There’s a huge turning point in the Star Wars saga smuggled into a random season 3 episode of animated show Star Wars Rebels. The heroes of the series, the crew of the Ghost, a rebel cell, are tasked with taking Mon Mothma to a meeting of rebel leaders, where she makes a speech to the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance as we know it truly begins in the final moments of this episode, Secret Cargo.
Written by Matt Michnovetz, the episode is bookended by Mon Mothma delivering speeches. The first of which is from the senate where she publicly resigns, calls out Palpatine, and vows to restore the Republic: “I name the Emperor himself for ordering the brutal attacks on the people of Ghorman. This massacre is proof that our self-appointed Emperor is little more than a lying executioner, imposing his tyranny under the pretence of security. We cannot allow this evil to stand.” This is huge. It’s the character’s most pivotal moment, what her story, and the story of Star Wars in totality, is building too.
So just how will Andor handle this moment? The big character choice that show is building to has already happened in another series. Rebels shows the end of Mothma’s resignation, her speech has been made and broadcast, we see it through the eyes of the Ghost crew, so maybe Andor can show the events leading up to it, the speech itself, and the immediate fallout on Coruscant. Maybe Cassian smuggles Mothma off-world and towards the Ghost crew, a literal handover between shows. But then the speech at the end of Secret Cargo, the different rebel cells coming together for the first time, surely has to be part of Andor season 2. It’s Luthen’s dream realised.
Andor is unique in style and presentation within the franchise but I’d argue not in themes and ideas. At its heart the ‘adult’ series is not so different to much of the animated storytelling. So why not embrace the connections? I would certainly love to see Rebels promoted more while Andor is airing. It would be great to go straight from the Andor episode where Mothma leaves the senate to the corresponding Rebels episode, with the pop-up in the credits suggesting a specific episode to watch.
Andor has remained detached from much of the other Star Wars storytelling but that will have to change as it begins to share its time frame with other shows. For season 2, every three episodes will be an arc set a year after the previous, moving towards Rogue One and A New Hope. Therefore, the season will be concurrent with Rebels and its four seasons. Showrunner Tony Gilroy may not like much of Star Wars, which I find to be a fascinating perspective for a writer (I’m not grumpy about it like some fans who judge actors and creatives on how much trivia they know) but Andor will naturally have to fit in a more tightly packed canon realm. Tom Bissel has joined the writer’s room for season 2 and Gilroy has described him as “almost a nerd Star Wars fan,” so perhaps he will be shepherding that aspect of the series alongside the Lucasfilm story group.
In the same Hollywood Reporter interview as the above quote, Gilroy also mentions of Mon “we know when she leaves the Senate; that’s canonically on our calendar.” So we know Andor will be driving towards the events of Secret Cargo, but exactly how it gets us there will be interesting to see play out. The Ghorman massacre has been mentioned in the franchise but never seen. It’s a major event which turned people against the Empire, and is what forces Mothma to speak out. I’m expecting to see the massacre in Andor season 2. In the brief footage and images we’ve seen of the upcoming season, there is a square full of people protesting, and this could be the location of the massacre. The plight of the Ghorman people was even mentioned in Andor season 1: set up for the pay off in the second season.
In Secret Cargo, Mon Mothma states “I know of young Mr Bridger,” when introduced to Ezra. If she has knowledge of the Ghost crew, perhaps Andor could offer more connections between the two shows. Mothma’s speech could have been inspired by Ezra’s broadcast from the end of Rebels season 1, with perhaps us hearing it in an episode of Andor, or either Mon or Luthen getting an update on the Lothal rebel cell. Gilroy’s desire to do his own thing makes me doubt this but there’s no escaping that Andor is on a collision course for some canon connections. The Ghost is featured in Rogue One, after all, with Chopper also appearing and Hera being mentioned.
Andor has an awful lot to cover in its abridged second season. I am a little worried about the pacing, less so for Cassian and his plot because now that he’s a rebel his arc is fairly clear. But Mothma only took baby steps in the first season, which I loved, and now to get her to the place she needs to be, not just by the end for Rogue One but by the third arc for Rebels, huge strides have to be taken. I’d happily take a Mothma show afterwards to fill in the gaps. But one gap has already been filled in, years before the rest of the story was told. Everyone should watch the Rebels episode Secret Cargo before Andor season 2. In fact, everyone should just watch Rebels. I think it’s still the best Star Wars show, animated or otherwise.
