"Do I Have To Stick To This F***ing Speech?": ANDOR Showrunner On "Minimizing" STAR WARS REBELS In Season 2

"Do I Have To Stick To This F***ing Speech?": ANDOR Showrunner On "Minimizing" STAR WARS REBELS In Season 2

Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has commented on making a big change to Star Wars canon with the show's latest episode, even though that meant "minimizing" what we've seen in the animated Star Wars Rebels.

By JoshWilding - May 08, 2025 05:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Cassian Andor
Source: EW (via SFFGazette.com)

In episode 9 of Andor season 2, "Welcome to the Rebellion," Mon Mothma delivers a rousing speech to the Senate. In that, she challenges the Empire's account of what happened on Ghorman, and concludes by declaring, "The monster who will come for us all soon enough is Emperor Palpatine." 

Cassian Andor then helps her escape the ISB agents out to silence her, and Mon heads to Yavin 4 to join the rest of the Rebellion. 

It's an incredible hour of television, but somewhat contradicts Star Wars canon; in the animated Star Wars Rebels, Mon makes a different speech and broadcasts it across the Galaxy as she's transported to the Rebel stronghold by Gold Squadron.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly (via SFFGazette.com), showrunner Tony Gilroy says that he and writer Dan Gilroy felt constrained by having to adhere to Rebels' version of events, "We are hijacking canon," he admits. "In canon, she's rescued by the Gold Squadron and the speech that they gave in the cartoon, which was a canonical show, [is on that ship]. And Danny's like, 'Do I have to stick to this f--ing speech?'"

Rather than disregarding that show's inspiring message from Mon, they figured that if Cassian left her at his old safe house, Luthen Rael could arrange her transport with Gold Squadron (meaning she delivered a second speech after the first). 

Gilroy is aware that Andor has lessened the impact of that Star Wars Rebels scene. "In a really sneaky way, we're minimizing what they did in Star Wars Rebels, but we're keeping it consistent," he acknowledges. "We're just saying you don't really know the whole story of what happened." 

Genevieve O'Reilly says of the speech, "She has been working for the Rebellion deeply and intrinsically, and she's been vital to the Rebellion. But that is the moment that she crosses that rubicon and she crosses it with Cassian. That felt beautiful, that it is with him, given where we go in Rogue One. But it's that there's no turning back at that point. There is no going back."

For those of you who missed it, here's Mon Mothma's speech in its entirety (you can find our full episode recap here). 

"Fellow senators, friends, colleagues, allies, adversaries, I stand before you this morning with a heavy heart," she says. "I stand this morning with a difficult message. I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous."

"The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped form our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. This chamber’s hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman plaza. What took place yesterday, what happened yesterday on Ghorman was unprovoked genocide. Yes, genocide. And that truth has been exiled from this chamber. And the monster screaming the loudest, the monster we helped create, the monster who will come for us all soon enough, is Emperor Palpatine."

Nine episodes of Andor season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.

STAR WARS: Lucasfilm Rumored To Have Big Plans For This Fan Favorite ANDOR Season 2 Character
Related:

STAR WARS: Lucasfilm Rumored To Have Big Plans For This Fan Favorite ANDOR Season 2 Character

It Would've Been Lame: ANDOR Showrunner Tony Gilroy Explains Jyn Erso's Season 2 Absence
Recommended For You:

"It Would've Been Lame": ANDOR Showrunner Tony Gilroy Explains Jyn Erso's Season 2 Absence

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

kylo0607
kylo0607 - 5/8/2025, 5:24 AM
Man, Episodes 8 & 9 were something else.

Peak Television.

And Andor standing at the entrance and forming the Rebellion symbol... Perfection.

User Comment Image
UnderBelly
UnderBelly - 5/8/2025, 6:06 AM
@kylo0607 - Oh Snap! Good eye!

What an episode! I'm not fully sold though on the end of Bix's arc, because the Cassian we've been shown will always find a way to follow her after loosing his sister ( from what's happened over the last 3-4 years in their story). Maybe the next and last time jump will show how that settles with him.

O'Reilly's Mon Mothma though...oooo weeeee! She should definitely be crowned THE Hottie (with brains) in the Live action star wars universe! That awful wig CANNOT sully her shine. What a beautiful woman.
Nomis929
Nomis929 - 5/8/2025, 10:19 AM
@kylo0607 - And Andor standing at the entrance and forming the Rebellion symbol... Perfection.

