The Worst Star Wars Couple You Know Just Made It Official
Editor’s Note: The recap below contains spoilers for Andor Season 2 Episode 2.
It may be daunting to watch three nearly hour-long episodes of Andor at once, but the three-episode rollout means audiences don’t have to wait an entire week to find out what happened during the year in the life of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Episode 2 picks up right where the premiere left off with Cassian being held captive by the Maya Pei Brigade, now split into two separate factions who are camped out within their useless ships. Following the firefight, they try to recover their fallen comrades, only to discover their bodies have been reduced to nothing more than severed limbs and scattered clothing. Clearly, the Brigade is not the only presence in the forest.
Despite splitting into two separate groups, the Maya Pei Brigade continues to quarrel among themselves. Cassian tries his best to subtly steer the group he’s stuck with, instructing them to collect rainwater while they can and to establish a perimeter to prepare for the other group to make trouble for them. They are reluctant to listen to him, opting instead to offer to feed him spoiled meal bars to see what happens if they’re forced to ration out the ruined food. Midway through the episode, Cassian points out that the other group has grown silent, and the brigade sends Plug (Philip Hill-Pearson) over to spy on them. There, he discovers that Bardi (Benjamin Norris) and the team are slowly dragging the TIE Fighter into position to fire upon the other group. The group Cassian is with decides to start shooting at their comrades to delay their efforts, which leads to a sort of truce.
Cassian is left behind on the ship with a single guard, while the two factions meet in the middle of the field to — I kid you not — play rock paper scissors to decide who is the rightful leader of the brigade. This proves to be a decent enough distraction for Cassian to work his way out of his bonds and find a weapon to overpower the guard. He makes a break for it and gets to the TIE Fighter just in time for a beast to emerge from the forest and eat some of the Brigade. Chaos ensues, and Cassian doesn’t seem particularly torn up about leaving his erstwhile captors behind to fend for themselves. While it’s likely this subplot won’t impact future episodes of Andor, it feels as though creator Tony Gilroy is making a statement about infighting within like-minded groups who fail to see the larger threat while they’re stuck in the weeds.
Marriages of Convenience Are Incredibly Inconvenient
On Chandrilla, everyone is recuperating from the First Night celebrations and preparing for another full day of marital merriment. While Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) and Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) bring in Davo Sculdun’s (Richard Dillane) wedding gift, they discuss the fact that they haven’t heard anything from Cassian after he left Sienar, and make note of the Imperial inspection happening on Mina-Rau, which has prevented Bix (Adria Arjona) from making contact with them. Kleya is worried about being cut off from any form of communication on Chandrilla and informs Luthen that she intends to return to the gallery — and she’s already found her own ride off the planet.
Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie) exchange tense words about Tay Kolma (Ben Miles), whom Perrin believes his wife is having an affair with. Perrin informs Mon that Tay drank too much First Night punch and had to be escorted home, which alarms her. Loose lips sink ships, after all. In the premiere, it was established that Tay has been having a difficult time, professionally and personally, which makes him vulnerable. Mon recognizes the risk this presents to the Rebellion, and she makes time to catch up with Tay later in the evening. He confesses that he is feeling undervalued in his partnership with Mothma, particularly after the Rebellion has hurt his investments. Mon promises him that they will find time to discuss everything once the wedding is over, though Luthen’s surveillance of the conversation indicates otherwise.
While Star Wars has shown Chandrillan customs in various media in the past, Andor turns audiences into cultural anthropologists, witnessing the intricate traditions that play a part in Chandrillan martial customs. One of these customs is the “wedding hike,” wherein the two families (here, the Mothmas and Sculduns) hike together to the top of a mountain, where they gaze out across their ancestral lands as a choir of children sing, and the Elders purify them. During the hike, Mon and Vel (Faye Marsay) discuss Mon’s own wedding hike when she married Perri, and reflect on Vel’s situation with Cinta (Varada Sethu). In the year that elapsed between the Season 1 finale and the premiere, it seems that the Rebellion got in the way of their relationship, and it’s been months since Vel has heard from Cinta. She acknowledges that it was never going to be perfect, and that ultimately their relationship was a victim of “bad timing.”
During the second night of festivities, Luthen and Mon discuss the evolving situation with Tay. Luthen is, understandably, worried that Tay might go to Sculdun with his financial issues and jeopardize everything they have established with the Foundation and, by extension, the Rebellion. Mon is confident that once she meets with Tay they will be able to arrive at a number that will smooth over his concerns, but Luthen is not so convinced. He alludes to the fact that they will have to handle the situation, and Mon seems blind to the fact that Luthen is all but calling for Tay’s untimely demise. The night proceeds as planned, with Perrin giving a stirring speech to the soon-to-be newlyweds about finding the “music buried beneath the noise.” While his marriage to Mon is fraught with conflict and clearly unhappy, they were happy once upon a time, and he seems to hope that Leida (Bronte Carmichael) will have that in her marriage. Or perhaps he’s just deluding himself to get through the ceremony.
Bix Faces New Horrors as the Empire Arrives on Mina-Rau
Brasso’s (Joplin Sibtain) ally Kellen (Ryan Pope) reports that approximately 40 Imperial officers have arrived on the surface, with an unknown number occupying the airspace above Mina-Rau. The Empire is there under the guise of needing an account of the grain being harvested on the planet, but their true intent is to root out the illegals who are hiding there, which poses a threat to Bix, Brasso, and Wil (Muhannad Ben Amor), who are working under assumed identities. Kellen asks Brasso if they have had any word from Cassian, but they haven’t, and it’s unlikely he will be able to return to Mina-Rau with the blockade in place during the audit. While Kellen informs them that the Empire is investigating other councils (the numbered farm communities across the planet), that doesn’t prevent the Imperial officers from running random patrols of other farms, including theirs.
The Imps arrive while Wil and Beela (Laura Marcus) are sharing a moment out in the field, away from prying eyes. Wil recognizes that their time on Mina-Rau is coming to an end, and Beela asks him to promise that he won’t leave without saying goodbye to her. It’s a promise he likely won’t be able to keep, but he makes it nevertheless. Their tryst seems ill-fated, but it serves as a sobering reminder that even in the worst of times, love can still blossom. Andor has done quite well with establishing these very human moments that make the series feel so painfully relatable.
When the officers arrive on the farm, Bix (who is going by the name Zala) does her best to act unaffected by their presence. She continues tinkering with equipment and answering questions with an air of indifference, which doesn’t necessarily deter the interest of Krole (Alexander Waldmann). He questions her about whether or not she’s visited the city of Rau, which he notes has changed since the last time he visited. It’s quite clear that he’s angling for something more than just census data, and that becomes glaringly apparent when he offers to take her out to dinner in the city. Bix gently lets him down by mentioning that her husband won’t like that, and she makes a misstep by telling him that her husband is off-world for a few days, a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by Krole. He informs her that they “freeze” the zone during the audit to prevent things from “sneaking away,” which seems to be a veiled threat designed to keep her from running.
After Krole and his fellow Imps depart, Bix, Brasso, and Wil discuss the fact that the Empire has been arresting undocumented workers who have been caught attempting to flee. They decide that they need to prepare in the event that they will need to escape detection too, and Bix worries about what all of this means for Cassian, whom they still haven’t heard from since he left on the mission.
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Dedra Meero and Syril Karn Are Moving Up the Ladder
Following the ominous Ghorman small group meeting in the premiere, Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) returns to Coruscant with Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser). She expresses her disinterest in being part of the Ghorman project — not because of any moral stirrings, but because she wants to continue pursuing the Axis. Partagaz puts an end to those machinations, noting that once Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) assigns you to a job, that’s your job. He tells her that “Ghorman is a gift, take it, and then win it.” Given her fumble with Ferrix, Dedra clearly needs this win.
After failing to appear in Episode 1, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) makes his return in Episode 2, and it’s certainly worth the wait. He’s still working at the Bureau of Standards (which now seems eerily reminiscent of certain ridiculous initiatives dominating discourse lately), and has some degree of seniority after his uncle Harlo helped land him the job following his own career gaffe on Morlana One. While he explains the Bureau’s processes, he humbly brags about some of his accomplishments, which include rooting out misappropriated funds. While the job is nothing more than a menial desk job, he makes it sound quite important, informing the newbie that “there’s a future here for those that dare.”
When last we saw Dedra and Syril together, he was saving her from an imminent demise at the hands of the rebels on Ferrix. While some Andor fans were put off by Syril’s obsession with Dedra (which was more about his obsession with Cassian), some of us saw the vision that they could match each other’s freak, and clearly Tony Gilroy was laying that groundwork in Season 1. Toward the end of Episode 2, Andor invites audiences into Dedra’s home, which is — unsurprisingly — a stark white and neatly designed apartment overlooking Coruscant. She stands by the window, staring out over the city with her sleek blonde hair down, rather than tightly bound up on her head. Opera music plays in the background, almost obscuring the fact that Dedra is, in fact, not alone in her home. Syril unloads groceries after work, fretting over the fact that he wants to pretend she’s still away so they can “put off” something that doesn’t get answered in the episode. Perhaps that’s for the best, given the reveal that they are romantically involved is enough of a surprise.
A lot happens in Andor Season 2 Episode 2, which prepares audiences for what’s to come in Episode 3 — a non-stop horror fest of varying degrees. Even at an expedited pace, Gilroy’s writing remains the baseline for perfection in Star Wars storytelling, and the episode’s director, Ariel Kleiman, does an exceptional job of capturing the ever-building sense of foreboding.
The first three episodes of Season 2 are streaming now on Disney+.
The worst couple ever makes it official in Andor Season 2.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Tony Gilroy
- Directors
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Susanna White
- Writers
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Dan Gilroy
- Andor Season 2 operates on another level, as Episode 2 reaches the mid-arc intrigue.
- Syril and Dedra make for an unexpected ? and welcome ? surprise.
- Genevieve O’Reilly is exceptional in her scenes in Episode 2.
