Last week, the members of Andor’s main rebel cell started striking out for greater independence and calcifying into stronger leaders. Similarly, the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) saw its own strategists maneuver with skill and confidence to pave the way for the Imperial sacking of Ghorman. This week, our heroes and villains are forced to abandon the illusion of control as their cat-and-mouse games spill over into all-out war. Andor Season 2’s latest episode bundle of ‘Messenger,’ ‘Who Are You?’ and ‘Welcome to the Rebellion,’ pulls the resistance out of the shadows and delivers fans into the titular war that defined the Star Wars franchise when it all started back in 1977.
It’s exciting to visit the now-thriving rebel base on Yavin 4. It’s clear that the rebellion has advanced from a scattered network of cells into a military force gearing up to challenge The Empire. Similarly, it’s energizing and nostalgic to spend time with Rogue One alums Davits Draven (Alistair Petrie, Funny Woman), Ruescott Melshi (Duncan Pow, Halo), and of course, the freshly reprogrammed K-2S0 (Alan Tudyk, Creature Commandos). Over on the Imperial side of the conflict, it is devastating to see how effectively they have played their hand in Ghorman. The cover narrative for the Imperial takeover is well-established, and the realism of Andor’s storytelling leaves viewers with a visceral sense of dread; nothing is sugar-coated here – the Empire is a genocidal fascist force that feels entitled to to destroy anyone or anything that stands in its way.
Of course, it isn’t just the harsh realities of war that raise the stakes this week, it’s the arrival of The Force itself. Our introduction to the Force in Andor comes on the heels of a domestic dispute. You see, these rebels aren’t just soldiers, they are human beings living human lives in the jungles of Yavin. We catch up with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, Rogue One) and Bix Caleen (Adrian Arjona, Good Omens) living their lives in a lovely, open-concept bungalow worthy of The White Lotus. It seems like Bix and Cassian are about to crank up the heat when she demands that Cassian remove his shirt, but it turns out that he is just suffering from a stubborn blaster wound that won’t heal.
Later, using a bit of misdirection, she lures Cassian toward an alleged Force healer who works in the mess hall. This push toward mysticism flies in the face of Cassian’s principles, but before he can vacate the area, the Force healer is drawn toward him. She is both inspired and soothed by what she feels through the Force. After a spooked Cassian bolts home, Bix learns that the Force healer was experiencing a crisis of faith until she felt Cassian’s presence. Her communion with the Force revealed that Cassian is special – he is a “messenger” with important work to do – he is headed somewhere. Fans of Rogue One know that this message is nothing short of delivering the Death Star plans to Leia Organa; in other words, Cassian is destined to deliver a new hope to the galaxy.
Unfortunately for Cassian, this revelation hits Bix so hard that by the end of the three-story arc she abandons the man she has loved for her entire life. She believes Cassian when he says that he wants to put the rebellion behind him to be with her, but she can’t let him do it. She believes that he has a greater destiny, and needs to continue his work without attachment – a rebel victory is the only thing that matters. While the performances and chemistry are phenomenal, this reviewer is a bit disappointed to see the real-world stakes and love that the show built so effectively brushed aside in service of pushing Cassian into a detached state of Jedi discipline. On top of that, the arc forgoes the open question of Bix’s role in the rebellion after her badass takedown of Doctor Gorst last week. Here’s hoping these two crazy love birds find each once again in Andor’s final arc.
Despite this gripe, episodes 7-9 effectively double down on the notion that Cassian is a messenger on an epic path; the drama that unfolds around him is nothing short of spectacular, and at the end of the day, Andor continues to deliver the best of what Star Wars has to offer.
The jewel of this particular arc is the set piece of the Ghorman Massacre. Even before the attack that will formalize the rebellion, the pieces are positioned with precision to build the highest-possible tension. Cassian and Wilmon (Muhannad Ben Amor) are on planet with the intent to assassinate ISB agent Dedra Meero (Denise Gough, The Stolen Girl).
