Andor is fantastic.
But we’ve covered that much already, numerous times. I’ve also made it no secret that among so many great story threads, my absolute favorite in the first season of the show was the one focused on Mon Mothma. Those scenes amount to a political thriller, a drama series not seen before in Star Wars. We get to see the woman who will lead the Alliance to Restore the Republic, before that fight is formalized. Here, she’s just an Imperial Senator trying to work behind-the-scenes without getting caught.
The second season of the show will lead us right up to the beginning of Rogue One, and from there we know the main events of Mothma and the Rebellion. The Galctic Civil War ensues for the following three years, and after the Battle of Endor the tide turns decisively. Not long after that the New Republic is officially formed, with Mothma as the Chancellor of the new government. The war officially ends at the Battle of Jakku, and Mothma continues serving as Chancellor for an unknown period of time until she steps down for health reasons – after which the stability of the government is severely weakened.
Again, we know the big picture, but we haven’t seen it. The sequel trilogy didn’t focus on the political state of the galaxy whatsoever, and Mothma didn’t make any appearance (nor was she mentioned). So the success of Andor has me thinking about a series I’d love to see, one I never would have thought about previously: I’d love to see a story, even if it’s a limited event series with one season, of Mon Mothma as Chancellor of the New Republic, trying to lead the new government as the galaxy moves on from the Empire and tries to correct the mistakes both of the Empire and the waning years of the Galactic Republic.
I can think of tons of potential threads that could be followed: the final days of the war, the decision to enact the Military Disarmament Act severely cutting the New Republic forces, the attempt to unify a divided galaxy, the pursuit of remaining Imperial factions, and the approach to how to deal with those guilty of war crimes, among other things. Some of these things are touched on in books (primarily the Aftermath trilogy), but getting a chance to more fully establish them on-screen would be awesome.
Or another possibility would be fast-forwarding a few years, not dealing so much with the events of the formation of the New Republic but focusing instead on the attempts to continue to unify and govern the galaxy amidst the rising threat lurking in the unknown regions… the same threat that The Mandalorian and its spin-off shows seems to be building toward (Thrawn). Having a show about Chancellor Mon Mothma set during this period (but still helmed by Tony Gilroy or someone with a similar approach) would be awesome.
My point is that I think the New Republic period in-between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens is ripe for exploration, and one of the significantly unexplored aspects of that is the political side of this government. And after seeing Andor, I’d love to see a series like it set in the post-Endor time period too.
Star Wars Thoughts 