Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Andor Season 2.
Sometimes, what you don’t say is more important than what you do, butAndorSeason 2 reminds us that the things that are declared out loud can still be horrifying. Such is the case with the “problem” of the Ghormans, whose suffering has always loomed over the series at large, and now they face pure extermination for the crime of simply getting in the way. What makes it even worse is that this will likely prove to be an important stepping stone in the construction of the Death Star, an evil so horrific that not even those casually planning genocide seem to fully know about it. With its historical parallels and crisp dialogue,the Season 2 premiere’s Imperial meeting is a perfect display of just how callous and mundane evil can be, as well as the consequence of framing bloodshed as nothing more than good business.
The Suffering of the Ghormans Is a Constant Presence in ‘Andor’
During its first season, the majority ofAndoris focused on the inhabitants of Ferrix, showing just how impossible it is for almost anyone to have a normal life while under Imperial occupation. The events there serve as a microcosm of what is now happening on every planet within the galaxy,rich and poor alike, and the series takes pains to remind us that the oppression under fascism remains universal.One group mentioned constantly in Season 1 is the Ghormans, whom Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) notes in Senate speeches have faced an unethical trade blockade for simply demanding that their own voices be heard. Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) also bitterly laughs off the Ghorman Front as one of several rebel groups that he perceives as being a lost cause. Yes, Saw might be a radical who does not play well with others, but it speaks to the big problem every rebel cell is facingat this moment in their history, lacking the true unity of a real movement. For now, it seems, the Ghormans are on their own.
In Season 2,Andorplaces the plight of Ghorman front and center as one of the main storylines, andthe conference scene helps explain why. The Imperial war machine never sleeps, and Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) explains the planet has crucial resources that they need for mining operations, but it comes with a catch. Due to its sheer scale,such a project will render Ghorman uninhabitable for its many civilians, who will also fiercely protest or even disrupt any planning. For the officers present, the solution to the Ghorman problem remains clear, and it’s simply more practical to get rid of the population entirely.
‘Andor’s Ghorman Subplot Hints at a Far More Devastating Outcome
Already, it’s quite clear that there will be a lot of pain ahead for the Ghormans as the timeline jumps forward a full year, but we’ve seen exactly where things will end up. InStar Wars Rebels, around the same time period, Mon Mothma describes the Ghorman massacre in great detail, and it serves as the final straw that leads her to resign from her role as Senator of Chandrila. All signs point to that eventbeing depicted in fulllater this season, and we may already know who is responsible. Despite her new prestigious role, Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) is very reluctant to tackle the Ghorman issue,but her suggestion to Krennic about luring the rebels into a trap shows that she is already complicit, and it’s entirely possible to imagine her being the one to pull the trigger.
If that was not dark enough, there is an even more terrifying motivation behind the project. Throughout the meeting, the words “Death Star” are never used, butit seems as though Krennic’s mining operation is a front to help complete the ongoing construction of the planet killer, a plot which is destined to be repeated on Jedha in the coming years. Just as the labor camps on Narkina 5showed the human tollthat building the Death Star creates, Ghorman will likely do so in an even bloodier fashion. Fittingly, though, the counterreaction by the Rebels to that very massacre is also the first step that will ensure its destruction.
‘Andor’ Just Depicted the Most Disturbing Side of the Empire Yet — and No Other Star Wars Project Has Come Close
The Empire has done some despicable things, but this is a new low.
In These Critical Imperial Scenes, ‘Andor’ Tackles the Banality of Evil
Being a political drama first,Andoris quite open about making very clear historical parallels to actual fascist regimes, and this conference remains no exception. The ominous gathering of Imperial officers in a hidden room, explicit demand for the conversation to be off the record, and even the classic newsreel, all evoke the imagery ofthe infamous Wannsee Conference, where high-ranking Nazis first laid out plans for the Holocaust. The idea of genocide being discussed so casually feels deeply uncomfortable to watch, even if the majority of people there don’t know the true purpose of the program itself. Ideas like depopulation are dismissed as being impractical,and the framing of extermination as an unfortunate necessity allows everyone there to help justify the act to themselves, sometimes literally in real time. Within minutes, they go from portraying oppression as a necessary evil to a positive good, since that is the only way a system built on such brutality can endure.
What makes the dialogue here even more chilling is that the language the Imperial characters use is not openly dehumanizing. There is no referring to the Ghorman people as some kind of unique scourge or disease that applies only to them, and their real crime here is simply existing at all in a location the Empire perceives as being theirs alone. In truth, any species could be viewed by the Imperials this way, and it serves as yet another reason why rebellion is the only morally justifiable response. Today, Ghorman is the unlucky one in the firing line, but tomorrow it could be the Wookieesor the Bothansor any other galactic race, whether human or alien. When the Death Star is finally completed,that kind of horrific carnage will no longer require thousands of willing stormtroopers, but the simple press of a button, and its existence remains incompatible with the freedom the Rebellion is fighting for. That will make its eventual annihilation, even at the cost of so many Rebel lives, all the more rewarding.
New episodes ofAndorSeason 2 premiere Tuesdays on Disney+.
Prequel series to Star Wars' ‘Rogue One’. In an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue, Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a Rebel hero.
