In episode 6 of Andor Season 2, Vel and Cinta helped the Ghorman Front get their hands on some weapons that were being delivered to the “armory.” Things went sideways due to Lezine and Samm, and Cinta ended up paying for it with her life. The only thing more tragic than that death was how, by performing this heist, the Ghors had played right into the hands of the Empire. Now they had the perfect excuse to invade the planet in the name of maintaining peace, which made the whole act of robbing those guns to bolster the Front’s strength detrimental to the fate of Ghorman. While the Front and Vel were obviously in the dark about the Empire’s plans to mine the planet for Kalkite, it was revealed that even Syril had no idea about it, thereby setting the stage for a conflict between him and Dedra. Back on Coruscant, Kleya conducted a heist as well as she extracted a bug that she had planted in Davo’s gallery while Krennic and other ISB extracting officers were in the same room with her. Elsewhere on the planet, Bix and Cassian killed Gorst and walked away without looking back at the explosions they had triggered. This week, the narrative has jumped forward in time, thereby putting us and the characters in BBY 2. Let’s find out what Andor Season 2 has in store for us now.
Spoiler Alert
Cassian Goes Back To Ghorman
As predicted all the way back in episode 1 of Andor Season 2, Cassian finds his new home in the very place he was almost killed by a bunch of rogues and a giant monster: Yavin. It’s evident that he has gone on various missions for the Rebel Alliance as well as for Luthen, which is why he is nursing some wounds that don’t seem to heal. It’s unclear if he is still overprotective about Bix and keeping her from going on missions of her own, but as for her mental health, she seems to be doing better. Both of their spirits are lifted by Wilmon’s arrival, who reunites with his fellow Ferrixers after working for Saw for a whole year, I guess. But it doesn’t take too long for things to get serious, as Cassian wants to know where Wilmon has been all this time, and Wilmon wants Cassian to re-establish contact with Luthen. Because, as per Wilmon, there’s a lot of sitting around when it comes to working with the Rebel Alliance, while Luthen is much more kinetic. However, Cassian doesn’t agree with Wilmon and Luthen’s approach. He knows that they need an army to win against the Empire, and these mini skirmishes just won’t cut it anymore. So, Wilmon tells Luthen that his latest target is the destroyer of Ferrix, Dedra (who is currently in Ghorman, preparing to destroy it), thinking that that at least is going to sway Cassian’s stance, but it doesn’t.
Later at night, Bix takes Cassian to a Force-healer. Even though Cassian doesn’t believe in the Force, the healer does manage to cure him. In addition to that, she seemingly foreshadows Cassian’s death. This can seem tacky, but I think it’s truly impressive that these 2 seasons have managed to make Cassian Andor, a supporting character from Rogue One, so important that this kind of ominous storytelling can be done with him. The following day we see that all that Force-healing has had an effect on Cassian, and, despite being warned to not breach Rebel Alliance protocol by General Draven, he decides to leave for Ghorman with Wilmon, and put Dedra in the ground. Vel, who is seemingly pro-Rebel Alliance and anti-Luthen now, informs Bix that Draven and General Dodonna were planning to promote Cassian, but since he has left Yavin to act on information given to him by Luthen, it’s going to complicate things. Bix assures Vel that he’ll be there for them when they need him, which is undeniably true. After landing on Ghorman, Wilmon goes off to meet the Front, and Cassian settles into his hotel room, which is directly facing the Bureau of Standards office, thereby giving him a direct shot at Dedra. Cassian quickly realizes that that’s not going to be so easy, because there are stormtroopers right outside his hotel room window.
Captain Kaido Enters the Picture
Things in Ghorman have gone from bad to worse, with the media, predictably enough, painting the locals as violent terrorists who are unnecessarily attacking the “peaceful” Empire. And, as per the conversation between Partagaz and Dedra, within a time span of 48 hours, a full-scale Imperial invasion is going to take place and the mining of Kalkite will commence, because the substitutes that would’ve prevented this outcome are not as effective as the original stuff. Captain Kaido (is that a One Piece reference?) has been sent to assist Dedra with everything that’s going to happen, which is something that Dedra isn’t happy with, but she is in no position to protest Partagaz. I just want to take a moment to laud Jonjo O’Neill, who is playing Kaido, because, without so much as uttering a single word, he has made me hate his guts. I genuinely abhor fascists, but fascists who smile? That breed of scum really makes my blood boil, and you can see how Jonjo O’Neill has perfected that expression. There’s also an undercurrent of dissatisfaction in his demeanor. Everything about him says, “I am meeting you for the first time, but you have disappointed me already.” Brilliant stuff.
Coming back to the plot, Syril is unhappy with Dedra because he feels left out of this whole invasion business. Since Dedra still can’t talk about the mining, she just tells Syril to pack his stuff and be ready to return to Coruscant soon. Elsewhere on Ghorman, we see that the Front is evidently coming apart at the seams because they are starting to realize that all their efforts have been in vain. Lezine tries to persuade everyone to keep it together by saying that, no matter what happens, they shouldn’t forget that they are Ghors. After the meeting, Enza comes across Syril, who, surprisingly enough, has come to his senses and realized that he has doomed Ghorman. It’s too little, too late, and the slap that Enza lands on Syril’s face underscores that fact. The following day, a bunch of young Imperial soldiers are brought in for a purpose that’s a mystery to even Dedra.
