Andor Season 2 Could Address A Huge Star Wars Blindspot
We can’t ignore the space princess in the room.
Rogue One expanded the Star Wars galaxy with a trove of new characters and worlds, but nearly 10 years later it’s perhaps most memorable for its more nostalgic swings. The film’s use of deepfake technology to bring back characters from the original Star Wars trilogy, like Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia, earned mixed reactions in 2016, but that approach has come to subtly (and negatively) define the next phase of the saga.
New Lucasfilm projects are digging even deeper into the Age of the Empire, an era that could have focused on a young Leia Organa. But the franchise seems entirely disinterested in recasting a new actor to portray the character, leaving a distracting vacuum at the story’s center.
While Leia has been mentioned here and there in projects like Ahsoka, she’s largely an off-screen presence. The most recent Star Wars series have either focused on newer characters, or characters from the animated shows. Andor may be the best of the bunch, and as a prequel to Rogue One, its first season focused on a time before Leia (and other famous galactic heroes) were around.
Andor Season 1 took place roughly five years before the events of Episode IV — A New Hope, and it prioritized stories we’d never considered before. But Andor Season 2 will speed through the intervening years to a finale that occurs right before the beginning of Rogue One. That means more legacy characters are bound to pop up across the 12-episode season... and more than any Star Wars show before it, Andor will have to deal with Leia’s absence somehow.
Leia plays a major role in the Rebellion’s early days. How will Andor deal with her absence?
Andor Season 2 will focus on the development of its title hero, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Across 12 episodes and four in-universe years, Cassian will rise through the ranks of the Galactic Rebellion, becoming its most competent saboteur and spy. While he works in the shadows, Andor is also set to explore the Empire’s political machinations. The future leader of the Rebellion, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), will spend time in the Imperial Senate fighting Emperor Palpatine’s growing influence. It’s here that Leia’s absence will be most acutely felt: she and Mothma were both Senators who worked hard to aid the Rebellion behind enemy lines.
Leia served as a spy within the Senate long after Mothma left to lead the Rebel Alliance. She ought to be a key member of the Andor cast, but unless Lucasfilm has a change of heart and decides to recast the role, we probably won’t see her in action. Leia’s dad, Bail Organa, will likely fill that void wherever possible. Mon Mothma is also set to have an even larger role this season, and she could easily take over Leia’s role in the narrative. That said, Andor will still have to acknowledge the character’s existence, and her importance to the Rebellion.
We could get another clunky deepfaked cameo in line with her appearance in Rogue One, or another character could namedrop her exploits, which worked well enough in Ahsoka. Whatever road the story takes this season, there’s no getting around Leia’s impact; sooner or later, Lucasfilm has to realize how important she is to the saga.
