S02.E07: Messenger

[Mr. Sparkle]

Yavin is growing. Wilmon comes for help. Dedra’s on Ghorman. Cassian heeds the call.

 

Edited May 7 by Mr. Sparkle

[dwmarch]

So given this particular choice of shot...

Does this mean that Bix is pregnant?

[thuganomics85]

"Take of your shirt!"  Okay, I know that was to show the blaster bruise, but that also carried just a little bit of a "Get Diego Luna shirtless at least once this season!" vibe as well!

Another year forward and things continue to change in some ways and stay the same in other ways.  Cassian (and Bix) pretty much seem to have gotten away from Luthen and are working with this new rebellion in Yavin, that seems to have slightly more structure and footing compared to their previous gigs.  That said, Cassian isn't exactly endearing himself to the higher ups since they see a potential leadership role for him, but he keeps doing things like ignoring them or going off on missions without their permission.  But I think Bix is right that he will be there for them when the time calls for it.

On the flip side, Wilmon has return and seems to be deeper in Luthen's side of the rebellion (I wonder if he's still a major factor with Saw's faction?), which has put him at odds with Cassian.  Not sure what to make of it, and I mean this in a good way for once.  I can't deny that Luthen has played a huge part with taking it to the Empire and when this is all said and done, he should be credited for it.  But I can see why Cassian does not want fall back in with him, because at the end of the day, everyone is expendable in his eyes and he will inflict all types of horror as long as he believes the ends justify the means.  Sure, it's great that he's on the "good" side, but it's such a slippery slope.

Ghorman really has become a fascist state now with armed soldiers in every corner, curfews, and rebellions being branded as terrorists, so that the Empire can crack down even more.  Doesn't help that the rebellion seems to be at odds over how to handle all of this pressure.  We will see who is left standing, if any.

I'm guessing Dedra being upset over the new soldiers and manpower isn't out of any type of morality, but because she feels like control is being taken from her.  Interesting that she did warn Syril that something is going down and to be prepared.  Maybe she does care about him?  But then tried to make some kind of deal with his rebel contact.  Is his loyalty faltering or was he just trying to find a way to court favor?

Mon Mothma is now under some from of surveillance.  Loved her initially wanting to get rid of the obvious mole pilot, only for her assistant to point out that they might just replace him with someone smarter.

Cassian is back on Ghorman and preparing to assassinate Dedra, but I won't be surprised if things don't go according to plan.

[tkc]

The show is starting to converge even more with Rogue One now, with an appearance by General Draven (the officer questioning Cassian as he left), a mention of General Dodonna, a reference to the Imperial research station on Eadu, and was that a U-wing fighter that Andor and Wilmon used to get to Ghorman?

I feel like this is also the first time we have heard of the Force in Andor.

Edited May 7 by tkc

[Ohiopirate02]

7 hours ago, dwmarch said:

So given this particular choice of shot...

Does this mean that Bix is pregnant?

I'm wondering the same thing. Cassian and Bix have been having sex for a couple of years now. And unless contraception is discussed in universe, I will always assume the couple is not using it. I do think the show did miss an opportunity to talk about contraception methods in a galaxy far, far away, also disease prevention. And Cassian and Bix are not the only couple here. Will is meeting ladies left and right, and Syril and Dedra are doing something in the dark.

We also know that somewhere on Yavin are Poe Dameron's parents, so it's not like the rebellion is stopping people from having kids.

[paigow]

Cassian was like Clive Owen in The Bourne Identity - finally lining up his shot only for it to move out of range...

[Shanna Marie]

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Cassian (and Bix) pretty much seem to have gotten away from Luthen and are working with this new rebellion in Yavin, that seems to have slightly more structure and footing compared to their previous gigs. 

It also sounded like Vel has completely left Luthen and is strictly working with the new military. That's a likely outcome after the previous year's events.

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Interesting that she did warn Syril that something is going down and to be prepared.  Maybe she does care about him?  But then tried to make some kind of deal with his rebel contact.  Is his loyalty faltering or was he just trying to find a way to court favor?

Syril keeps me guessing. I'm never sure when he's being genuine and when he's on mission. As desperate as he is for approval, I could see him having developed some kind of weird bond with the rebels, where he knows he's on assignment but they don't, and they're so grateful for the info he gives them and so supportive of him that it feeds some of his emotional needs in a way that he never got from his mom and doesn't even really get from Dedra, and now he doesn't want anything bad to actually happen to them (and imagine if he finds out what the Empire's really using him to set up).

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

"Take of your shirt!"  Okay, I know that was to show the blaster bruise, but that also carried just a little bit of a "Get Diego Luna shirtless at least once this season!" vibe as well!

