Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Andor season 2, episodes 10-12
Andor has intrinsically changed and improved 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in multiple ways. Set in the years before the events of Rogue One and A New Hope, Andor season 2 recently came to an extremely satisfying end, setting up the initial events of Rogue One, leading right up to the galaxy-defining Battle of Scarif. Along the way, the Star Wars show has somehow made Rogue One even better than it already was.
Across its two seasons and 24 episodes, Andor showcases the dynamic evolution of Diego Luna’s titular Cassian Andor, becoming the Rebellion captain he first debuted as in 2016’s Rogue One. At the same time, resistance to the Empire continues to grow, eventually becoming the full-fledged Rebel Alliance on Yavin. Featuring an impressive cast of Rebels and Imperials alike, here are all the key changes and improvements Andor has made to the original Rogue One story.
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“Rebellions Are Built On Hope”
Rogue’s One Most Iconic Line
Seen in Andor season 2, episode 8, the Ghorman Massacre was the result of Imperial forces intentionally instigating violence via a false flag operation, creating a mass narrative that the people of Ghorman were being influenced and driven to said violence by outside agitators. This gave the Empire cause to wipe out the hundreds of protesters who’d truly been peaceful. This then cleared the way for the Empire to begin planetary mining operations, which destabilized the entire planet, all for the sake of the classified Death Star project.
On a job for Luthen Rael, Cassian Andor was present during this major tragedy, and it was on Ghorman that the Rebel soldier first heard the iconic Rogue One quote: “Rebellions are built on hope“. This was told to Cassian by a Ghorman hotel clerk who refused to stop fighting for his people despite the overwhelming odds. As such, it puts Cassian’s sharing of this iconic Rogue One line to Jyn Erso in a whole new light, especially after she then uses it to motivate the entire Alliance at the end of Rogue One.
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Rogue One’s Tivik and Bodi Rook Corroborated Luthen’s Intel From Andor’s Finale
How The Rebels Already Knew About Galen and An Imperial Superweapon
In Rogue One, Cassian meets with his informant Tivik about rumors of an Imperial superweapon being built with help from a key engineer named Galen Erso. However, Cassian and the Alliance already seemed to have a prior familiarity with Erso and the rumors of a new weapon being constructed. Now, Andor season 2 reveals that Luthen Rael was the one who first provided the Alliance with intel about Erso and the Death Star project. This means that the information from Tivik and the Imperial pilot Bodi Rook in Rogue One simply corroborated what the Alliance already suspected, answering a key mystery from the original Star Wars movie.
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K-2SO’s “Reprogramming” And True Origins
Rewriting The Original Canon
Deployed during the Ghorman Massacre, K-2SO was a KX-series Imperial droid who almost killed Cassian in Andor season 2. However, the droid that would become Andor’s partner in Rogue One was instead hit by a speeder. The droid’s remains were then taken by Cassian back to Yavin, where K-2SO received a new cortex, suppressing his Imperial programming rather than being fully reprogrammed as Kaytoo claims in Rogue One.
This new origin does rewrite K-2SO’s original origins in the canon comics. That said, it’s arguably for the better as it provides a more dynamic first meeting for the Rogue One duo. Likewise, a full team of engineers having to work on Kaytoo makes a lot more sense than Cassian fully reprogramming an Imperial droid on his own in the field (as in the original story).
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Saw Gerrera’s Full Instability And Alliance Tensions
An Unhinged (And Addicted) Extremist
Image via Disney+
Andor also fleshed out just how unhinged Saw Gerrera truly was. Shooting his own men the moment he suspected they couldn’t be trusted and refusing to work with Alliance leaders, Saw Gerrera’s Partisans were brutal in their mission to be free of the Empire, no matter the cost. Likewise, it’s established that the paranoia undoubtedly came from Andor season 2’s reveal of Saw Gerrera’s rhydonium addiction. An unstable starfighter fuel, Saw enjoys breathing its toxic fumes, granting intense “clarity” while also causing gradual physical damage to the mind and body. This explains Saw’s unhinged extremism in Rogue One, as well as his need for an oxygen tank.
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The Influence Of the Force On Cassian Andor
Going Beyond Jyn Erso
Image via Disney+
In Rogue One, the influence of the Force on Jyn Erso is clearly felt. Jyn’s mother was a strong believer in the Force, having encouraged her daughter to trust in it along with the gift of a kyber crystal before she died. Likewise, Jyn would continue to feel the Force’s power and those who believed in it through characters like Chirrut îmwe and Baze Malbus.
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However, Andor highlights the Force’s influence on Cassian as well. Encountering a Force healer on Yavin, this woman was able to sense Andor’s destiny as “a messenger”, foreshadowing his future in Rogue One. As a result, the final episodes of Andor are all about Cassian finally embracing his destiny and the Cause, giving in to the Force’s plans for his fate, much like Jyn and their shared roles as “messengers”.
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Jyn’s Mother May Have More Of A Force Connection Than We Thought
Some Key Similarities With Andor Season 2’s Force Healer
It’s also possible that Jyn’s mother may have been more connected to the Force than was revealed in Rogue One. While pure speculation, it’s notable that both Lyra Erso and Andor’s previously mentioned Force healer are similarly dressed. Likewise, the simple fact that non-Jedi Force healers even existed opens the door for speculation about Force-sensitive beings in the Star Wars galaxy who could feel and use the Force, though perhaps not strongly enough to become Jedi (or were never found by the Order).
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Cassian’s Complex Relationship With The Alliance
Andor’s Willingness To Break The Rules
Image via Disney+
Rogue One makes it seem like Cassian was a dedicated Rebel who always followed orders up until meeting Jyn Erso and breaking protocol to infiltrate Scarif. However, Andor establishes that Cassian was far more independent than initially realized, while still believing in the cause. Cassian often bent Alliance protocols to do the right thing, and taking a U-Wing to Scarif was not the first time he’d stolen an Alliance ship on an unauthorized mission, going to Ghorman and extracting both Mon Mothma and Kleya from Coruscant being some key notable examples.
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The Full Pressure of Krennic’s Failures and Delays:
“When Has Become Now”
In Rogue One, Director Krennic is under fire from Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader for various delays and security leaks. Andor fleshes out both in great detail, confirming that the Death Star was meant to be operational a full year earlier in the Star Wars timeline, though struggles to obtain material like kalkite on Ghorman and kyber on Jedha slowed down construction. Likewise, the leaks about the Death Star did not begin on Jedha as Rogue One suggests, but with Luthen Rael’s mole within the Imperial Security Bureau. This better explains the multiple security breaches Tarkin accuses Krennic of in Rogue One.
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Andor Season 2 Confirms Just How Close The Rebellion Came To Its Own Demise
Death Star Skepticism
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While Luthen died on Coruscant shortly after getting his intel from his ISB mole, the information still got to Cassian and then to Alliance leadership on Yavin. That said, Mon Mothma was the only member who didn’t meet the news of a secret Imperial super weapon with skepticism. While Cassian was eventually allowed to meet with his informant Tivik to corroborate the intel as seen at the beginning of Rogue One, it’s remarkable just how close the Alliance came to its own demise had Cassian’s reports and Luthen’s information not been taken seriously.
