Annlyel James 
The final five episodes of Andor Season 2 are single-handedly the most incredible run of episodes I’ve ever seen in a series, says Annlyel James.
The critically acclaimed Star Wars series Andor has ended, and with it comes a reflection on this storytelling journey that has transpired over nine years. In 2016, when I watched Rogue One for the first time, it instantly became my favorite Star Wars movie of all time. Not only was the story engaging, but the characters were just as compelling, and so even as their stories came to a tragic end, the impact they left on the franchise felt palpable and exciting.
Thanks to interesting tidbits of information hinting at a fascinating past, my favorite character in the movie is Cassian Andor. He was the character who I felt should have his origin story told. But I assumed one day he’d get an epic novel to fill in those fascinating gaps, not a two-season television series with some of the best writing, if not the best writing, in all of Star Wars.
CASSIAN ANDOR’S STORY
Fast forward nine years, and that series has concluded, leaving behind twenty-four episodes to flesh out Cassian Andor’s story while also introducing us to a swath of other fascinating characters that have made this story all the more rewarding: Luthen Rael, Bix Caleen, Kleya, Dedra Meero, and Syril Karn. To say I appreciate this series is an understatement, especially knowing it might be some time before we get a Star Wars story this good again.
Don’t get me wrong; I will tune into The Mandalorian and Grogu when they hit the big screen next year, even though, so far, as far as I can tell, it looks like just another episode of The Mandalorian rather than a grand cinematic adventure. I am actually excited and intrigued by Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling. Still, Andor operates on another level of Star Wars that hasn’t been tapped into since George Lucas’s original trilogy.
Andor sometimes loses the classic charm of a typical Star Wars adventure with its often close-to-home commentary and allegories throughout the series. Especially this season, its commitment to taking itself seriously has been sorely lacking in this franchise. 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope was a classic heroic adventure set in a galaxy far, far away, but The Empire Strikes Back was a revelation. It was darker, had shocking plot twists, and pushed the boundaries of what Star Wars can be. That creative decision to push the franchise beyond its stale simplicity and to genuinely surprise audiences is something that this franchise desperately needs to remain exciting, and Andor does that in bounds.
PHENOMENAL STORYTELLING
Andor, like the original trilogy, is a classic tale of good vs. evil laced with romance, action, phenomenal storytelling, and compelling characters. Its boldness, however, to introduce mature subject material like sexual assault and acknowledge atrocities such as genocide is how Andor pushes the boundaries of the franchise and takes its thematic material seriously, delivering a poignant, gripping story that will go down as one of the most incredible, most relevant series ever made.
Personally, I didn’t like the one-year time gap between episodes of Andor’s second season. Tony Gilroy mentioned that, if he could, he would’ve spread Andor across five seasons, and the story often felt like it needed more episodes to help enrich the story. There were so many character and story developments that I would’ve loved to see that happened offscreen because of these time jumps, which often felt disappointing and disorienting. I also wasn’t particularly fond of the narrative choice to only begin introducing the Death Star plotline in the final three episodes because it felt like there should be at least a couple more episodes to focus on this very crucial subject.
Like the first season, there was a disconcerting lack of aliens in the story, especially primary alien characters. For example, the planet Ghorman. Not a single one of the rebels, or it seemed the planet’s citizens, was an alien, and that deeply bothered me because what is Star Wars without aliens? Some of the greatest Star Wars characters are aliens: Yoda, Chewbacca, Ahsoka Tano, Grogu, Darth Maul, Asajj Ventress, and the list continues.
A BRILLIANT FINALE
Despite my gripes about the season, the final five episodes of Andor are single-handedly the most incredible run of episodes I’ve ever seen in a series. Each episode delivers a gut punch of emotion, with the story building to a brilliant finale that left me sobbing the hardest since that character died in Star Wars: Rebels. If you’ve watched Rebels, you know what I’m talking about. It had been so long since Star Wars had touched me so deeply that it almost felt like a shock.
Star Wars is a franchise I fell in love with as a child because behind the epic lightsaber duels and lovable characters was a story that I genuinely connected with. It’s taught me life lessons, it’s been my comfort zone, and there have been countless times when Star Wars has made me feel like the happiest person in the world. Andor rekindled a little bit of that spark that has been missing from my feelings toward this franchise, and for that, I am grateful for its existence.
The Star Wars: Andor Season 2 series is now streaming on Disney+.
Annlyel James is a Senior Correspondent of The Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter where she channels the Force frequently!
