How Andor Season 2's Incredible Saw Gerrera Speech Came Together [Exclusive]

In "Andor" season 2, Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker's Partisan leader Saw Gerrera is a charismatic and dangerous figure. His dramatic speech in episode 5 — titled "I Have Friends Everywhere" –  combines these key aspects of his character by taking the show in a direction "Star Wars" has rarely dared to tread. Here, Saw uses his own experiences with the explosive starship fuel rhydonium (which is as addictive as it's volatile) to convince Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) to embrace the substance's toxic fumes in a twisted initiation ritual.

Saw's speech starts with a story of his childhood on Onderon, where he and others were forced to mine for rhydo and a dangerous exposure left him with an unexpected taste for the stuff. He goes on to compare rhydo to a loving sibling, admits that he's aware that his fondness of the substance is not entirely sane, and wraps things up by comparing the Rebels themselves to rhydonium. "We're the rhydo, kid," Saw tells Wilmon. "We're the fuel. We're the thing that explodes when there's too much friction in the air."

In an exclusive interview, /Film's Ben Pearson spoke with "Andor" creator Tony Gilroy about the behind-the-scenes process that led to Saw's big speech and how it all started with the idea of Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) sending Wilmon to Saw for a rhydonium acquisition mission, thus subjecting the youngster to the Partisan's questionable influence:

"We were going to do the thing with Saw, because we wanted to have Wilmon — we wanted to see what Luthen kept doing now that he's losing Cassian. He's got Wilmon as his new surrogate, so he's sending Wilmon out to be his emissary. 'We'll send Wilmon to Saw. We'll feed him to Saw.'"

After making the decision to send Wilmon to Saw, Gilroy and writer Beau Willimon spotted the opportunity to explore how the latter turned into the "Rogue One" version of Saw, who needs a breathing device and doesn't have all of his limbs. As Gilroy put it, he and Willimon soon understood that a rhynodium addiction could explain a lot of his deterioration, to the point that his "Rogue One" mask might actually contain rhydo:

"Then I was like, 'Man, should he be hucking that thing that he has in 'Rogue?' When did he lose his leg, and when did he start that s**, and what is that s**? Because we never really knew. Is it oxygen, or what is it?' Then we said, 'He should be sending him there to steal this jet fuel,' because Saw's crew is all flying all over the place, so jet fuel is a really big deal for him. 'My God, this gives him an opportunity to get jet fuel anywhere he wants. He can steal it for the whole — he's got this magic tool.' I remember Beau calling me up and he goes, 'What if it's the rhydonium that he's hucking?' I'm like, 'Oh my God.' He goes, 'What if that's the thing that's...?' I go, 'Holy s***, let's go with that.' I was like, 'Yeah, f***ing really cool.'"

"Andor" has no shortage of great speeches, from Maarva Andor's (Fiona Shaw) recorded final Rebel yell to Luthen's season 1, episode 10 "sacrifice" monologue. While Saw's grand speech also concerns rebellion, it's ultimately about a person's own desires and flaws and how they can be used to serve the greater good — an unnerving, yet perfect summary of a recurring theme on "Andor."

"Andor" is now streaming on Disney+.