Andor Season 2 Will Usher in Tragedy For Three Major Rebels

The first season of Andor reintroduced audiences to Diego Luna's rebel hero, Cassian Andor, five years before the events of Rogue One. The Disney+ series offers a striking new vision of the Star Wars galaxy, one that is far bleaker and far more grounded than we have seen in any other recent Star Wars project. Ultimately, of course, Andor maintains the sense of enduring hope that defines Star Wars' mythology, but the series is not afraid to show the struggle that must be endured to preserve that hope. And in Season 2, that struggle will become fiercer than ever.

Thanks to Rogue One and the original Star Wars trilogy, audiences have some idea of where Andor Season 2 is heading. We know that by series' end, Cassian Andor will be a captain in the Rebel Alliance, Mon Mothma will be the Alliance's leader, Saw Gerrera will be in hiding on Jedha and the Empire will be nearing completion in the construction of the Death Star. However, while the final destination is clear, there is still much of the journey that is yet to be revealed. While the details may not yet be clear, one thing is for certain: the journey will not be an easy one.

Luthen Rael

Luthen, played by Stellan Skarsgård, was a new character introduced in Andor's first season. Little is known about this mysterious figure, save for the fact that he is instrumental in the formation of the Rebellion. Already he has been seen organising and financing various rebel cells, including Vel Sartha's team on Aldhani and Saw Gerrera's Partisans, who are currently based on Segra Milo (more on Saw later). It is Luthen who brings Cassian Andor into the Rebellion, offering him a place on the Aldhani team during their heist on an Impeial compound. Although Luthen does not appear to have any involvement in the formal Rebel Alliance, which will come into being over the span of Andor Season 2, he is clearly an essential piece of its origin story.

Sadly, the very fact that Luthen has only been seen in Andor and has never been shown to hold a position within the organised Rebellion probably means he won't be making it out of Season 2 alive. In fact, the events of Star Wars Rebels might indicate Luthen will bite the dust before the last three episodes of Season 2. Rebels has already shown the official formation of the Rebellion and it is Mon Mothma, not Luthen, who oversees it. The Declaration of the Rebel Alliance is shown in Rebels' third season, which takes place in 2 BBY. Andor Season 2 will span four years, from 4 BBY to 1 BBY, with three episodes dedicated to each year in the build-up to Rogue One. If Luthen's not around by the time of the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance, this means his death will have to happen by Season 2's ninth episode at the latest. Perhaps after years of evading the Empire, Luthen's luck is finally about to run out; or perhaps his ruthless methods will finally push one of his own collaborators too far.

Mon Mothma

Mon Mothma first joined the Star Wars franchise in 1983's Return of the Jedi, played by Caroline Blakiston, before Genevieve O'Reilly was cast as a younger version of the character. O'Reilly's Mon Mothma was originally due to appear in Revenge of the Sith, but her scenes were cut from the final film. She was, however, able to reprise the role in Rogue One and subsequently Andor.

Andor finds Mon Mothma still serving as a Senator in the Imperial Senate. However, her voice finds little audience amongst the dwindling numbers of Senators bothering to attend hearings and she is struggling to make herself heard in her own home as well. It was revealed in Andor that Mon Mothma has a family, sharing a home with her husband and daughter on Coruscant. She is already lending her wealth and her support to rebel efforts, working with Luthen Rael to help rebellion flourish across the galaxy. But the Empire's increasingly authoritarian grip on the banks is making it harder for her to move funds to rebel cells, leaving Mon struggling to effect change inside and outside of the Senate.

This is a struggle Mon is destined to overcome in Andor's second season, when she abandons the ineffectual Imperial Senate in favour of leading the Rebel Alliance in open resistance against the Empire. However, a life in hiding with the Rebellion is a life without her family; certainly, all ties will be severed with Mon's pro-Imperial husband, Perrin Fertha. Season 1 saw Mon struggling with the idea of pushing her daughter into an arranged marriage with the son of seedy underworld banker Davo Sculdun. Could the marriage occur now that she is relying on Davo to help hide her finances from the Empire?

Saw Gerrera

The galaxy far, far away's very own Che Guevara, Saw Gerrera is a radical revolutionary who was first introduced in his youth in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In Rogue One the character was reintroduced as an aging rebel extremist, leading his Partisans from a cave complex on the planet Jedha. The first season of Andor sees him working with Luthen Rael, whenever Luthen's suggested allies don't conflict with Saw's own lofty ideals. At a first glance, there is little difference between Saw in Andor and where we find him in Rogue One. He's hiding in a different cave on a different planet, but he is a reclusive radical rebel in either case. However, there is still enough in Rogue One to hint that dark days lie ahead for the Saw we met in Andor's first season.

By the time of Rogue One, Saw has a robotic leg and is reliant on a respirator that's built into the heavily armoured suit he wears. In fact, it's hard to tell where the suit ends and Saw begins - a deliberate effort to show the radicalised Partisan leader as a parallel to Darth Vader. While Saw is already wearing some of his distinctive body armour in Andor, it looks like he is not reliant on any cybernetics as of yet. Clearly, he is set for some serious physical trauma at the very least in Andor's second season. What's more, in Rogue One Saw seems even more brutal, paranoid and mentally unstable than in his Andor Season 1 appearance. Whatever Season 2 has in store for him, it clearly takes a serious toll, pushing the Partisan leader to the point where he is happy to give up his life in Rogue One when he had previously been perhaps the most fiercely dedicated rebel in the galaxy.

The path ahead does not look easy for any of Andor's key rebels. Star Wars, like rebellions, is built on hope and ultimately the Rebellion's mission will succeed in offering that hope to the galaxy. But first, the Alliance's key players are going to have to go through hell for their dream.

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