This series is definitely breaking all the Star Wars records for showing skin, and it's shirtless or implied nude men rather than women in metal bikinis.

[tennisgurl]

Now its time for another time jump! I am not surprised that Cassian isn't doing as much with Luthen's part of the rebellion right now, but it seems inevitable that they end up needing each other again. Cassian might not like this way of doing spy business, but its hard to deny that he gets results. He's a truly cold as ice scary as hell person who sees everyone as an expendable chess piece that can be casually sacrificed in the name of the fight, who has more in common in personality and methods with the bad guys than the good guys, but at the end of the day he has been willing to give everything for the fight against the Empire and will be a major part of why it falls and that does deserve respect.

Syril is actually keeping me on my toes just a bit in this plot, I don't ever think he would turn against the Empire, but I can see him possibly hesitate if he gets orders to participate in the inevitable massacre, he does seem to be getting some of that positive affirmation from them that he has been desperately craving his whole life, he does love the idea of being a "good guy cop" fighting against the "bad guy rebels" so I am not sure how he will handle being so directly part of something so obviously awful. He might double down or he might not. He so badly wants to feel important and appreciated, by his mother, by the Empire, now by Dedra, but what if these guys give him that feeling of importance?

We are getting closer to closer to Rogue One, you can really start to feel how things are intensifying. 

[Sarah 103]

13 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

"Take of your shirt!"  Okay, I know that was to show the blaster bruise, but that also carried just a little bit of a "Get Diego Luna shirtless at least once this season!" vibe as well!

As soon as she said it I thought there are probably many women in the audience who are incredibly happy with that request and that he did as he was asked. 

[Fool to cry]

It was interesting how they finally introduce the Force on the show through the healer. As we first learned with Han in A New Hope, some don't believe in it and think it's mumbo jumbo.

[sashabear21]

44 minutes ago, Fool to cry said:

It was interesting how they finally introduce the Force on the show through the healer. As we first learned with Han in A New Hope, some don't believe in it and think it's mumbo jumbo.

I kinda get this, I mean wee Anakin, during the time when Jedi were prolific, thought Jedi were these infallible creatures that nothing could ever kill. Cassian is probably around the same age as Han Solo where he can remember when Jedi were heroes but also remembers when they became “traitors” and “enemies to the Empire” and were killed off.  And living in planets that Jedi never visited and in conditions that were not so great, probably figured if they were that awesome they wouldn’t have died out or at least would have brought them food when their village was starving or something. So with the point of reference they have, their notions of Jedi and the force probably fall somewhere between Ren Fest cosplayers and religious fanatics.

[KimberStormer]

Maarva hating Force healers is such a perfect little detail.  I just love that they seem to really know these characters in such depth.

I wonder to what degree Willmon is really working for Luthen...this could be a Saw operation, but it wouldn't make much sense as one tbh.  Luthen's the one Dedra was after and Saw's not much of an undercover guy.  I forget if Cassian and Syril ever met in season 1, but their "don't look at the other spies" near miss today was funny if they did.

Still waiting/wishing for some Mon Mothma leadership action.  Come on show, I know you can do it.

[Ilovepie]

Loved seeing the rebel base really coming together this episode, but man it was hard hearing that Force healer talk about Cassian and calling Bix his home. This whole crew is not long for this world and each episode as it gets closer to Scarif it's making me sadder.

A year later and Vel is looking like she's had a rough year. Bix OTH, looks much stronger. Maybe taking out her torturer and getting out of Coruscant helped her get her mojo back?

Despite being together for years at this point, Dedra and Syril even make a quick kiss seem awkward. I just don't see Will and Cassian's assassination going to plan. It was a mistake for Cassian to check into the same hotel - probably not good that the desk manager recognized him, even in his scruffy state with a new name.

[Sarah 103]

16 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Still waiting/wishing for some Mon Mothma leadership action.  Come on show, I know you can do it.

I'm guessing that's going to be a major part of the arc that's the final three episodes. 

[wanderingstar]

3 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

This whole crew is not long for this world and each episode as it gets closer to Scarif it's making me sadder.

I've had a feeling of dread watching every episode this season, thinking about all the people we'll lose before the end. 

I was surprised to see mention of The Force in this show, but they weaved it in well. I cracked up at Cassian's mention of Maarva having a bad experience with a Force healer.

Interesting to see that Luthen's been marginalized from the official Rebellion, but Wilmon is still a believer. I'm just glad to see he got away from Saw. 

Debra grabbing and kissing Syril was so manipulative. That relationship is extremely tucked up.

