Star Wars: Andor season 2 premiere: Episodes 1-3 review!

The season premiere of the second and final season of Andor is here!

The critically-acclaimed and highly-anticipated season continues the story of Cassian Andor as we get closer to Rogue One. The first arc of the season takes place a year after the events of season one, and there will be a year time-jump in-between arcs. The entire first arc, made up of three episodes, was released together on Disney+, marking a brand new strategy from the company but one that seems like a brilliant decision.

The first arc is fantastic, and clearly intended to be viewed together. If this is any indication of what the rest of the season will be like – especially if it follows season one where things just keep building and escalating as it goes on – we’re in for a real treat with Andor, which has already established itself among the elite Star Wars projects.

Let’s dive in to the full spoiler review of the first three episodes: “One Year Later”, “Sagrona Teema”, and “Harvest”. I’m going to mostly follow the arc through the major storylines, tackling them one at a time.

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A Fractured Rebellion

The season opens with Cassian Andor undercover as an Imperial test pilot in a facility on Sienar, which is notable. The Sienar organization was a prominent ship-building company, which built ships for the Republic and later for the Empire, manufacturing the TIE Fighters. We’d known about the company, and about the Sienar family who ran it, but it turns out (to little surprise) that there’s a planet Sienar as well, and this is our first time seeing it. There’s a lot we don’t know about this initial mission, as we’re thrown right into the middle of it, but the objective is clear enough: steal the TIE Avenger, a rare and elite version of the fighter.

One thing I wish these three episodes did was give us a bit of information – anything, really – about why Cassian was stealing this ship for Luthen Rael and the rebellion. This is one of the downfalls of a format where the next arc will pick up a year later, because there’s plenty else that we might like to get filled in that probably won’t. What was the whole point of stealing the ship? Surprisingly, nothing in these three episodes tells us. But the point of the stealing of the ship, from the perspective of the series, is clear enough. The fact that we start here is not accidental, because as Cassian waits, he talks with Niya – an immediately lovable Imperial defector who has decided to help him break free, but who is nervous. She wonders if, should she die that night, it was all worth it. And it allows Cassian to encourage her, when she asks him if it’s worth it for him.

“This makes it worth it. This. Right now. Being with you. Being here at the moment you step into the circle. Look at me. You made this decision long ago. The Empire cannot win. You’ll never feel right unless you’re doing what you can to stop them. You’re coming home to yourself. You’ve become more than your fear. Let that protect you.”

It’s fitting to start the season here because it shows us that it’s been a year since we last met him, and last season he was in a pretty similar spot as Niya. Now, the roles have been reversed, and he’s a full believer in the rebellion. He’s the one encouraging others into it. We see his growth, and we see that his commitment to this cause has grown as well. I really hope that Niya made it out ok and is fine, because she was such a great character in the brief scenes we got from her.

And then there’s the escape from the facility, which was just really cool. Cassian struggles to learn the controls of the TIE Avenger, which seems to have some pretty major weaponry onboard. He figures it out after killing the troopers, and then evades pursuing TIEs as he makes his escape. This series just looks so good, and the team at ILM and Lucasfilm absolutely cooked on this one, with the visuals being just stunning.

But things never seem to go to plan for Cassian, so he winds up stranded on a jungle planet, where he encounters a starving group that has been stranded and can’t stop fighting against each other. They’re debating what the right course of action is, and Cassian is caught in the middle of it. It is revealed that they are rebels, belonging to a different cell, one Luthen and Cassian have supplied in the past. But Cassian is unwilling to reveal who he works with, since Luthen’s whole thing is secrecy, and the rebel cell is unwilling to trust another group of rebels. This part was maybe the slowest part of the arc for me and the one that seemed to drag on a bit, but it also seems important. What might have initially seemed like a diversion from the main point is actually the main point in microcosm. It’s actually, in a sense, what this whole season is going to be about.

