The second season of Andor continues to be the Star Wars show that meets the moment, especially in light of an America facing a constitutional crisis.

When Andor arrived for its first season, things were different. And yet, it was one of the few Star Wars shows that told a Star Wars story without having to depend on the Skywalker family for its storytelling. Season 2 is no different in that regard. Andor continues to be one of the best Star Wars television shows in history. Aside from the inclusion of a few galactic senators, this is a series that focuses on the regular people rising up to take on Emperor Palpatine and the Galactic Empire. It’s not a series that is largely dependent on legacy characters.

Where season 1 focused on Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) life five years prior to the Battle of Yavin, the second season takes a different approach. Tony Gilroy is taking a condensed approach and it doesn’t cheapen the storytelling. Every three episodes focuses on a different year and it’s usually just a few days at a time, rather than expand the narrative in that regard. This approach allows us to see key events as they play out in the narrative. They just play out over three episodes rather than a longer season. In a way, the second season of Andor is essentially four different films and that’s okay.

Creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy has opened up about the season dealing with the Ghorman massacre, Senator Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) speech in the Senate, and the discovery of the Death Star. Senator Mothma’s speech was previously covered in Star Wars Rebels so I was curious to see how it would be featured in Andor. It more or less goes down as one might expect, although I imagine Rebels fans will nitpick things when it comes to consistency. I’ll breakdown my thoughts further when those episodes become available on Disney+.

I’ll have plenty more to say underneath the series logo.

As the Rebellion has started to grow with more cells, Luthen Rael’s (Stellan Skarsgård) assistant Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) takes on a prominent role. The series gives her a substantial amount of character development to where one begins to understand who she is and why she does what she does. The downside of Andor coming to an end after this season is that–barring comics, books, or another spinoff series–it’s unlikely that we’ll be spending more time with Kleya going forward.

Missing during the first season, Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) makes his presence known this season. One of the things I was curious going into Andor was to see how the second season would tie into Krennic’s arc in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The trailer offered a glimpse of the Death Star so we knew that the superweapon was bound to play a role this season. But the how and why of it is something that I’ll expand further on my thoughts when the final three episodes arrive on Disney+.

All in all, we see how Cassian Andor goes from being a nobody in the galaxy to a hero of the Rebellion. He doesn’t always follow orders and he sometimes chooses against going on missions as requested. By the time that Rogue One started, he had Mon Mothma’s trust. They had to meet at some point–not a matter of if, but when. Because of how the episodes follow a condensed period of time, there’s so much happening off camera between the time jumps. What is it that leads characters to go from point A to point B and why?

Tony Gilroy is a historian and he’s opened up about Krennic’s conference with high-ranking Imperial officers having been inspired by the Wannsee Conference. Meanwhile, there’s no shortage of propaganda when it comes to the Ghorman Massacre. Gilroy has compared it to the Reichstag fire along with other historical comparisons. The Ghorman Massacre itself is a key moment in the future of the Rebellion as that’s what leads Mon Mothma to deliver her speech condemning Emperor Palpatine and then later uniting Rebel cells together on Star Wars Rebels. Here’s part of the speech as delivered on Rebels:

I name the Emperor himself for ordering the brutal attacks on the people of Ghorman.

Their peaceful world is one of countless systems helpless against his oppressive rule.

This massacre is proof that our self-appointed Emperor is little more than a lying executioner, imposing his tyranny under the pretense of security.

We cannot allow this evil to stand.

Unfortunately, the 2023 labor strikes did have an impact on availability, creating a scheduling logjam. Composer Brandon Roberts replaced first season composer Nicholas Britell, whose father had passed away. Britell’s previous themes are still noticeable so it’s not as much of an impact as it possibly could have been. There are other instances where the lack of availability is definitely noticeable–Andor finds creative ways around it.

The most interesting–if that’s the best word choice–thing about Andor arriving now is that all the scripts were turned in before the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May 2023. Joe Biden was still president and the convicted felon–yes, the fascist authoritarian–had not returned to office and started his defiance of court orders. It’s only a coincidence that this show is timely and relevant upon its Disney+ arrival. It’s just one of many reasons why Andor is a show that resonates with audiences.

There’s a universe where we get five seasons of Andor. Instead, we have to settle on the second season consisting of what is basically four movies. But like I said, it never cheapens the storytelling as we see the stakes play out, especially when it comes to the betrayals and sacrifices. Yes, streaming is getting more expensive but this decision was made long before the market begin to correct itself. Aside from all that, you’re going to find yourself rewatching Rogue One and maybe even Star Wars Rebels.

CREATOR/SHOWRUNNER: Tony Gilroy
DIRECTORS: Ariel Kleiman (Eps. 1-6), Janus Metz (Eps. 7-9), Alonso Ruizpalacios (Eps. 10-12)
WRITERS: Tony Gilroy (Eps. 1-3), Beau Willimon (Eps. 4-6), Dan Gilroy (Eps. 7-9), and Tom Bissell (Eps. 10-12)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kathleen Kennedy, Sanne Wohlenberg, Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna, Luke Hull, John Gilroy
CAST: Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Alan Tudyk, Faye Marsay, Varada Sethu, Elizabeth Dulau, with Ben Mendelsohn and Forest Whitaker

Disney+ will premiere the first three episodes of Andor S2 on April 22, 2025. Three new episodes will premiere weekly through May 13. Grade: 5/5

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