Andor season 2 Chapter 3 picks up one year later, where the Ghorman occupation has become destroyed beyond repair, as citizens continue to rebel and the Empire brings in the stormtroopers. Within the year, tensions are running high, and all of our main characters are involved.
Ghorman hangs in the balance, but will it become the push the rebellion needs to finally act? And if so, at what cost?
SPOILERS BELOW.
Andor season 2 episode 7 takeaways
Within the year, the beginnings of the rebellion are finally taking root at Yavin 4, where Cassian and Bix live in a spacious tree house. When Bix notices the wound on his back isn't healing, she decides to take Cassian to see a Force healer.
Although Cassian believes it all to be superstitious nonsense, a Force healer is able to help him, but in doing so leaves him startled. This encounter will become a major rift between Cassian and Bix.
Their friend Wil returns, having been working for Luthen, asking for Cassian's help in killing Dedra, who resides on Ghorman. Although Cassian initially disagrees, worried that it is for revenge over the good of the rebellion, they both decide to go at the worst possible time.
On Ghorman, the Empire has made it very clear, much to Dedra's dismay, that they are going to force the people to evacuate the planet so they can begin drilling for the Kalkite. However, it is the nature of how they will force people to flee.
The Ghorman rebellion has been at odds with itself as the Empire continues to plan attacks and blame it on the rebels.
It seems the fallout between the Ghorman Front rebellion group and Luthen is over, as both sides have been working together. Vel visits Bix, telling her how Cassian has become a role model for the rebellion and that they plan for him to take on more responsibilities.
Season 2 episode 8 takeways
The situation on Ghorman turns tragic as Cassian realizes from his view at the hotel that the Empire is creating a trap for the Ghorman rebels. As the city is opened, Ghorman citizens and rebels unite, sharing their love for their planet as they march to the exact spot several were killed years ago.
But as they proceed, it's becoming apparent that they are being surrounded. The leader of the Ghorman rebels tries to warn them, including his daughter, but none will listen.
When he finds Syril on the streets, it becomes clear that Syril was never informed of the true reason the Empire wanted Ghorman. Enraged, near psychotic, he confronts Dedra, forcing her to confess that he was tasked with finding agitators while the Empire prepares to dig Ghorman for its kalkite.
Dedra promises Syril that once this is over, the two can go back home with new promotions. Feeling betrayed, Syril leaves and returns to the crowd before Dedra can stop him.
Cassian continues to struggle to find a perfect position to kill Dedra, constantly losing communication with Wil. Realizing that the Empire wants to anger the rebels and citizens, Ghorman decides to change tactics and sing a song.
However, this only lasts for so long as once a sniper kills an Empire soldier, an Empire soldier kills a citizen, and a full-blown massacre begins. With nowhere to hide or escape, Stormtroopers and KX security droids arrive, killing everyone in sight.
In the midst of this chaos, Syril spots Cassian and the two have a brutal fight, which ends with Syril getting the upper hand. But when he hesitates killing Cassian, seemingly losing the reason as to why he should, the leader of the Ghorman Front Rebellion group kills Syril.
Once an explosion enables people to escape, the killing continues onto the streets. A KX sets its sight on Cassian and Wil, gets crushed by a Ghorman Front rebel driving a vehicle.
Cassian decides to retrieve the damaged KX security droid, ready to leave the planet with Wil. But Wil, against all better judgement, decides to remain to find a young woman he's become romantically involved with.
She survived and has been sending out distress calls to anyone who will listen about how the people of Ghorman were being massacred. The incident leaves several characters in tears, including Cassian, who witnessed and survived essentially a genocide of the Ghorman people, Dedra, who lost Syril and has a heartbreaking reaction, and Syril's mother, who watches everything unfold at home.
With the Ghorman situation reaching the Senate on Coruscant, tensions remain high with everyone on edge and arrests being made. Mon Mothma is devastated when she discovers she too has been watched, finding a listening device in her office that is promptly destroyed.
Season 2 episode 9 takeways
The massacre on Ghorman becomes the final straw for Mon Mothma who decides to finally take matters into her own hands. Knowing that she is being watched and spied on by the Empire, including a listening device in her office, a plan is set in motion that after her speech to the Senate, she will escape to Yavin 4.
The initial plan is to trust Senator Gail Organa's people, but Luthen convinces Mon Mothma to trust him instead. Mon Mothma has a hard time trusting Luthen, finding him to be more terrifying than the Empire.
What she doesn't know is that Luthen is enlisting Cassian's help. But Cassian makes it clear that this will be his last mission.
Having witnessed such pain and devastation, he doesn't want to be involved in the rebellion any longer. What ensues is Mon Mothma planning to go through with her speech, the Empire trying and failing to shut the Senate down, a traitor amongst Bail Organa's people tasked with protecting Mon Mothma, and an exhilarating escape.
Mon Mothma succeeds in delivering her speech, condemning the Emperor himself, before the lines are cut, and no one can hear her speech anymore. Cassian is there to rescue her, protecting her at every turn, killing anyone trying to stop them.
This is Mon Mothma's first experience dealing with the realities of what the rebellion costs those who are involved. Mon Mothma choosing to trust Luthen, and therefore trusting Cassian, proves to save her life.
Cassian returns home to Bix, confiding in how he wants to leave the rebellion. Bix remains oddly quiet and for good reason.
By the next morning, she leaves, recording Cassian a heartfelt message about how she needed to leave so that he could continue his work for the rebellion. Cassian barely has any time to process the heartbreak when he's informed that the KX droid has been repaired.
Unsure if the droid's programming has been changed, he and others stand armed and ready. But when the KX comes to life, it's pleasant and harmless.
Andor season 2 chapter 3 review
There is so much to unpack as Chapter 3 has easily become the best chapter of Andor season 2. It's amazing how the massacre on Ghorman is what truly begins the rebellion.
And while Star Wars has never shied away from battles and devastating losses, the massacre on Ghorman was a tragedy I could barely sit through to watch. It was unspeakable and shows the lengths of which the Empire would go to get what they want.
I wasn't expecting the new season to be this action-packed, not even with the fight scene between Syril and Cassian. There is no way the cast of Andor season 2 will be completely neglected next award season.
Every single performance from every single character has been filled with so much emotion, raw emotion. I could barely keep it together watching Dedra battle herself, between wanting to grieve over Syril's death, but still wanting to keep herself composed.
That woman will never fall in love with anyone ever again. She will never truly allow herself to have such joy ever again.
Cassian literally survived a horrific slaughter of countless Ghorman lives. And over what, the kalkite?
We rarely see the atrocities the Empire commits throughout the galaxy. And truthfully, it's because Ghorman is but a small example of what does occur.
But the show was so smart for putting audiences into a world that is run by the Empire and why the rebellion is so important. The show wants to convey just how important the rebellion is and how every life that is lost mattered.
Andor season 2 episodes 10-12 stream Wednesday, May 14 on Disney+.