‘Andor’ season 2 premier review: And we are off at warp speed

Review of season 2 of Andor: A captivating Star Wars prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor's journey, with rich storytelling and compelling characters.

One of the clever things Tony Gilroy has done (and he has done many with this extraordinary show) with Andoris in the name. When you name a show after a character, you expect it to be about that character. And while Andor is about Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the petty thief who sacrificed himself for the Rebel Alliance, it also follows the arcs of the characters in the periphery, making us invested in them.

A prequel to 2016’s Rogue One, which Gilroy wrote with Chris Weitz, the series follows Cassian’s transformation from selfish hustler to selfless martyr. Andor stood out among all the Star Wars shows for its accessibility. By focusing on robust storytelling rather than hoping for the Skywalkers, Jedi or the Force to bail them out, Andor zoomed to the stratosphere quite like one of those tie fighters in our favourite galaxy far, far away.

Andor is set five years before the events of Rogue One, which in turn is set a week before Star Wars: A New Hope, and tells of the efforts of the Rebel Alliance to steal the plans of the Death Star. Season 1 followed a year in Cassian’s life, which he begins by skulking around Ferrix and ends up working for the mysterious recruiter, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård).

Season 1 ended with the droids assembling the Death Star from the work of the prisoners on Narkina 5, and also with Ferrix rising up against the Empire. Season 2 opens a year later with Cassian following the Star Wars tradition of stealing an imperial craft after telling a technician who is helping him, “you have become more than your fear, let that protect you”, revealing the blossoming of his leadership qualities.

We learn what has happened to the others in Andor’s orbit. Bix (Adria Arjona), who was tortured (one cannot imagine what the dying children on Dizon Fray sounded like), still has terrible dreams even when she is far away from Ferrix and with friends including Brasso (Joplin Sibtain).

The fiercely ambitious Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) has to put her plans to find Axis on hold as Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) has her on a black op. Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), who saved Dedra from the riot on Ferrix, is now in Bureau of Standards and in a relationship with Dedra.

There is a wedding in Chandrila between imperial senator, Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) daughter Leida, and the son of a shady businessman, Davo Sculdun. The first three episodes zip by at warp speed, elegantly cutting between the glittering wedding preparations, Cassian’s desperate escape from rebel fighters who do not recognise him, the ISB’s black op, the arbitrary census undertaken by the Empire and a visit from Syril’s mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter).