Summary
Eager viewers tuning intoAndorseason 2 might be surprised by the new state of affairs after the one-year timejump following the explosive first season’s finale. After what seemed like a galvanizing moment of rebellion against the Empire, the survivors of Ferrix are now lying low, the fight mostly out of their hands, with the obvious exception of Cassian.
This new status quo might seem like a shock, but it was actually predicted and outlined by a key character in season 1. Nemik, one of the crew members for Cassian’s credits heist on Aldhani, was the author of a manifesto that will serve as inspiration for much of how the rebellion will unfold this season.
Nemik’s screentime may have been brief, as he was fatally injured in the heist after just three episodes in the Aldhani arc. However, his impact has carried far beyond this appearance, in the form of his ideas, after leaving Cassian his manifesto. As if to prove this, Nemik’s speech is read by Cassian ahead of the season 1 finale, “Rix Road.” It’s a perfect illustration of the state of the rebellion at the outset of season 2, and the journey these disparate rebel factions will undergo throughoutthe four years this season spans in the lead-up toRogue One.
Nemik’s Manifesto
Marva’s recorded speech at her funeral on Ferrix demonstrated thatwords have immense potential to incite rebellion. Nemik’s writing is ultimately an extension of that.
Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere.
Nemik is largely used as a vessel forthe show’s political themes and assertions, a thought-provoking interpretation of various real-world revolutionary ideologies. His manifesto’s full title,The Trail of Political Consciousness,is not only a mission statement for those already enlisted in this fight. It also reveals its intentions to awaken the political consciousness of the neutral masses, and convince those not already enlisted in the fight against the empire.
Nemik admitted as much too in season one, telling Cassian that he was the “ideal reader” when he expressed ambivalence about the ideology driving the manifesto. No longer a skeptic, Cassian opens the season re-assuring a recently-converted mole for the Rebellion at aSienar TIE Avenger test facility. Having been fully convinced, Cassian is now the one giving the inspiration:
“You made this decision long ago… The Empire cannot win. You’ll never feel right unless you’re doing what you can to stop them. You’re coming home to yourself, you’ve become more than your fear. Let that protect you”.
Random Acts of Insurrection
The second episode of season 2 sees Cassian trapped on an unknown planet with a crew of shipwrecked insurgents. Assuming he’s an Imperial test pilot, the insurgents capture him, and a rift quickly forms over how they should treat him. When Cassian tells him he stole the ship for the Rebellion, they ask him:“Whose rebellion?”
By showing Cassian caught between two anti-Imperial insurgent factions, divided over petty leadership and prevented from working together to find a solution to their situation, we see the need for organized leadership and ideology. The two groups are both effectively fighting a rebellion, but without any knowledge or vision of the greater conflict. Cassian discovers that he’d been providing supplies to his captors all along, insisting:“Argue all you want, we’re all a part of the same rebellion.“But the insurgents are too locked in their power struggle to listen.
Viewers don’t discover until its final shot that this storyline tookplace on Yavin IV, largely thought of as the birthplace of the rebellion. The Battle of Yavin is at the center of in-universe historical records in Star Wars. Episodes ofAndoreven open with its year Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY). This sees the show laying the seeds of the rebellion on this hostile, divided planet.
By ending this episode in particular with that reveal, the show is promising that when we return to Yavin IV, it will be with the united, organized rebellion we see Cassian fighting alongside inRogue One. Of course, Mon Mothma is also no stranger to the planet, seen there in bothRogue OneandRebels.It’s safe to assume her story will finally intersect with Cassian’s, as her and Luthen Rael’s struggle to fund and organize the Rebellion continues. Just like in Nemik’s manifesto, the factions on Yavin IV need to achieve political consciousness before they can truly become soldiers in a rebellion. Their urge for freedom is natural, but it takes inspiration and ideology to unite people under a cause. Like Luthen’s spy network and Saw Gerrera’s Partisans, these groups need to find common ground between their methods, ideas and leaders.
Of course, the Empire’s developing plot on Ghorman is related to Nemik’s ideas too. Dedra Meero remains resolute in her mission to stop Axis from evolving into a rebellion. Sheadvises Director Krennicto disrupt potential rebel activity on the planet by manufacturing a controllable insurgency:
You need Ghorman rebels you can depend on to do the wrong thing.
The Empire fears solidarity and unification between disparate factions, and aims to use the division between the existing rebel elements across the galaxy to prevent it.
If Season 1 ofAndorwas ultimately about finding the resolve and inspiration to rise up and fight oppression, its second season looks to be about finding the solidarity and common ground to join a cause greater than oneself. In season one, Cassian went from a rogue who only fights to protect his family into a dedicated soldier in the fight against the Empire. This season will see the show’s characters struggle to coalesce these factions into the organized, united Rebel Alliance we associate so closely with the planet.
Season 2 ofAndorwill release with three episodes weekly on Disney+, with the next batch dropping on Tuesday 29th April. Until then, viewers can continue picking apart the details of the first three episodes available now, or jump intoStar Wars: Outlawsahead of its newest DLC drop.
