Andor Season 2, Episodes 7-9 “Messenger,” “Who Are You?,” and “Welcome to the Rebellion Spoilers Ahead
We’re officially in the back half of Andor’s second season, and is it too soon to say that we just watched some of the best Star Wars in years? The seventh, eighth, and ninth episodes — “Messenger,” “Who Are You?,” and “Welcome to the Rebellion” — see the tension on Ghorman hit its breaking point and the immediate consequences of it. The first half of the season expertly laid the groundwork for these three episodes, particularly “Who Are You?” and “Welcome to the Rebellion,” to hit profoundly hard. It might be too early to say this, but I don’t envy Emmy voters right now. If I had to choose between Severance, The Pitt, Paradise, The Last of Us, or Andor (in any of the categories), I would be at a loss. There is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the writing, direction, and performances coming together in this year’s crop of TV dramas.
“We Are Ghor! The Galaxy Is Watching!”
From the moment Krennic mentioned Ghorman for the first time in “One Year Later,” I felt a pit begin to grow in my stomach. As episodes continued — from Syril being relocated to Ghorman to Eedy’s blatantly racist comments to Cassian’s first trip to the doomed planet — the dread grew and grew. So when the crowds started gathering in Season 2, Episode 8, “Who Are You?,” I knew the heartbreak was finally here, and it unfolded in devastating fashion. Everything Dedra said would unfold, did. They needed Ghorman rebels they could depend on to do the wrong thing, and that’s exactly what happened. With the arrival of more Imperial military, Ghorman rebels and citizens take to Ghorman Square to protest their presence. What’s even more heartbreaking is watching Rylanz, a Ghorman rebel leader, realize exactly what’s unfolding — an Imperial trap. But it’s too late. The damage is done, and genocide is played out across the galaxy thanks to the press in attendance. The Empire made this fire and led the Ghorman people to the slaughter.
The chants, the singing, the police brutality… it all seems a little too similar to real life, if you’re not keeping your head down and paying attention. That’s what makes Andor hit. They aren’t drawing from the deep corners of Star Wars‘ extended lore. It’s evident that Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna, and the writers were looking at what’s happening in the real world and have made a statement. Unfortunately, the people who need to take a good look in the mirror and see how they’re more like the Empire than the rebels are too busy posting images with lightsabers and entirely missing the point.
Syril Karn Dies With a Whimper, Not a Bang
One of the fallen from the events on Ghorman is Syril Karn, an Imperial bureaucrat who was only just starting to wake up to the reality of the Empire. Syril has always been an interesting character to me in how this spineless man tried to make a name for himself within the Imperial bureaucratic ranks, only to fail so miserably. Thanks to his relationship with Dedra, he gets another opportunity to be useful to the Empire. Yet even he couldn’t have predicted how his time infiltrating the Ghorman rebel group would impact him. Apart from his mother and his high-ranking girlfriend, Syril grows into his own and begins to care for the Ghormans around him. When it finally starts to hit him that the Ghorman revolution was planned out, Syril is horrified.
Thanks to insight from Kyle Soller speaking with Collider, we do know that Syril’s confrontation with Dedra is his one act of rebellion. In choking Dedra as she sputters out what the Empire actually wants from Ghorman, Syril is attacking his indoctrination from childhood, the woman he thought he loved, the Empire he was loyal to, and frankly, himself. Syril was just as much at fault for what unfolded on Ghorman as the Empire, as Dedra, Krennic, and the Stormtroopers firing their blasters.
As he stands in the crowd as chaos unfolds, Syril spots Cassian, the man who set him on the trajectory of his life. His investigation of Cassian put him on a collision course to Ferrix, to Dedra, and, later, to Ghorman. Cassian doesn’t remember who Syril is. He’s never going to know, and that makes all the sense in the galaxy. As the audience, we know the truth. We know the impact Cassian made on Syril’s life. But it doesn’t matter. It never did. Syril doesn’t get closure. He doesn’t get to monologue to Cassian about the damage caused by him. Cassian just asks, “Who are you?” before Syril is shot in the head by Rylanz. Syril dies, not in spectacular fashion. He is killed as not even a footnote in the story of the Rebellion. He was just a nameless bureaucrat who added nothing and died as nothing. It’s as unremarkable as it is fitting for Syril Karn.