User Comment Image
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/8/2025, 5:43 AM
I rather see them try to work around existing events and ''hijack'' the moment than just doing new stuff (yes, I'm looking at you Cobb Vanth in the Mandalorian and Kanan Jarrus in the Bad Batch treating written media as secondary canon).
Drace24
Drace24 - 5/8/2025, 9:04 AM
@bkmeijer1 - To be fair, Cobb Vanth was an extremely obscure character from a book. Bringing him into the Mandalorian at all was an incredible show of dedication to authenticity, even if it wasn't 100% exact.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/8/2025, 9:25 AM
@Drace24 - yeah, I'll give them that one. That was cool. Still, I'm not a fan of written media being treated as secondary media. Even though it's also used to fill in gaps for the sequels
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/8/2025, 7:21 AM
Wait so... is there a new canon or is Andor non-canon or is Rebels no longer canon or what? Does Kathleen Kennedy even know or care about any of this?

Star Wars has nobody at the wheel it would seem.

And forget Dave Filoni he already started to contradict EU canon in Clone Wars when he adapted one of the Clone Wars comics.
User Comment Image
PatchesOhulihan
PatchesOhulihan - 5/8/2025, 8:36 AM
@ObserverIO - "Rather than disregarding that show's inspiring message from Mon, they figured that if Cassian left her at his old safe house, Luthen Rael could arrange her transport with Gold Squadron (meaning she delivered a second speech after the first)." So they're saying she gave both speeches, keeping canon intact.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/8/2025, 8:38 AM
@PatchesOhulihan - Well then... okay I'll let them off then. I won't shoot them today.
PatchesOhulihan
PatchesOhulihan - 5/8/2025, 8:39 AM
@ObserverIO - User Comment Image
supermanrex
supermanrex - 5/8/2025, 10:01 AM
@ObserverIO - did you read the article? it states that they came up with a way to have everything still be canon along with their new speech. so Rebels is still canon.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/8/2025, 10:11 AM
@supermanrex - User Comment Image
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/9/2025, 5:34 AM
@ObserverIO - they've always played loose with canon. Especially when it comes to written media. There's a comic that explains how Cassian and K2 met, but it's completely different in the show.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/9/2025, 6:06 AM
@bkmeijer1 - Okay now I'm back to wanting to shoot them all.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/9/2025, 6:17 AM
@ObserverIO - I just throw the incontinencies on Star Wars being a saga of stories being told very long after, given the "long time ago" and Lucas initial idea of it being written in the Journal of Whills.

Still, I don't like how written media is treated as secondary canon. It loses all importance, so any gaps it's trying to fill in don't matter anyway. Especially with the sequels, which is very reliant on it.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/9/2025, 7:13 AM
@bkmeijer1 - And after they said that all of it was going to be canon from 2015 onwards.

I'll bet there are certain things you'd need permission from Kennedy to do in the comics, but it doesn't make sense that you'd need permission if what you're writing is subject to change anyway, like the K2SO thing.

Maybe they should separate the two media again. Have a story in the comics or in a novel that shows a new timeline being created using the World Between Worlds concept. Then they can just go their own way and do their own thing. It will be less restricting for writers on both sides of the divide. And it would make sense for the fans again.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/9/2025, 8:11 AM
@ObserverIO - the World Between World thing works as a headcanon thing as well.

It's just weird though, since there are a lot of good stories in the comics. Would be nice if it's respected more one way or the other. Doubt Kennedy is up to date with everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if tv shows get priority.
Ojeet78
Ojeet78 - 5/8/2025, 7:41 AM
What an incredible show. I dont think it minimized Rebels. On the contrary it elevated Mothma's character and her personal struggles. The journey it took to get her there was more than worth it.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 5/8/2025, 8:39 AM
Show is ACTUAL CINEMA
Drace24
Drace24 - 5/8/2025, 9:02 AM
@MisterBones - Man, I wanna get what people mean, seriously. Usually I'm the one loving Star Wars when anyone else just hates it. I loved the Prequels. I like 2/3 of the sequels. I liked Clone Wars and Rebels back when the popular opinion was that they were lame kiddy stuff. I find something to love about every single Star Wars show including Kenobi, Acolyte and Skeleton Crew. I like the Ewoks. I even kinda like Jar Jar. But I just don't jive with Andor. And I wanted that show so bad, even back when everyone rolled their eyes over a Cassian Andor spin-off show. But I just thought it would be cool show about the Rebel Alliance. Sign me up! But throughout all of season 1 I just thought... this is boring! Nothing fun or adventurous or whimsical. No aliens, no cool worldbuilding. Just cold characters, endless dialogue, and hours of build-up with very little pay-off. Predictable storylines and the most generic prison break I have ever seen.