Think about it: this story shows us the fracturing between cells, highlighted by the fact that even this group of rebels can’t help but fight each other, divide from each other, argue over the pettiest of things and who is leading them, and fight one another. All the while, of course, a pilot who could help them is their prisoner, and real threats lurk in the forest of the jungle. That’s exactly the state of the ‘rebellion’ at this point in the timeline: it’s a variety of different rebel cells that all share a hatred for the Empire but refuse to work together. They can’t stop warring with one another, all the while their true enemy lurks in the shadows ready to pounce. By the time these rebels figure it out it’s too late, and they’re left to be devoured by the beasts as Cassian flies away. Will that be the fate of the rebellion. We who have seen A New Hope know that won’t be the case, and it’s fitting, then, that the planet he’s been stranded on is revealed to be Yavin IV, the future home of the Rebellion. This Rebellion will rally their forces together and channel their energy toward fighting the Empire and not each other, and that it will be Mon Mothma who succeeds in doing it.

A Chandrilan Wedding

But what will it cost her? That leads us to our next storyline from this arc, which takes us to Chandrila – seen in live-action for the first time ever, which is a thrill. Chandrila was a prominent world in the galactic core, and it will actually become the first home of the New Republic Senate in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Endor. It is Mon Mothma’s homeworld and the planet she represents in the Senate, and a huge party is beginning at the Mothma Estate to celebrate the wedding of Leida Mothma and Stekan Kolma.

As a bit of an aside, the arrival of the party guests is a masterful piece of camerawork, and it shows how there is a big benefit to Star Wars being shot on location. The Volume is a fantastic tool that can and has been used for great success in Star Wars, but it does have limitations, and this scene is a subtle reminder of that. It’s basically one long continuous shot, following Mon as she greets a variety of guests and walks along toward greeting Luthen, who is a surprise guest but who has brought a gift on behalf of Davo Sculdun.

More significantly in the story, this reminds us of the great cost that Mon is paying for the rebellion. She doesn’t believe in the old Chandrilan tradition of arranged marriages, and her own fractured marriage to Perrin is a reminder of it. Yet in an effort to hide her financing of rebel activity she agreed, in season one, to arrange a meeting with Davo to introduce his son to Leida – who, for her own part, has recovered a love for the old ways. Neither Mon nor Perrin seem particularly enthralled with it, but Leida presses on. Even as she realizes that Stekan is just a child and won’t treat her as she deserves, Leida doesn’t want out. Mon breaks down and apologizes to her, and then, moments before the wedding, as they prepare to walk out, Mon gives Leida what her mother never gave her: a way out. Mon tells her daughter that she doesn’t have to go through with it, but Leida wants to. Whether to spite her mother or because she truly believes in the old ways, Leida wants this to happen.

It’s hard not to read this scene as a part of Mon Mothma dying inside as it happens, and as a bit of a goodbye to her daughter. We’ve not seen or heard anything about what happens to Mon’s family when she goes on the run from the Empire and runs a rebellion, but this would seem to explain where Leida is – and, actually, give her a bit of protection. She’s broken from her mother and has joined a new family, so she’s off doing her own thing. Mon has seen her daughter married and her husband distrust her, but it gets worse.

Mothma’s childhood friend (and old flame) Tay Kolma, who in season one was so apt to help her cover her finances, has hit a rough patch. His own marriage has fallen apart, his own finances have taken a hit, and he’s getting drunk at the celebration. He makes veiled threats to Mothma hinting at knowing of her rebel activity, and Mon and Luthen discuss how much it would take to pay him off to keep him quiet. Upon realizing his developing friendship with Davo, however, Luthen forces a tough choice: he arranges for Cinta to be Tay’s driver on the way home, driving him to his death, where she will murder him to silence him once and for all and protect their rebel activity. It’s hard to watch Tay go from so willing to help his friend to trying to blackmail his friend for more money, but this too seems a bit representative. There are those who are initially quite interested in a cause, but only until it begins to cost them something. Once it begins to hurt them personally, they’re out. That’s Tay. Contrast that with someone like Mon, who we see is losing her family, her friend, and a part of herself, all in an effort to stand up against the Empire.