Mon Mothma Makes Her Exit From the Senate
When looking at the heroes of the Rebellion, I think we underestimate the value of leaders like Mon Mothma. Andor Season 2 has certainly put a highlight on her, but in many ways, fans have seemed to highlight Luthen’s accomplishments more than hers. It takes extreme strength to hold everything the way Mon has all these years. She’s been alone ever since audiences met her in the first season. Mon Mothma has isolated herself from her family and colleagues, carrying on with fake smiles in a den of wolves while using her influence to keep hope alive in the galaxy. This season, she discovered she couldn’t even trust her childhood friend, Tay Kolma, nor her own aide, Erskin Semaj, who had been working for Luthen since her daughter’s wedding. Later, as she plans her escape from the Senate, she learns from Luthen that she can’t even trust Bail Organa’s aides. Mon Mothma is the most public-facing member of the Rebellion, and yet the most alone.
In Season 2, Episode 9, “Welcome to the Rebellion,” Mon Mothma is the bravest woman in the galaxy. After the events on Ghorman, the time is now for her to not only leave her position in the Senate, but speak out against the genocide that’s been spun as Imperial insurrection. She has the nerve to speak truth to the propaganda of the Senate. Mon Mothma calls out Emperor Palpatine by name as the monster that he is. She calls the events on Ghorman for what they were: genocide. Mon Mothma is willing to walk away from everything for the Rebellion, for truth, for what’s right. And she does. She leaves it all behind and makes her exit a monumental moment. In an age where many political leaders have traded truth for power, Mon Mothma is a shining example of the leaders we need now more than ever.
Bix Breaks Cassian’s Heart to Keep the Rebellion Alive
There’s a cost to constantly fighting the good fight. At this point in Andor Season 2, Episodes 7-9, Cassian has officially been in the Rebellion for three years. Three years of loss, violence, and sacrifice that seemingly never end. He’s been toying with the idea of leaving for a while, and witnessing the horrors on Ghorman is the final straw for him. He’s officially ready to leave the Rebellion behind for a quiet live with Bix Caleen, his one constant since leaving Ferrix has been her. He’s willing to risk it all for her. Unfortunately for him, Bix chooses for him to keep fighting by leaving Yavin without him.
Since speaking with the Force healer on Yavin in Season 2, Episode 7, “Messenger,” Bix wrestles with the weight of importance Cassian really has to the Rebellion. While they were living on Coruscant, Bix told Cassian that if they’re in this fight, then she wants to win. This Force healer has seen in Cassian something significant, something that the Rebellion needs in order to win. He’s a messenger who carries the weight of the future. He will bring the Empire to its knees. When Cassian returns to Yavin in “Welcome to the Rebellion” with his mind made up to leave, it hits Bix that Cassian is needed now more than ever. He has to keep fighting, and she can’t be the reason he leaves his destiny behind.
Death comes for someone in every three-episode arc of Andor Season 2. First, it was Brasso. Then it was Cinta. And now, it’s the death of Cassian and Bix’s future together. Yet, her decision to break Cassian’s heart kept the dream of freedom alive. Bix chose the Rebellion by sacrificing a future with Cassian. In some ways, this loss feels weightier than the deaths we’ve already seen. I’ve watched this episode twice now, and I still cry every time I watch Cassian frantically running around the base trying to find Bix as her message plays out. Even though Bix says they will find each other after the fighting is done, we, as the audience, know they won’t. This was the end of the road for Cassian and Bix, and it hurts.
Now streaming on Disney+: What are your thoughts on Andor Season 2, Episodes 7-9? Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Disney+ | Lucasfilm