In Andor, Cassian Andor continues the path toward his heroic rebel destiny. With the first three episodes now streaming on Disney+, join us as StarWars.com digs into the making of a leader and a burgeoning rebellion poised to take down the Empire.
Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details and plot points from the three-episode premiere of Andor — “One Year Later,” “Sagrona Teema,” and “Harvest,” — as well as Season 1 of the series.
A year has passed since Maarva Andor was laid to rest, her posthumous words — “Fight the Empire!” — inciting a riot on Ferrix in the finale of Andor Season 1. Who has her son, Cassian, become in her absence?
In the three-episode premiere of Andor Season 2, we learn how much Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) has changed since he turned himself in to Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) begging to be put out of his misery or taken in for a greater purpose. Cassian is more confident in the mission, showing leadership qualities even when he’s being held captive by an offshoot rebel cell with rogues too busy fighting amongst themselves to even begin fighting the Imperial threat. Meanwhile, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) grapples with the personal cost of mounting a rebellion, her sorrow simmering beneath the forced joy and revelry of her daughter, Leida’s, nuptials.
Behind enemy lines
At the Sienar Test Facility, Cassian shows courage behind enemy lines, giving new recruit Niya a pep talk before boldly stealing an experimental TIE Avenger right out of an Imperial hangar. “The Empire cannot win,” he tells her. “You’ll never feel right unless you’re doing what you can to stop them. You’re coming home to yourself.” It takes a certain level of backbone and bravery to pull off, and the theft is reminiscent of Cassian’s earlier infiltration on Aldhani (although this time he’s flying solo.) That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Although he does not hesitate, Andor is clearly nervous once he gets behind the controls, and that reticence is completely warranted as the small craft smashes into the walls and invites enemy fire before he can finally make a limping departure to the stars.
After a rough landing at a familiar jungle moon rendezvous, Cassian’s troubles are compounded when instead of his contact he is met by a band of rebels starving and stranded, turning on each other when they desperately need to pull together to find a way to escape. It’s clear that Cassian has matured; he does not wallow in his misfortune or turn inward. Despite literally being cuffed and held captive, he is always formulating a plan, subtly suggesting tactics — like collecting water — to save himself and the crew. And when they fail to listen to reason and devolve into childish games of Five Hands to try to solve their dispute, Cassian makes a break for it. I mean, really, who could blame him?
Tranquility broken
Meanwhile on Mina-Rau, we get a glimpse of the life Cassian and his fellow Ferrix survivors deserve: a largely peaceful existence embraced by a new community of grain farmers. Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) is a woman haunted. At night, she’s visited by Dr. Gorst in her nightmares, but she finds some semblance of peace during the daylight hours, using the skills she honed on Ferrix to help keep the farming equipment running on the tranquil agrarian world. Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) and Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) have found romance with two local women, and Bix refers to Cassian as her husband to stave off the threat of Imperial officers who believe they can take whatever they want by force.
But it’s those invasive Imperials conducting a census on Mina-Rau that shatter the illusion of peace for this small band of survivors. With communication cut off and having raised Imperial suspicions Bix, Brasso, Wilmon, and everyone who has helped them are at risk and the truth becomes clear: they couldn’t outrun the long arm of the Empire forever. And it’s not just Mina-Rau that’s come under such intense scrutiny and tyranny. The Empire’s evil is spreading like a disease.
Cause to celebrate
Which brings us to Chandrila and the revelry at the Mothma Estate. The opulence and forced gaiety of Leida Mothma’s wedding coupled with the desperation on Mina-Rau and the jungle moon (revealed to be Yavin 4 as Cassian leaves it behind, at least for now) is exquisitely excruciating. The Mothmas have so much — trays overflowing with food and drink, rooms so spacious you can almost hear an echo, and the finest robes and gowns, a rotating fashion show unfurled throughout the multiday ceremony in a lavish show of wealth and prosperity. But it’s all a facade.
Beneath the surface, Mon Mothma is beginning to break. Her childhood friend Tay Kolma (Ben Miles) has fallen on hard times and she is powerless to protect him from his worst instincts — actions that may draw undue attention to herself. Enter Luthen Rael, the cleaner. With one call, Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) leaps into action, and it’s clear that Tay will no longer be a liability. The sighting is also a shock to the system for Cinta’s girlfriend, Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay). They’re two star-crossed lovers who never seem to get time for each other.
Continuing the intensity from Season 1, it’s clear that Mon’s relationship with her daughter is frayed beyond repair. There’s a coldness to their private conversations, as Mon tries to give her daughter the out she desperately wishes she had as a teenaged bride herself. Instead, she’s met with Leida’s contempt, a fissure that shows just how different their relationship is to Cassian and Maarva Andor’s loving bond.
And in her husband Perrin Fertha’s (Alastair Mackenzie) speech, we find a universal message as significant to the newlyweds as Mon herself. “Pain will find you,” he says. But that is all the more reason we must reach for joy, “the music buried beneath all things.” Perhaps that is why Mon ultimately gives herself over to the festivities, drinking to numb the pain and dancing the night away as the beat of “Niamos!” enraptures the wellwishers, a fleeting moment of happiness for some in a galaxy that has gone terribly dark.
The power of the Empire
And from the clandestine meeting at the Maltheen Divide to the top levels of Coruscant, the Empire has only grown stronger and more corrupt. Imperial leaders, not unlike the officer who attacked Bix, take what they want even if it means displacing the people of Ghorman and strip-mining their world of all its most precious mineral resources.
On a smaller scale, Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) shows her fangs to Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), the overbearing mother of her romantic partner, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller). During a dinner party that is equal parts tense and so very awkward, we learn that Dedra grew up in what would later be named an Imperial kinderblock — which, honestly, explains so much about her. And it’s that training from childhood that has made her who she is today: a cold, calculating, emotionally bankrupt servant of the Empire who can hold her own against the likes of Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and, yes, even Eedy, whose passive aggressive jabs have helped mold Syril into the sniveling man before us.
By the final moments of the third episode, Cassian has made his way back to his family, but just as in Season 1 he is heartbreakingly late. Although he’s able to rescue Bix and Wilmon and lay several Imperial troopers to waste, he must leave B2EMO behind and contend with the pain of losing one of his truest friends, Brasso. A reflection of Mon’s own personal sacrifice in losing Tay, you can see the pain in Cassian’s eyes as he’s forced to leave Brasso’s body behind, forgoing the customary funerary honors befitting such a stand-up Ferrixian citizen. There will be no stone for Brasso, but his sacrifice will help build the foundation of the Rebellion.