The Ghorman Massacre Begins
Episode 5 of Andor Season 2 introduces yet another unexpected problem where Kaido orders the troops to form a straight path from the Bureau of Standards office to the Memorial of the Fallen and even opens up the plaza for the general public. Based on Partagaz’s conversation with Dedra and the preparations that the Front are making, the Empire wants Ghorman protestors to gather at the Palmo plaza and make the mistake of attacking the Imperial soldiers, so he can use that as an excuse to kill every Ghor that stands in their way, thereby ensuring that there’s no one left to protest their decision to mine the hell out of the planet. If you are reminded of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre while watching this sequence, I think it’s by design. Even if the Gilroys and the rest of the writing team aren’t aware of the incident that took place in 1919 India, I’m sure there are other examples of such incidents that they’re drawing from because the methods of fascism aren’t limited by geographical boundaries.
It doesn’t take long for Rylanz to realize that his people are being lured into a trap, but by then it’s too late because everyone’s too agitated to listen to reason. Still, Rylanz tries to dissuade as many people as he can from going to the plaza, only to be distracted by Syril’s presence in the protests. Syril is still somehow under the impression that he was sent there by Dedra to prevent “outside agitators” from destroying Ghorman. So, when Rylanz tells him that his lack of knowledge about the Empire’s real plans—which is to mine Kalkite—has doomed them all, Syril is genuinely shocked. I am not sure if he is surprised that the Emperor wants to destroy an entire planet for his own nefarious purposes or that Dedra didn’t keep him in the loop regarding the Empire’s plans. Heck, even Dedra is shocked that the Empire is taking such an uber-violent method to subjugate the masses. How are the space Nazis startled that the space Nazis are space Nazi-ing? I don’t think these moments are there to make you sympathize with Dedra and Syril; they’re there to show that fascists will always find a new line to cross. What I am sure of, though, is that all the scenes of Captain Kaido smirking (Jonjo O’Neill would do well playing an alternate version of Homelander) are there to infuriate you and make you hate fascists, regardless of whether they are in space or on Earth.
Syril Is Dead
While heading over to the Senate, Mon and her assistant, Erskin, finally realize that their driver, Kloris, is an ISB plant (even though it’s something that was revealed in the first season). After politely declining to answer Kloris’ queries about Mon’s schedule, Mon has a chat with Oran, who informs him that Ghorman is beyond saving right now. Mon says that she is readying a petition to do something to prevent the inevitable, but Oran advises her to protect herself instead of fighting for Ghorman, because the Empire will try to choke her out for dissenting so much. In episode 5 of Andor Season 2, we literally sit and watch Ghorman take its last breaths as Captain Kaido, the Imperial soldiers, and the Stormtroopers box in the Ghors in the plaza. Syril is horrified to see KX-series droids on standby. Even though he knows what’s going to happen, he wants to hear the truth from Dedra, who does admit that a genocide is on the horizon. Instead of sticking with Dedra, Syril decides to join the crowd outside the Bureau of Standards office, which is still peacefully protesting. However, after one of the Imperial snipers kills their own, the situation descends into absolute pandemonium. Side note: Cassian hears the phrase “Rebellions are built on hope” from the bellboy of the hotel he was staying at, which he later said to Jyn Erso in Rogue One.
While the massacre is happening, Cassian tries to take a shot at Dedra but is pinned to the ground by Syril. Eventually, the two men beat the hell out of each other, and the gnarly fight choreography, the kinetic cinematography, the pitch-perfect editing, and the performances from Diego Luna and Kyle Soller make this one of the best hand-to-hand combat scenes in the franchise. FYI, no, Syril isn’t trying to save Dedra; he just wants to kill Cassian. The absurdity of Syril’s one-sided rivalry is highlighted by Cassian asking who he is, and before Syril can answer, he is shot to death by none other than Rylanz (quite fitting, I’d say). Coming back to the massacre, it’s impossible to say who dies and who survives. All we know is that Wilmon and Cassian manage to make it out of the plaza, and while Wilmon (along with Samm) goes back for his new girlfriend, Dreena (who is busy sending out an SOS message to anyone who is listening), Cassian prepares to leave for the planet with an incapacitated KX unit, which will eventually be known as K-2SO. At the end of Andor Season 2, episode 8, we get a glimpse of Eedy crying her eyes out, knowing full well that her son is dead. Usually, I am sympathetic towards mothers, or parents in general, outliving their children; it’s just unfair. When it comes to fascists, though? Yeah, I think they deserve to live their twilight years wondering how they created a monster, and that too a monster who failed to give you the fascist fever dream that you had in your mind. I don’t know how many moms are watching this show, but I hope they learn not to give in to fascist propaganda and majoritarian sentiments because it’ll only bring ruin upon your family and many other families all around the world.