Unfortunately for them, they show up one day too late; the Empire is about to execute its endgame on Ghorman. It’s also unfortunate for Dedra. Despite her commitment to the Imperial cause and her own advancement within the ranks, she is increasingly taken aback by the brutality and lack of subtlety in the Empire’s final gambit. They’ve even brought in an outsider and a bunch of green recruits (“tThey look like children,” notes Dedra) to offer up to the crowd as part of their plan to incite an incident that will resemble a violent insurrection. Despite Dedra’s best attempts to bury her reservations behind the promise of her upcoming reward, her boyfriend, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller, Fury), makes that impossible.
Syril, Syril, Syril. Oh, Syril. We learn that Syril was not only left out of the loop on the Ghorman Plan, but that he is even more naive than we thought. Apparently he never realized that the intent of his mission was to destabilize Ghorman; the lil’ guy genuinely thought all of his moving and shaking was designed to suss out violent insurgents. Syril becomes a walking reminder that a one-sided “law and order” mentality can be bent to cruel ends without much effort. He even surprises the other characters with his ineptitude. Dedra knows that she has kept Syril in the dark, but still seems a bit shocked by how little of the plan he has worked out at this point in the proceedings. Similarly, Ghorman Front leader Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel, Inglorious Basterds) is genuinely offended and insulted by Syril’s inability to see the Empire’s machinations at work. In fact, Carro’s anger and frustration with Syril’s cluelessness are so pointed that he can’t help but smother him with a devastating rhetorical question: “What kind of a being are you!?”
We pity Syril so much that we almost want to forget that he is a space Nazi; luckily, Andor fixes that by reminding us that Syril is no angel. After realizing that he is playing the part of a fool, he doesn’t fall into a state of repentance or attempt to balance out his mistakes by doing good. No, he forces his way into Dedra’s office to physically assault and belittle her for lying to him. After the last story arc, we were playfully gossiping about this dark side power couple, but this scene is careful to choke out any goodwill we might have been feeling for them. Syril storms out to the plaza in disgust and desperation. He is walking right into the trap.
In fact, everyone walks right into the trap. An Imperial sniper takes the Han Solo shot (he shoots first), but it really isn’t necessary; the Empire built the powder keg they wanted, and they wouldn’t have had to wait too much longer for a random spark to set it ablaze. Chaos ensues. Cassian never gets his shot off, Ghorman Front members start dropping like flies, and the Imperial forces suffer enough casualties for the political mouth pieces on Coruscant to wordsmith them into brave martyrs for the Emperor’s cause.
Syril spins in circles to take in the devastation all around him. His face tells us he regrets his role in the violence, but he never aims to help another human being. Then, when he spots Cassian, he decides to use him as a punching bag to work out his rage and desperation. Ultimately, Syril dies a death fit for a villain. He corners Cassian, but before he can gloat or take a final shot, Cassian meets him with nothing but confusion and the most devastating question possible: “Who are you?” Cassian may have been a catalyst for Syril’s arc, but to Cassian, Syril is just another cog in the imperial machine, just another stormtrooper. This lack of recognition is the last thing Syril knows before Carro Rylanz hits him with a blaster bolt to the head. Only time will tell if Syril’s death makes a lasting contribution to the story of the rebellion, but it certainly contributes to the full-body-shaking anxiety and regret that overcomes Dedra at the end of the episode.
It would have been impossible to top the drama of the harrowing events on Ghorman, but Andor comes close by wrapping this arc with the official declaration of the rebellion. While existing Star Wars lore generally presents this moment as unifying and hopeful, Andor reminds us that rebellion is messy whether we like it or not.
In response to the events on Ghorman, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly, Ahsoka) and Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt, Poker Face) decide that it is time to publicly denounce the Emperor and make the rebellion known to the wider galaxy. It’s a complicated prospect from the start; they have to devise a loophole that allows Mon a chance to be recognized on the Senate floor to make her declaration, they have to stop the Empire from cutting the feed, and then they have to sneak Mon out of the Senate before the Imperial overlords arrest her.
If that weren’t complicated enough, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård, Dune Part 2) shows up with some cryptic intel to make things even more stressful. In a matter of moments, Luthen manages to chip away at what remains of Mon’s trust and confidence:
Your beautiful and confident senate co-conspirator, now portrayed by the great Benjamin Bratt? His team is compromised. Your ’50s greaser attaché? He works for Luthen.