But I'm serious, I wanna get it. Clearly there must be something I'm missing, if this show somehow managed to unite the fanbase. And I wanted to give season 2 a new chance. But I'm two hours in and I still wait for... anything to happen. Besides the opening sequence, there is just nothing going on except endless scenes where people hold speeches to each other. I have to force myself to watch the next episode. I really don't need to an action sequenz or a lightsaber fight every ten minutes. And I have enjoyed slow burn shows in the past. But man, Andor puts me to sleep. What is everyone talking about?
krayzeman
krayzeman - 5/8/2025, 9:18 AM
@Drace24 - It's not for everyone. It's actually even triggering because it parallels real life events so closely. It's basically "galactic history" and some people find the complex parts or history boring. The truth is in war the action happening is the smallest part that happens the fastest which is probably what you want to see. It's the moves that are being made in the back rooms that count and that's not always fun but it's fascinating to me. It's amazing that all this lead to the creation of the death star and people just ignored what the empire was doing until it was too late in Rogue One.
supermanrex
supermanrex - 5/8/2025, 9:48 AM
@Drace24 - the best part is you dont have to get it. we who do get it will enjoy the show and what it adds to the mythos and you can go about your merry way and just watch the star wars thats cool for you. there are and always has been different flavors of star wars. Andor is like watching an old school expanded universe novel that detailed and highlighted the rest of the star wars universe.
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/8/2025, 10:28 AM
@Drace24 - I'd encourage you to at least push through to Episode 3 before you write it off. I've found it best to look at each week's release of three episodes as a single narrative unit, and episode three is usually where the previous episodes are paid off.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 5/8/2025, 12:37 PM
@Drace24 - Great dialogue , obviously, but also amazing acting, top-notch cinematography, production design, music etc but most importantly, a creator – Tony Gilroy – who actually has a decent story to tell and is more passionate about that than anything else.

And it’s as complicated as working out that every single person who joined the rebellion at some point had a moment where they thought “screw this, I’m out” and got radicalized against The Empire, and ultimately Andor is a show about how an authoritarian regime tightening its grip pushes people towards the moment they’ve had enough. Great complex characters on both sides, Everyone has something to lose and everyone has a dark side. you learn how and why the empire is so effectively acting, but also that it is limited because of its sheer size and its own megalomania.

Plus it’s all set in a world which feels as real as Star Wars will get, a contrast to some of the more digital-heavy productions which paradoxically feel smaller and more limited.
Drace24
Drace24 - 5/8/2025, 3:01 PM
@ClintthaManster - I'll push through all of them but even if episode 3 is a total burner, it would still be incredible to me that the show requires two hours just to get interesting. Compared to how much fun I had with Tales of the Underworld, which managed to tell two very compelling storylines in about the same time.
I can not even put in words just how much Episode 2 of Andors second season bored me senseless. It was 99% people talking. And not even dialogue, but just one person monologuing to another. There were two moments where I looked up. One where they tried to move the Tie fighter to use its cannons. And one where someone inflitrated a place. Those were the only two moments in this entire hour-long episode where someone actually did something. The only two moments my brain actually got something to latch onto and - I could definitely be wrong - but I don't think either actually lead anywhere?

Again I don't want to say that you are all wrong and the show objectively sucks. But I just don't get when ayone is talking about. I've been putting off episode 3 for two weeks now and that never happened to me with ANY Star Wars content.
Drace24
Drace24 - 5/8/2025, 3:24 PM
@MisterBones - I gotta be honest, that is not my impression.

"Great dialogue"
Most of it is more like monologuing really. That is almost all that people do in this show. Being talked to by another character for a couple of minutes, scene chance, a different character gets talked to, scene chance, rinse and repeat until the episode decides to end.

"amazing acting"
I'm sure these are all great actors, but they don't get anything to do.

"top-notch cinematograph, production design"
I admit it looks pretty, but also, they might as well use green screen. They barely ever interact with anything in their environment.

