Rating: TV-14 | Episodes: 12 | Runtime: 40 minutes
Release Date: April 22nd, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Lucasfilm / Disney+
Creator(s): Tony Gilroy

Tell people what happened here.

If “Andor” Season One was the birth of a rebel via Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) gradual awakening, Season Two reveals the birth of the rebellion. Sure, said rebellion was already underway. It needed to be in order for someone to choose to be amongst its ranks. But there’s a difference between isolated moments of insurrection with Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) operating as puppet master and a full-fledged enterprise consisting of regiments and chain of command. The missions he set Cass, Vel (Faye Marsay), and Wilmon (Muhannad Ben Amor) on were seeds being planted across the galaxy. The words of Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther) became a manifesto inspiring others to seek freedom. And now, Tony Gilroy and company have put it all together.

The show probably would have gone five seasons if it had begun production around the time of Rogue One (the story upon whose back it serves as a prequel). Between the COVID shutdown, industry strikes, and a bursting streaming bubble, however, we should be grateful we even received two. Gilroy makes it work by devoting this latest run of twelve episodes into four equal chapters spanning a truncated period of real-ish-time events labeled by their year in relation to A New Hope: BBY 4 (Before the Battle of Yavin) through BBY 1.

First come the effects of the previous season via a three-pronged narrative showing Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) sending her daughter into marriage, Cass trying to survive the end of a mission to steal an Imperial spacecraft, and Bix (Adria Arjona) hoping to evade an Empire audit in the fields where she, Wil, and Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) work as undocumented laborers. Next are the consequences of an expanding rebellion causing there to be too many plates spinning at once for both Luthan and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), their inevitable collision course coming into greater focus while Cass questions his desire to keep pressing his luck by sacrificing his life for the cause.

BBY 2 is the coup de grâce culminating in two of the best episodes of television this century courtesy of “Who Are You?” and “Welcome to the Rebellion”. The former is named after a line channeling the “Mad Men” meme exchange between Don Draper and Michael Ginsberg with all the withering heat of “I don’t think about you at all” as well as the revelation that, despite his many attempts at the contrary, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) is nothing more than a cog in the machine. Its epic faux “first strike” turning into massacre (the parallels to Stephen Miller fabricating a reason to put federal law enforcement on the ground in Los Angeles right now are uncanny) leads to a powerful, galvanizing moment for the rebellion that can only be rivaled by Mon and Senator Organa’s (now played by Benjamin Bratt) sacrifices within a tense exfiltration during the latter episode.

And the final block serves as the connective tissue to Rogue One—a beautifully orchestrated last hurrah for those who don’t make it into that film and a rousing ramp up to the drama ahead for those who do. Yes, even K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). I’ll admit to being worried that it didn’t seem like there would be enough time to do it justice considering all that occurred during BBY 2, but the cast and crew get it done with elegant precision and high-octane suspense courtesy of both Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) and Cass knowing what is at stake once they realize they might have finally compressed the information gap separating their efforts from those of Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn).

Their ability to advance so much plot in so little time with these densely packed trios only works by giving audiences the respect they deserve as far as knowing we understand the connections without needing them spelled out (sorry, Netflix, not everyone wants “second screen” content with dialogue meant to keep us informed so we don’t actually need to watch anything). It’s a testament to their love for these characters and their handle on the politics of both sides of a civil conflict caused by fascistic oppression (heck, we do too considering all that’s happening on American soil and beyond today). That they do so while also finding time to focus on smaller representations of that scenario (namely Kathryn Hunter’s unforgettable, totalitarian mother) is our gain on an entertainment and educational level considering sympathizers must never be let off the hook.

Beyond the easy heroes and villains, however, “Andor” also gets to the heart of a person like Syril—someone who might prove most intriguing due to his delusion about his place in the dichotomy. Because there’s a difference between him and ISB members like Dedra and Partagaz (Anton Lesser). He might be on the side of evil, but he exists there as an idealist earnestly pursuing a warped ideal fed to him since youth. They operate on ego and ambition, willingly trading their souls for a piece of the pie. Syril operates on righteousness, presuming his pursuit of justice is pure because he hasn’t awoken to the fact that his justice is actually a means to bolster his superiors’ injustice. It’s why Dedra and Partagaz’s ends feel satisfying in their anguish and Syril’s feels heartbreaking by contrast. Sadly, too many refuse to open their eyes until it’s already too late.

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(L-R) Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. ©2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.