Andor Season 2 imagines Star Wars at its most devastating

No part of Andor, the show that serves as a prequel to a prequel following a side character very few had any prior investment in, should work in theory. But with the first season, Tony Gilroy and team somehow delivered one of the most stellar narratives in the Star Wars canon. Rife with themes of revolution and a continued war against imperial forces, the first season triumphed because of its grounded nature and because of how well it portrayed the banality and bureaucracy of fascism.

While this is not something the franchise of Star Wars is used to, I welcomed what Andor season one had to offer yet simultaneously remained hesitant when a second season was announced. While not flawless, season two amps up everything that made season one work so well and stands tall as the best a Star Wars story has ever been – yes, even including the original trilogy.

Andor's narrative structure splits a season into four chunks of three-episode arcs. For season two, each of these arcs picks up a year after the previous arc. The result is a season that spans a length of four years' worth of time, leading seamlessly into the events of the film that Andor is a direct prequel to: Rogue One. While spending three episodes on one year's worth of events has its drawbacks – some events do not feel fleshed out, and the story always feels like it's in a rush to get somewhere else – the overall result is peerless. Events that transpire in one arc irrevocably alter our characters in ways that are both subtle and drastic, which is only made possible due to the show covering such a long time span.

There is the development of Cassian Andor, who bears witness to one massacre after another at the hands of the empire and attempts to work for Luthen as a revolutionary alongside Bix and Wilmon. Each of these characters have their own versions of rebellion – and the way the writers handle their stories is delicate and heartfelt. Very rarely has the character writing in Star Wars driven me to tears, and yet Andor achieves this with nearly every single one of its major characters – including the likes of Mon Mothma, Luthen, Kleya, and even the overly enthusiastic imperial officer, Syril Karn.

Apart from brilliant character writing, the highlight of this season has to be the storyline involving the planet of Ghorman. The events that transpire there are handled with some of the most capable writing and filmmaking I have seen in anything all year – and the brutality of the Empire is on full display by the time these events roll around.

Tony Gilroy has repeatedly mentioned that Andor is really built around major historical events pertaining to revolution. As such, the events on Ghorman, fantasy though they may be, cannot help but remind me of the history of our own reality – which is, again, one of the many ways Andor simply isn't your usual Star Wars.

Bereft of any big names from the Star Wars canon, lightsaber fights, or even mere fan service cameos, it can be easy to dismiss Andor as a longtime fan of the franchise. On the other hand, non-Star Wars fans may similarly dismiss the show because it is constricted within the franchise. However, very few shows are written with the level of competency as Andor, and to dismiss it for either reason would simply be doing yourself a disservice.