"Tony Gilroy who actually has a decent story to tell"
Okay, what is it? Two hours in and I'm still waiting or an actual story to happen.

"more passionate about that than anything else"
I wish I could feel any passion for Star Wars or anything for that matter. I usually hate it when people say "It doesn't feel like Star Wars" but I swear everytime a Stormtrooper shows up or someone fires a blaster, I am suddenly reminded that "Oh yeah, I'm watching Star Wars." The few Star Warsy things that are actually left in feel so oddly out of place now.

"Great complex characters on both sides"
Where? Who? The title character is mostly moping around somehow incapacitated. Seriously, he spent the first two episodes of the show named after him tied up while some kids around him squabbled. The scene with Siril Karn and that Empire lady was like watching two dead fish look at each other. It's like The Office but every character is Gabe Lewis.
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/8/2025, 6:15 PM
@Drace24 - "There were two moments where I looked up."

There were no moments when I looked up, because I was looking at the screen the whole time. I think the reason that you're not enjoying Andor might be that you're not actually watching the show.

And I promise I'm not coming from a judgemental place, lots of my friends do the same thing. My wife multitasks, scrolls IG or TikTok, crushes candy and rolls monopoly dice on her iPad, and occasionally looks up and asks "Wait, who's that?" or "Wait, what's going on?" She also hates Andor. And that's fine, but it's not the show's fault, if you see what I'm saying . . .
Drace24
Drace24 - 5/9/2025, 2:55 AM
@ClintthaManster - Well, that does sound very judgmental actually. And kinda snobby. What do you mean, I don't watch the show right? I gave it my undivided attention. I didn't look at anything other than the screen and - on occasion - the inside of my eyelids, as much as I tried to prevent that. That I felt my mind wandering in the mean time is very much the show's fault, because the whole point of entertainment is to keep my attention. And that the two most minuscule barebones moments of a character actually taking an action were enough to make me think "maybe now the fun is starting?" should be proof that I am very much trying to find something worthwile.

Also, I watched season 1 three times, just to get it and I had the same issue there. I don't have this problem with any other show, Star Wars or not. I definitely gave this show much more chances than I would any other media. So don't start like that, please
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/9/2025, 6:49 AM
@Drace24 - I apologize if I misread "There were two moments where I looked up," but for me looking up requires having been looking down in the first place. I guess maybe you meant "two moments that drew me in" or "two times that caught my attention?"

But as far as waiting for something to happen as you said in your original comment, there's literally something happening in every second of the show. Every hushed, terse conversation, every quiet exchange of glances, every misunderstanding or disagreement, every deadpan betrayal, it's all ramping up the relationships, the intrigue, and the tension that builds to the climactic moments later in the series. It recalls films like Battle of Algiers or Bloody Sunday, where the who and the why are just as important, or more so, than the what.
dragon316
dragon316 - 5/8/2025, 9:08 AM
Another long boring political speech in Star Wars
Nomis929
Nomis929 - 5/8/2025, 9:14 AM
Amazing show!!! Sophisticated Star Wars story telling.
krayzeman
krayzeman - 5/8/2025, 9:19 AM
@Nomis929 - It's great that Star Wars has the ability to tell all types of stories and it doesnt have to be just lightsabers and force using
Nomis929
Nomis929 - 5/8/2025, 10:16 AM
@krayzeman - Agreed. The lore is so rich and expanse in scope that virtually all type of stories can be told.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 5/8/2025, 10:53 AM
Those 3 episodes,especially the last 2 episodes, were masterpieces. Andor firing on all cylinders and being it's very best. Amazing television right there. The first 3 episodes of the season were boring, but everything since has been great to masterpiece level. Those last few episodes mattered.
FordMaximus
FordMaximus - 5/9/2025, 4:22 AM
I've been really enjoying it. I never watched Rebels and have no intention to, so this is all new stories for me.

Just because you like some Star Wars stuff doesn't mean you have to watch or enjoy it all. I never watched Rebels, Acolyte, Skeleton Crew but have really enjoyed Rogue One, Andor and this side of things. Think of it like Chinese food (or pizza etc). I say like Chinese food, but in reality there are certain dishes I enjoy and some that just aren't for me. The problem seems to be that nowadays, if you claim to be a fan of something people expect you to like and enjoy every facet of it... and that's just not possible.

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

View Recorder