In fact, all Luthen has to offer to calm Mon’s nerves is the knowledge that another one of his mysterious agents will intercept her after her speech; he’ll use the passphrase: “I’ve got friends everywhere.” This feels like Luthen’s last major contribution to the cause, but he insists that he will stay on Coruscant after the declaration of rebellion. He continues to wear the grim inevitability of the role he has chosen to play in this struggle plainly on his face and explains that everyone in the rebellion has been “bent by secrecy.” He knows he is on a collision course with death, or at least loneliness. He is willing to burn any remaining emotional bridges for the cause. While it seems we may be nearing the end of Luthen’s “equation” that he described in his iconic season one monologue, there is still one story arc remaining in this series, and it seems likely that Luthen will find a way to make the ultimate sacrifice – and make it count.
Despite her fears and anxieties, Mon knows that she must make her speech and call out Emperor Palpatine by name. Her remarks bend on a phrase that is timeless and more relevant than ever as a fascism and lies take hold of American politics: “The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil.” It’s a popular sentiment shared by people who reject authoritarian power and you can even find a similar sentiment incorporated into The Washington Post’s banner: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
While the frantic escape that ensues, full of double agents and open blaster fire in the halls of the capitol, is undeniably exciting, this reviewer was particularly moved by the subtler contributions to the escape plan. For the true nerds out there, nothing hit harder than watching Bail Organa and his co-conspirators unleash the minutiae of Parliamentary procedure to sneak Mon Mothma past the Imperial Safeguards for a moment on the Senate floor. Similarly, we see two unnamed mechanics pull off a well-timed repair that delays the Imperial overseers from cutting Mon Mothma’s audio feed. In fact, we never learn if this particular contribution is a machination of Bail or Luthen; presumably, this is another example of Bail using his influence within the halls of power to pave the way for Mon’s statement, but the fact that it remains a somewhat open question offers subtle reinforcement to the idea that the rebellion is finally falling under one unified banner.
Our Force-approved messenger, Cassian, manages to navigate both the emotional demands of gaining Mon’s trust and the tactical demands of sneaking her off of the premises. He even takes on the burden of moral ambiguity to eliminate Mon’s ISB-agent driver while maintaining her ability to hold and project the moral high ground as the leader of the rebellion. Cassian’s actions here drive home the notion that he, like Luthen, is stuck on a path from which he can never stray. This is the truth we are left to take solace in when Bix makes her exit at the end of the third episode.
Of course, Andor doesn’t fully abandon love and hope. We get the surprisingly good news that Wilmon and his revolutionary girlfriend somehow made it out of Ghorman alive. It dulls the emotional gut-punch of Bix and Cassian’s broken romance to know that Yavin 4 remains home to at least one couple in love – that there is still something to fight for within this rebellion. We also get a nice tease of K-2SO to bolster our spirits at the end of the episode.
In the end, this arc lands with a smart and nuanced retcon. Without this recon, the tale of Cassian Andor amd Company shuttling Mon Mothma to Yavin 4 would bump up against established Star Wars lore, particularly a beloved storyline from Star Wars Rebels. Instead, we learn that the rebels want to improve the optics and stage a grand escort home to the rebellion spearheaded by the renowned Gold Squadron. Not only does this clean up any ugly battles over the sanctity of Star Wars canon, but more importantly, it once again drives home the notion that rebels are forced to use the tactics of their enemies. This doctored narrative certainly doesn’t share the sinister intent of the Imperial propaganda labeling Ghormans as vile insurrectionists, but it does distance the rebellion from the moral ambiguity of Luthen’s crew and the ugly decisions it has taken to build an army. Instead, Mon Mothma gets to bring an air of dignity and style (well, at least until she abandons her senate fits for her signature rebel frock) to the mission and call for the wider support of the galaxy.
Welcome to the Rebellion. We have friends everywhere.
The Pop Break will see you again next week when Amanda Hoffman picks up the torch of Andor coverage. We can’t wait to hear what you all think of the finale!