She is the leader the rebellion needs, and she will be the one who is able to unify the rebel cells, but not until after this rebellion has cost her everything.

A Fragile Refuge

And speaking of cost, we also have to address the story following the refugees from Ferrix, who have settled on a farm world called Mina-Rau. Bix Calleen, Brasso, Wilmon, and B2EMO live in a small mobile shack, providing work, and they have befriended the locals (and even developed some romantic relationships with them). But Bix, who has seemingly rekindled her romance with Cassian, suffers from PTSD and nightmares from her Imperial torture. I’m glad that, even though we’re picking up a year later, we’re not just seeing the characters having all moved on from what happened. The series is exploring the fallout from season one, even with the time jump.

But it gets even darker for these heroes. While they wait for Cassian to return, an Imperial cruiser arrives, with the Empire taking inventory. A prominent concern is that these refugees from Ferrix are undocumented, and therefore in danger from the Empire. The locals recognize the importance of these refugees in helping their work, but all the more as being in need, and the locals don’t like the Empire any more. One of them, Kellen, tells Brasso that Cassian’s contact (i.e. Luthen) needs to know what is happening on Mina-Rau, but Brasso just tells him that it’s happening everywhere. All over the galaxy, the Empire is putting down the boot of oppression on needy peoples.

Showrunner Tony Gilroy has said that Andor isn’t a commentary on current events, and the series was written well before what’s going on now, but it’s striking how prescient and relevant this is. A government cracking down on undocumented refugees who are there illegally, even while providing help to the economy and work? Yeah, that’s not relevant at all, is it? I know that real world politics get complicated and that there are a lot of dynamics that are beyond my purview in a review like this, but part of the brilliance of Andor is its ability to show how the everyday people of the galaxy are affected by the Empire. I wonder: could we say the same of those in our world? Do we know what the ‘everyday people’ are going through? Do we understand the plight of refugees? Do we recognize that they are still human beings in need, and that whatever our politics, if the system can’t at the very least provide basic aid and treat human beings as human beings, there’s a big problem. Star Wars has always been political, and Star Wars has always been a commentary on current events, going back to A New Hope and George Lucas’s original vision. That’s nothing new. And this show seems like something that’s helping to realize Lucas’s original vision for the franchise, even if Gilroy downplays it.

These refugees are in need, and they wind up paying the cost. An Imperial officer smugly cozies up to Bix, and it’s evident that all he wants from her is sex. And, seizing an opportunity when she’s all alone, he attempts to rape her. It’s a haunting moment, played out on screen, as Bix desperately tries to fight him off, eventually killing him with a hammer to the head. Star Wars has faintly alluded to sexual assault in the past, but this is the first time we’ve seen this play out on-screen, and it’s hard to watch. But that’s exactly the point. It’s supposed to be hard to watch, because it’s evil. It’s horrible. Sexual assault is a grave and deplorable wickedness, and the show makes that clear. And it’s appropriate to include in a series like this, however mature the ideas may be, because the Empire is evil, horrible, full of grave and deplorable wickedness. We can all appreciate compelling villains like Darth Vader and think it cool when the bad guys have cool moments, but let us never forget: they’re the bad guys. Andor shows us that as well as anything in the franchise. The Empire is evil. They’re a fascist regime that doesn’t care about its citizens, but only protecting their power. Like, for example, how the other Imperial ignores Bix’s screams and only takes action when he hears the Imperial officer scream. The Empire just doesn’t care about these everyday people. To pretend like the Empire is somehow better than committing atrocities like sexual assault is to pretend like the Empire really isn’t that bad. Andor exists, in part, to keep us from that error.

