Andor Season 2 Echoes A Star Wars Rebels Moment That Makes Saw Gerrera Even More Tragic

Revolution is not for the sane, but it is for those who have watched the season 2 finale of "Andor," because there are heavy spoilers ahead.

Much like "Rogue One" before it, part of the magic of "Andor" is seeing how much nuance and context it gives to the space opera of the original trilogy. It turns what is a rather simple story of good guys rising up to fight an evil empire into a complex tale of morality, detailing the hardship of resisting oppression and fascism, and the personal cost of standing up for others. Thanks to this show, the Empire is now a much more recognizable thing than it was before — no longer just a collection of mustache-twirling villains, but an everyday evil. (The kind that meets in fancy snow resorts to plan a genocide and then hides it through propaganda.) The Ghorman massacre arc in the second season of "Andor" doesn't just have some of the most harrowing imagery in the history of "Star Wars," but it's arguably the best story arc in the franchise's nearly 50-year history.

The show also adds nuance to the Rebellion, turning them from a heroic group of freedom fighters into a messy collection of people with different ideals, approaches, and goals. There is constant infighting, contrasting moral positions, and nuances amongst the rebels that we hadn't seen before in the live-action part of the franchise. We see this in the radically different approaches between Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt), and Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), and how the Yavin IV group moved to legitimize itself as the face of the Rebellion by alienating Luthen to the point where his contributions to the cause were all but erased from history, despite really being the father of the Rebel Alliance.

Speaking of Saw, he's one of the best and most complex characters in all of "Star Wars." His arc from "The Clone Wars" all the way to "Rogue One" is fascinating, showing his life as a revolutionary and ultimately his downfall. In the finale of "Andor," there's a scene that echoes a fantastic moment from "Star Wars Rebels" that makes the story of Saw and the Rebellion at large even more tragic.

In "Andor" season 2 episode 12, we catch up with Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), who is now fully in her Rebellion era with the haircut we know from "Rogue One." We see Mon talking to a rhydonium-addicted Saw Gerrera via hologram, and the two argue about their methods. Mon thinks Saw is going too far, he's too open, and getting too much attention from the Empire, who have already sent a Star Destroyer to Jedha. (Of course, we know this is not because of Saw, but because of the kyber needed to power the Death Star.)

"If only you fought as well as you lie," Saw responds, accusing Mon and the Yavin IV rebels of spying on him, which she flat-out denies. Again, we know better, and just a few minutes later, Bail confirms that they have eyes on Saw's group.

The scene is a fantastic echo of a similar scene in "Star Wars Rebels" in which Saw calls out Mon for her group's inability to take the fight to the Empire, for sitting on their laurels and not doing enough. Mon still has hope that her allies in the Senate can find a solution through diplomacy rather than fighting, while Saw recognizes that the Empire has already labeled them all as criminals, so they better start acting like it and fight on their own terms rather than the Empire's. It's one of the best scenes in that entire series, exploring the fundamental differences in each leader's approach to freedom fighting. Though we know Saw to be an extremist who takes things too far, he does have a point — both in animation and live-action. When Mon Mothma accuses him of breaking every rule of engagement, Saw's response is:

"I hope, Senator, after you've lost, and the Empire reigns over the galaxy unopposed, you will find some comfort in the knowledge that you fought according to the rules."

The fact that we know Mon and Bail have actually sent people to spy on Saw means the state of paranoia he's in when we see him in "Rogue One" is entirely justified. Tony Gilroy has long teased that season 2 of "Andor" would shine a new light on "Rogue One," but we didn't know the extent to which that would prove true. The Saw we meet in that movie, dependent on a breathing device, mistrusting and paranoid, felt at the time like the movie just showing us a different side of the Rebellion and how some people could become too radicalized.

But now we know Saw was a man who spent a lifetime fighting oppression — first agains the Separatists on his home planet, and later the Empire — and got addicted to drugs in the process. He was not trusted by his compatriots and spied upon by his own allies. Can you blame him for being mistrusting of Jyn and Bodhi when they show up claiming to have information Saw conveniently spent years looking for?

"Andor" season 2 has shown the complexity of forming a rebellion, the sacrifices required, and the difficulty of keeping it all together. It also makes the Rebel Alliance more human and nuanced by making them deeply flawed. By the last three episodes of the season, the Alliance turns its back on Luthen and effectively erases him from history, but it's also painted Saw as a lonely extremist with zero ties to them in an effort to legitimize and clean up the image of the Yavin IV rebel cell. But we know better. Saw was not perfect, far from it, but he was just as much a Rebel as Luke, Han, or Leia.