[MJ Frog]

So, this may be dumb and obvious, but when the force healer calls Cassian a messenger, I wonder if she is unknowingly referring to his eventual role in bringing down the Death Star, an event demonstrating to any fence sitters that the rebellion is real and powerful and that the Empire can be beaten. She may have meant something entirely different, but whatever it might be I am intrigued by this storyline.

Edited May 9 by MJ Frog
Better word choice.

[Orbert]

Interesting.  I was just thinking the other day that we still hadn't seen or heard of The Force yet in this series, but then I remembered that it wasn't really a factor in Rogue One either, just Chirrut Îmwe (the blind Chinese guy) who was clearly Force-sensitive but apparently untrained otherwise.  One of my favorite things about this series is that it stays away from The Force and Jedi and Sith and all that, and shows us what the "regular people" were doing, on both sides.

Anyway, nearly right off the bat, Bix takes Cassian to a Force healer, obviously something he'd never have agreed to had he known.  I like the comparison to Han Solo.  He's heard of The Force, but it's basically a bunch of crap.  Of course Maarva's experience with it is all he has to go on, but that's enough.  And sure enough, we see that it did help; there was less discoloration and he seemed able to move his arm and shoulder much more easily.  Enough to make him a believer?  Hell no.  But I'm glad his shoulder feels better.

[Ilovepie]

19 hours ago, wanderingstar said:

Interesting to see that Luthen's been marginalized from the official Rebellion, but Wilmon is still a believer. I'm just glad to see he got away from Saw. 

Has he though? Did he specifically say that the job they are on was at Luthen's request? He seemed pretty cagey about where he'd been and what he'd been doing.

[Orbert]

Yeah, something was up with Wilmon, and he did say that the request came from Luthen.  I felt kinda bad about it, too, because other than Bix, Wil is the last of Cassian's friends from Ferrix.  I know, they're all goners anyway, but it's still sad to see some things falling apart even as other things are coming together.  Yavin sure has come a long ways in two years, for example.

[andromeda331]

I love seeing the base on Yavin IV the Rebellion finally starting to come together. But I do wish we got to see it happen or discussion to finally bring people together and get a base. 

I was nervous every second Ghorman was shown. Still not sure if Syril realizes he's being used or not. I liked that the hotel clerk recongized Cassian I wonder if anyone would with him using a different name. 

[Shanna Marie]

I wonder if Cassian has had the same kind of feelings or dreams about his destiny or fate as Bix, and that's why he freaked out so much about what Bix and the Force healer said about him and why he wants to run away from the rebellion. If he's been having those feelings and ignoring/denying/dismissing them as just stress because his work with the rebels is getting to him, then having other people saying the same things he's been feeling and never told anyone about would explain his extreme reaction. If he was truly skeptical and thought they were all nuts, he'd have shrugged it off more easily.

[angora]

Circling back to post a few thoughts on this last batch of episodes before the end--I can't believe it's gonna be over already!

The notion of the Force healer, and Cassian and Bix's argument about whether it was all just a scam, was neat, although I didn't like the idea of Cassian's Grand Destiny. We know where he ends up, of course, and it's reasonable that a Force-sensitive person might be able to feel something in response to that, but I don't like Cassian and Bix being *told* about it. Part of the beauty of Rogue One was these ordinary people/Rebels giving everything to pull off a near impossibility. A turning point in the Rebellion, brought about by a bunch of people's individual choices to steps up. I don't want any of them to be a super-special Chosen One guided by the hand of fate.

Cassian initially seemed reluctant to go to Ghorman or do anything at Luthen's bidding, so it's interesting to me that he went with Wilmon in the end. I wonder if that was partly in reaction to what the Force healer said, pushing back against his position in Yavin because he didn't want to feel like the direction of his life had already been decided by some mystical Force. Even though he assured Draven he was still loyal to the Rebellion, Cassian had the most impeccable "defiant little shit" expression on his face as he and Wilmon left.

Cassian and Wilmon saying, "Stone and sky," as they parted in Ghorman just killed me.

[isalicat]

5 hours ago, angora said:

 

Cassian and Wilmon saying, "Stone and sky," as they parted in Ghorman just killed me.

Yes - I look forward to a full re-watch (or three 😸) just to catch all the subtle goodness I missed this rushed time through.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 5/8/2025 at 6:05 PM, wanderingstar said:

was surprised to see mention of The Force in this show, but they weaved it in well. I cracked up at Cassian's mention of Maarva having a bad experience with a Force healer.

We got a fake Jedi in Skeleton Crew and wasn't there a fake Jedi in the Obi Wan show too? With how big a galaxy would be how few Jedi there would be relative to that, I can see a lot of people traveling to places and claiming they had Jedi powers. And with how few Jedi there were, especially after they were wiped out, how would anyone even know it was a scam.