Andor Creator Tony Gilroy Says Season 2 Tells The 'True' Story Of Mon Mothma's Escape [Exclusive]

Showrunner Tony Gilroy had to accomplish an awful lot with "Andor" season 2. He had to fill in nearly five years' worth of "Star Wars" storytelling leading right up to the events of "Rogue One." Most would say Gilroy and the filmmakers he worked with did a great job, as it's one of the best-reviewed things during the Disney era of Lucasfilm. It, however, was not without some perceived hiccups, particularly the way it played with established canon.

One of the season's most acclaimed episodes, "Welcome to the Rebellion," sees Cassian (Diego Luna) helping Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) escape from Coruscant after her impassioned speech against the Empire in the Senate after the Ghorman massacre. However, a version of these events already played out in the animated series "Star Wars Rebels," particularly the season 3 episode "Secret Cargo."

"There's a whole variety of what's canonical and what's not canonical, but that show is canonical," Gilroy recently explained in an interview with /Film's Ben Pearson. "That's an above-the-line one that we have to pay attention to." So Gilroy and his team certainly didn't ignore "Rebels" in crafting this storyline. Instead, they tried to find a way to build on it, as he explained:

"I have to admit that when we looked at it, we were like, [hesitant] 'Whoa.' Well, what do we get out of it? We have to introduce a character, her assistant, Erskin Semaj, so he goes into the wedding. We start with him at the wedding. Later on, you'll find out that's when Luthen recruited him. His mother was Ghorman, and that's a little breadcrumb that anybody who's really paying attention will pick up on. So we build Erskin Semaj."

In "Secret Cargo," the Ghost crew of Hera, Zebm, and Ezra are tasked with transporting Mon Mothma away from Imperial control. The episode's key moment features Mon Mothma giving a big speech to those across the galaxy who wish to stand against the Empire. Sound familiar?

Both shows take place at the exact same point in the "Star Wars" timeline. Gilroy wanted to explore Mon Mothma's reaction to the Ghorman massacre, albeit in a different way than what was depicted in "Rebels." Erskin Semaj, played by Pierro Niel-Mee in "Andor" season 2, also appeared in this "Rebels" episode. Ultimately, Gilroy and Co. used him as the connective tissue. Speaking further, Gilory made it clear that he doesn't like the idea that anyone would call this retooling of the events a retcon. He elaborated: 

"There's got to be another term other than retcon, because we're not going to really retcon it, but we're going to tell you that — it's like, print the legend, not the truth. We're going to show you the true thing that happened. Everything in the cartoon should still be legit, it's just the backstory is not what happened, so that was our answer for that."

Gilroy continued, "The thing is, when [Cassian] gets off the truck at Yavin at the end, and then Draven says to him, 'Hey, thanks for doing this' and whatever, and 'she's going to give this big speech and it's better if the Gold Squadron — she's going to give a big speech if you want to hear it.' And Diego says, 'No, man, I already heard her speak,' [laughs] and he heads off. He heads home."

What ends up happening is that "Welcome to the Rebellion" and "Secret Cargo" sort of play like two halves of a whole now. It's a bit of, in Gilroy's own words, "hijacking canon" that gives this big "Rebels" episode less weight as it's more of a secondary speech, rather than the definitive speech. One that Cassian doesn't even feel the need to listen to.

I must admit I have a tough time approaching this situation with total objectivity. I hold "Star Wars Rebels" up as some of the best "Star Wars" ever. I know lots of other die-hard fans love it too. It's not just for kids. So "hijacking canon" rubs me the wrong way, even though I admittedly absolutely loved "Welcome to the Rebellion," taken as an isolated episode of television.

My bigger issue, and one that goes beyond myself, is that Gilroy was willing to disregard established canon to make "Andor" season 2. Most notably, he disregarded K-2SO's origin story completely. "I was annoyed to find out that somebody in the interim between 'Rogue' and ['Andor'] had written an origin story for K-2SO. And it's like, 'No, I'm not paying attention to that,'" Gilory said in a previous interview. The origin in question was a one-shot comic published in 2017 titled "Star Wars: Rogue One — Cassian & K-2SO Special" #1

I have no attachment to this specific comic, and I don't think a lot of people do. There are, however, comics that I love dearly, such as the outstanding 2015 "Darth Vader" series. There are also novels like "Lost Stars" and animated shows like "Rebels" that I adore. When Disney took over Lucasfilm in 2012, they decided to reset the canon and, from that point on, everything that was made, counted. Books, comics, even video games. It was all part of the tapestry that is a galaxy, far, far away. Therein lies the point.

While the movies and live-action shows will probably always be where the majority of fans get their "Star Wars" fix, it is the hardcore fans who make it such a profitable enterprise for Disney. We buy these comics, read these books, and play these video games. We're told they count, so we treat them like they count.

No matter how good "Andor" is, it feels like a slippery slope to me to allow creators to come in and discount other canon work just because it's convenient. Gilroy's framing of this as the "true" version of these events makes sense on one hand. On the other, it's frustrating, particularly as a fan who does care about these things that Gilroy simply doesn't want to pay attention to.

"Andor" is streaming now on Disney+.