Andor finally returns for its second and final season on April 22. With the series set to blast through the final four years of Cassian Andor's life before his heartbreaking sacrifice in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we expect showrunner Tony Gilroy has a lot of story to cram in.
It's already been confirmed that the show will end where the 2016 movie began but there's a great deal to tackle before reaching Rogue One. For example, we've yet to see Cassian's first meeting with his loyal former Imperial droid, K-2SO (played by Alan Tudyk).
"I fully know how how long you've waited for this. I know how long you've waited," Gilroy told Entertainment Weekly (via SFFGazette.com). "I have my reasons for doing it. They were really good narrative reasons, and I know that everybody's been waiting. So, we've done our best to make the most of it. I hope it passes muster."
The showrunner is likely referencing the disappointment surrounding K-2SO's absence from season 1. Rogue One villain, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), will be in season 2 but could Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso make a surprise appearance?
"I'm not gonna answer that question fully. We're not really teasers in our show, are we? We don't really tease very much. Everything that we're gonna bring in to get to Rogue is going to be organic," Gilroy explained. "There's nothing we're bringing in for fun. Or just because somebody wants to see it. It has to be germane to the story."
At best, we'd imagine footage from Rogue One will be recycled. It doesn't make much sense for Jyn to play a role beyond that but Gilroy may have figured out a way to expand her story here too.
A recent trailer for Andor also confirmed that we're heading to Ghorman, the location of the Ghorman Massacre. Only bits and pieces have been revealed about what happened there, though we know Mon Mothma's decision to publicly blame Emperor Palpatine is what led to her becoming a fugitive.
In a separate conversation with Collider (also via SFFGazette.com), Gilroy confirmed that he intends to explore what happened on the planet in great detail.
"Mon Mothma leaving the Senate is canonical. There are a couple of other events in here. The development of Yavin is canonical. Obviously, the discovery of the Death Star and whatever intelligence there is, espionage, that leads to the beginning of Rogue One is canonical. I had to get to all those things."
"Ghorman, interestingly, is canonical but completely undescribed. It's a total blank slate," Gilroy continued. "There's also a bit of confusion about the Ghorman Massacre, and what is the Ghorman Massacre? There's a lot of confusion within canon. So, it was an opportunity to rebuild in a really significant way."
"It's a very significant part of our show that can do a lot of different things for us. Quite honestly, it's very expensive to build, so we really want to use it as much as possible so it carries over five different episodes. I'm really confident that the really deep, passionate Star Wars community will appreciate how we've straightened out that story," he concluded.
Star Wars fans have great faith in Gilroy's vision for the franchise and it's a shame in many ways that plans to delve into these five years across five seasons were scrapped. Hopefully, exploring a year over three episodes won't feel too rushed.
The final season of Andor will unfold over 12 episodes broken down into four chapters of three episodes each. The first chapter will premiere April 22, with subsequent chapters debuting each week.