Andor season 2 will include Yavin 4!

Andor will be heading to a familiar location in season two.

Showrunner Tony Gilroy recently revealed to Collider in an interview that the show will take us to Yavin 4 in the second season. Gilroy said it in the context of adding a new writer, Tom Bissell to the staff. “Tom Bissell is really cool and really, really interesting, versatile, really good writer,” Gilroy said. “But also a very, very, very big Star Wars fan, which we really wanted to make sure we had another pro because we’re going into Rogue [One], and we’re going to Yavin, and then we’re going into places where we eventually need to really weave our way back to the source. So Tom came in, and he’s been great. So he’s got some episodes too.”

That’s a big deal, because Yavin 4 is a major player in the Star Wars landscape during this era. The series has done a terrific job of using familiar characters and places in a way that feels totally natural and not forced in, and Yavin is another example of how that makes perfect sense.

Yavin 4 is the planet where the Alliance to Restore the Republic operates from during Rebels, Rogue One, and A New Hope, so we may see the Rebellion heading there and establishing their secret headquarters there. Mon Mothma has a major presence on the planet because of this, as does the governing council. It’s the place where the attack on Scarif was launched from, and the place the Rebels had to defend with the Death Star in orbit. Following the destruction of the first Death Star, though the Rebels had won, they knew that their location was compromised. So they evacuated the planet and went on the run, and that’s why we see them on Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. From the Battle of Yavin through the end of the Civil War the Rebellion was more nomadic, moving around to continue avoiding detection. But prior to that first major conflict in the War, they were headquartered here.

And Andor is heading there in season two. I can’t wait!