the back of my mind, I suspected he would’ve gotten caught, but I wasn’t expecting him to stab himself to keep his secrets safe! I definitely didn’t expect to see Kleya break into the hospital he’s in, shoot her way through, and then kill the man who essentially raised her! Even though I suspected she would do that, I kept wondering if she’d actually go through with it or find a way to rescue him. But oddly enough, it’s very fulfilling to watch because those are just the kind of things Luthen would do. The icing on the cake was, even in death, Cassian remains somewhat loyal to Luthen. Andor defended the guy to the other Rebel leaders, responded to his old distress signal, and rescued Kleya from the Imperials. It all comes to a satisfying full circle!
The second prediction I made in my previous article was surrounding the relationship between Dedra Meero and Syril Karn. I’m not even sure if I can label this as a prediction, much less take pride in how it would be proven true, since everyone saw it coming. Ever since he rescued her from an angry mob and was pressed close to her in that closet-sized room, we all knew where that was going. However, what I didn’t expect was how their relationship ended up. For instance, Dedra and Syril were once united in their drives to defend justice and achieve security in the Empire. However, their motives would not only prove to be different, but they would also drive a massive wedge between the couple. While Syril maintained his pursuit of order and justice, Dedra would become more obsessed with getting results at any cost. What was once a drive to find the rebels who stole Imperial equipment now turned into a desperate pursuit of power, status, and a disregard for everything she initially stood for. There isn’t a greater example for this than with the Ghorman Massacre, where Syril would find out that Dedra had been keeping him in the dark and manipulating them from the start. She wasn’t there to catch rebels or keep order, but to stir up the fires of chaos, and Syril no longer wanted any part of it. After an explosive confrontation, he would leave the building but eventually get killed during the unavoidable conflict. It was very surprising to see such a brutal ending to their relationship, because the pair seemed to have so much chemistry for the first half of this season. I actually found myself rooting for them, but while it was sad to see all that come crashing down, it’s very understandable why he’d flip out. Ultimately, it was rewarding to watch their very characters, ideals, and arcs come full circle.
The final prediction is one that I was desperately hoping to see in this season: Mon Mothma and the very Ghorman Massacre itself! Ever since the YouTube channel “Star Wars Explained” reminded me of a reference to the tragic event in an episode of “Star Wars: Rebels,” I was hoping to see the event in order to obtain some context for said episode. However, if it was dark enough to make Mon Mothma publicly denounce Palpatine, I couldn’t help but wonder if Disney would actually portray such a gruesome scene. Not only did they do just that, but I was utterly shaken to my core when I watched the Massacre for the first time! What especially caught me off guard was an Imperial sniper firing on fellow soldiers, in order to provoke the others to open fire on the crowd. Literally none of the Ghormans did anything, one of them even calmed the other protestors down by getting them to sing their song instead of angrily chanting. Apparently, it still wasn’t enough for the Empire because they kept pushing for a reason to unalive them all. But to make it worse, they sent out a group of KX Security Droids into the crowd to remind me how strong and near-indestructible they are. Watching them catapult dozens of people, charging at them with emotionless expressions, is just very terrifying! But if any good were to come out of this, it would be Mon Mothma finally coming into the light and speaking out against the Empire. With all the propaganda hurled towards the Ghormans, Mothma would urgently warn her fellow senators about the death of truth before calling Palpatine the monster that he is. I can’t explain it, but I was expecting the speech to be different, maybe to fit more of the clip we see in “Rebels.” Regardless, the speech was still amazing and I love how she insisted that they keep the truth alive, especially when the Empire always twisted it to fit their agendas. I especially love how it nicely ties into that “Rebels” episode, and especially when it’s basically implied that she was going to get a ride from the Ghost crew after Andor helped her escape. Just seeing yet another connection into another Star Wars project, like Andor with the Ghost Crew, is one of the things I live for in this franchise.
Overall Opinion
Season one was already amazing in its own right, and part of me might always prefer it a bit more. Nevertheless, for the most part, season two is JUST as amazing as its predecessor! One reason for this claim is how, by the final episode, it serves as a perfect transition into “Rogue One.” For example, Kleya reveals the Empire’s plans to build a massive super weapon, as well as namedropping Galen Erso as a key figure in the project. This would further spark the investigation into it, as one of Cassian’s contacts would demand to speak with him on the Ring of Kafrene. This would lead to the revelation that said super weapon would have “the ability to destroy entire planets,” but now it has more gravity with the foundation that the finale has laid. However, this season would do more than that, as it also lays a foundation for the villain of “Rogue One!” Krennic was a spectacular and terrifying villain in the movie, but with “Andor,” it’s amplified as we get to see him before he was zipping about in starships. The guy was very cunning, quick to figure out Dedra’s motivations in the beginning of the season and also wise to Mothma’s jabs at a private art gallery. But when he interrogated Dedra for the possible leak about the Death Star, I got a quick reminder of how scary Krennic is when he screamed at Dedra and also pressed his finger down on top of her head. That scene would set up Krennic’s obsession with the Death Star and the power that comes with it, because in “Rogue One,” we see him fight over his position and then single-mindedly pursue any chance of leaks or flaws in order to keep said position.
My favorite part about this season, though, was the way it handled its various characters and subplots. Every single one was written so well and given just enough time to flesh out, plus all of their conclusions in the finale were EXTREMELY satisfying! Take Bit’s arc for example. Seeing Dr. Gorst torture her with the modified sounds of dying children was beyond messed up, so to see her do the exact same thing to Gorst years later got me pumping my fist. Although, to be honest, I was personally hoping they’d leave him listening to that a bit longer before blowing him up. However, one thing that almost tops that is when we see Bix holding Cassian’s child in that last scene. I felt so sad watching that because I knew that Cassian would never see her again, nor their child, and it just makes me wonder what Bix and the baby’s lives will look like without him. I also couldn’t help but wonder if they’d ever find out about Cassian’s ultimate sacrifice to save the galaxy. Moving on from Bix, I just have to address one of my favorite moments in the show: Dedra in jail! But not just any jail, mind you! A facility similar to—if not exactly like—Narkina-5! Oh my gosh, it was so satisfying to finally see her in a similar world of torment that Andor had to go through. After all these years of her reckless and single-minded warpaths, all the horrible things she inflicted on Bix and countless other people; it all came full circle to see her “on program.” As for everyone else, it was nice to see Vel, Wilmon, and Kleya officially join Mothma’s united Rebel movement and accept their roles. In addition, seeing Melshi grow from a convicted Narkina-5 prisoner, to training the rebels in the finale, to a key role in Rogue One’s success on Scarif was also great to see unfold. Finally, Perrin miserably drinking while being with another woman, Partagaz’ suicide to avoid punishment, and Saw Gerara’s insanity finally accumulating into what we see in “Rogue One” all felt oddly satisfying. It’s almost like we got to play catch up with everyone in the show but also everyone in the movie as well!
Conclusion
Overall, this show was a great watch! Again, not something I’d watch on a continual basis compared to shows like “Clone Wars” or “Rebels,” but maybe every once in a while. Regardless, I’d definitely recommend this show because I just love the darker tone, along with the deep and philosophical discussions the characters provide. It’s kind of sad to see this show end, especially when there’s so much more I want to see, but the story is still satisfying and well-written that I just can’t complain.