And while Bix will carry the trauma of these events, her and the others will also carry further trauma. Because while Cassian rushes to save the day and rescue his friends, he’s just moments too late, for Brasso is gunned down off-screen by stormtroopers. It’s a gut-punch loss, because Brasso is everything you want in a hero. He’s a loyal friend, brave and courageous, looking to help people. Even in his final moments, he covers for Kellen by pretending that Kellen ratted them out, thereby giving Kellen cover in the Empire’s eyes. Brasso is a hero. And he’s unceremoniously killed off. Again, the Empire’s evils are being shown and felt in this series, and that’s what needs to happen. We need to know and feel why these rebels are willing to risk everything, even their own lives, to fight the Empire.

A Brewing Plan

Speaking of the Empire, there’s one final story that I want to highlight from this arc, and it’s what happens with our Imperial cast. A top-secret meeting takes place on the Maltheen Divide, convened by Director Orson Krennic. It is so good to see Ben Mendelsohn back as Krennic, and he absolutely crushes the role, as he did in Rogue One. He’s eccentric and over-the-top, and he lays out a plan for the Imperial energy division to help the Empire have “unlimited power”. It’s all quite tongue-in-cheek, wonderfully so, and we know that he’s referring to the secret Death Star project. But the reason he’s convened this group, which includes Major Partagaz and Dedra Meero, is because he will need help.

Enter Ghorman. A cheesy tourist video about Ghorman plays, but it’s terrific, because it tells us why the planet is so significant. The planet’s spiders create webbing that is used in Ghorman clothing, the pride of the people, but even more is a material in the planet’s core that will prove necessary for Krennic’s project. But, with the mining of the planet, the core may become unstable. The people will need to be relocated, but they might not like it. So he’s brought in this team to prepare for what will happen if they don’t. Those who are familiar with Star Wars lore will know where this is heading, as the Ghorman Massacre will soon unfold, and among other things, that will prove to be the final straw for Mon Mothma, when she publicly defies Palpatine, leaves the Senate, and forms the Rebel Alliance.

It seems that Krennic’s Death Star project requires resources from Ghorman, and he asks Dedra for her plan. She reluctantly tells him that he needs rebels to over-step and do the wrong thing, and he apparently likes her plan, because he selects her to lead the Ghorman project. She doesn’t want it, but Partagaz tells her it’s good for her. That’s where we leave it with this project in the arc, but we learn also that Dedra and Syril Karn are in a cringe-worthy and awkward relationship. They have Syril’s mother, Eedy, over for a dinner party so awkward The Office would be proud. Eedy keeps flaunting her power over Syril in putting him down, but while Syril is away, Dedra puts Eedy in her place – only for the screen to cut to Syril crumpled up on the bed, which has probably become one of my all-time favorite Star Wars cuts, and certainly one of the most hilarious.

This is a very awkward couple and a dysfunctional family. But bigger things are ahead for Dedra, it seems. Even though it sounds like she and Krennic won’t exactly see eye-to-eye… and we know who will win that power struggle

Summary

In short, I felt like these stories, making up the first three episodes of Andor season two, were fantastic. The show is embracing its dark and gritty tone with significant consequences, keeping things grounded in the universe showcasing the everyday struggle against the Empire from everyday people. It’s what made this show so compelling in season one, and we’re in for more of the same in season two. And if it follows the pattern of season one, we’re just getting started, and things will just continue to pick up from here.

What is rebellion worth? It reminds me of the words of another rebel hero, Kanan Jarrus, responding to indifference: “Look, I tried to live that way once. Told myself the galaxy would go on with or without me. But when I saw innocents harmed, and knew I had the power to do something about it, I couldn’t just watch it all burn down around me! Some things are worth fighting for!”

This is a fight that, in the end, will cost Cassian – and so many others – everything. But it’s a fight that’s worth it, to see the Empire fall and a brighter day for the galaxy emerge. After darkness, light.