‘Andor’ Season 1 Recap: What to Remember Before Season 2

Rebellions are built on hope and that hope is alive and well with “Andor” Season 2 finally here.

The second season of “Andor” shows what Cassian’s (Diego Luna) time in the rebellion was like in the four years leading up to the events in “Rogue One.” It’s a bit of a change from Season 1, which took place over a single year. Things start coming to a head as the Rebellion grows into a more legitimate threat but the stress of years of fighting begins to weigh down on the spies and politicians fighting the good fight.

Before the final season begins, head below to refresh what happened to the titular hero in our complete “Andor” Season 1 recap.

Cassian Meets Luthen

The series begins with Cassian looking for his sister – who we learn in flashbacks was separated from him when they were young and Cassian was just “Kassa” – but in the search he accidentally kills one Imperial security officer and purposefully a second to cover it up. In his panic he rushes back to his new home planet of Ferrix.

He arrives on Ferrix and is sheltered by his adoptive mother Maarva (Fiona Shaw) and his friend Bix (Adria Arjona). While he’s in hiding the mysterious rebel Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) arrives on the planet just as an ambitious Imperial deputy named Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) pieces things together and sends soldiers to Ferrix looking for Cassian.

With the Empire hot on his tail, Cassian goes on the run and comes across Luthen who recognizes a spark in him. Luthen agrees to get Cassian off planet if he’ll help him with the resistance.

The Aldhani Heist

Cassian’s first major mission for Luthen is to help an assembled group rob an Imperial garrison. Cassian’s hope is that his cut of the operation will let him retire fast and he can get somewhere the Empire can’t reach. While the tensions remain high between the team throughout the mission, he does meet Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther) who has a strong anti-Empire mindset.

The mission goes sideways fast and both Nemik and Arvel Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are killed while Cassian and Vel (Faye Marsay) make it out alive. Before he died, Nemik gifted Cassian his anti-Empire manifesto containing strong words and thoughts on the state of the galaxy and how to motivate others to join the rebellion.

Despite all that, Cassian still takes his cut and quietly returns to Ferrix to try to convince Maarva to leave with him. She refuses, opting to stay on the planet and try resisting the Empire.

Narkina 5 Prison Break

Cassian tries to retire after the heist but is wrongfully arrested on a resort planet and sent to the Narkina 5 prison. Inside he meets Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) and others while they’re forced to assemble mysterious components for hours on end while they work off their sentence.

Cassian, Kino and the others eventually learn that the Empire is not honoring the ending of prison sentences and just shipping people off to other prisons when their time comes, or killing them outright. This leads the inmates into a riot and – following a stirring rally speech by Kino – ends with the prison being taken over. Cassian and most of the prisoners manage to escape the prison and make it to shore – although because Kino can’t swim he was forced to stay behind.

A post-credits scene following the Season 1 finale revealed that the components the prisoners were assembling were parts of the Death Star.

Ferrix Rebellion

While Cassian was locked up, Ferrix fell apart. An ISB agent named Deedra Meero (Denise Gough) has become obsessed with toppling a rebel network called Axis – Luthen’s group – and is convinced Cassian was the key. She and Syril arrive on Ferrix and arrest Bix hoping to get information out of her, but when that doesn’t work they have a fallback – Cassian’s adoptive mother Meera died and Deedra hopes her funeral will draw him back home.

Cassian arrives home ready to break Bix out and get his friends off the planet now that Maarva is dead. Luthen also gets to Ferrix with Vel and Cinta (Varada Sethu), with plans to kill Cassian and cover their tracks.

While all these roads are converging, a final message of Maarva plays in the town square. She urges the people to stand up and fight the Empire which sparks a rebellion in town as the citizens turn on their oppressors. In the chaos, Cassian rescues Bix and convinces her and his friend Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) to leave Ferrix.

The group separates and just as Cassian’s about to get away, Luthen shows up holding him at gunpoint. Cassian tells the man to either kill him now or let him join the resistance in a larger capacity. Luthen lowers his weapon with a smile and welcomes Cassian to the larger rebellion.

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