1 week Ago By Jenna Wrenn
Lucasfilm - DisneyWith the 20th anniversary theatrical re-release of Revenge of the Sith, May the Fourth on the horizon, and Star Wars Celebration revealing announcements about the future of the franchise, it’s never been a better time to be a Star Wars fan. But perhaps the most anticipated Star Wars series, Andor, began Season 2 with a three-episode arc on Disney+. Set 4 years before the first Death Star battle – the Battle of Yavin – the second season of Andor ups the stakes for the burgeoning Rebel Alliance, particularly the cell which Cassian Andor is part of, run by Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård).
The rebels on the ground are not the only individuals being impacted by the Empire’s totalitarian regime: the Chandrilan senator, Mon Mothma, has been quietly inserting herself into rebel activities for some time. Mothma’s ideals put her in direct discord with the Emperor, so her subterfuge is still shown to be crucial in Andor Season 2. However, the animated series Star Wars Rebels reveals the moment Mon Mothma officially denounced Palpatine, became an enemy of the Empire, and made herself the public-facing leader of the Rebellion.
Given the events beginning to unfold in the first three episodes of Andor, the stage is already being set for Mon Mothma’s defection.Star Wars Rebels Revealed a Monumental Moment For the RebellionMon Mothma between Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger in Star Wars Rebels.In Season 3, Episode 18 of Star Wars Rebels, “Secret Cargo”, the Spectre rebel cell – led by Captain Hera Syndulla aboard her ship, the Ghost – receives a highly-classified transport mission from Senator Bail Organa himself.
While the Ghost crew does not know what they are tasked with moving, the mission parameters come right as a HoloNet broadcast of Mon Mothma publicly denouncing the Empire airs, sending shockwaves through the Galactic Senate. In her speech, Mothma specifically references the Empire’s exploitation and subsequent massacre of the citizens of the planet Ghorman as the basis for her claims against Palpatine, bringing public attention to the humanitarian crimes committed at his bidding. While the Ghost crew is stunned by Mothma’s bravery, and even more surprised that she escaped Coruscant with her life, they soon learn that the transportation with which Bail Organa tasked them was more than innocuous cargo: it is Mon Mothma herself.
When Mothma boards the Ghost, she explains that she will not simply return to a secure hiding place on her home planet of Chandrila, but instead intends to organize the various rebel cells that are acting solitarily against the Empire into one cohesive unit for a great Rebellion. After Hera has piloted her team and Mothma through treacherous space while managing to shirk off Imperial forces, including Grand Admiral Thrawn, Mothma broadcasts a message to the rebel cells from aboard the Ghost.Mon Mothma and Hera Syndulla in Star Wars Rebels“This is Senator Mon Mothma.
I have been called a traitor for speaking out against a corrupt Galactic Senate,” the senator says. “A Senate manipulated by the sinister tactics of the Emperor. For too long, I have watched the heavy hand of the Empire strangle our liberties, stifling our freedoms in the name of ensuring our safety.
No longer. Despite Imperial threats, despite the Emperor himself, I have no fear as I take new action. For I am not alone.
Beginning today, we stand together as allies. I hereby resign from the Senate to fight for you, not from the distant hall of politics but from the front lines. We will not rest until we bring an end to the Empire, until we restore our Republic! Are you with me?”RELATED: Star Wars Fans Need to Watch These Clone Wars Episodes for the Revenge of the Sith 20th AnniversaryIn response to Mothma’s call for allies, various rebel ships begin to appear out of hyperspace to join the Ghost, signifying the beginning of a rebellion way larger than anyone dared to imagine.
How Andor is Building to Mon Mothma’s Life-Changing MoveThe beginning phases of Mon Mothma’s final straw – the massacre of Ghorman – is set up in the first episode of Season 2 of Andor. While in a highly sensitive meeting of top officials within the Empire, Imperial Security Bureau agent Dedra Meero learns of the Emperor’s plan for Ghorman. Though Palpatine has not selected a method of exterminating the Ghorman people yet, his intention is clear, as Ghorman possesses the mineral needed for the Death Star’s reactor lenses.
While the initial steps discussed in the meeting occur 4 years before the Battle of Yavin (4 BBY), Mon Mothma’s defection as seen in Rebels does not happen until two years later in 2 BBY. If each week of Andor batch-release episodes focuses on one year increments of time, the Ghorman Massacre and Mothma’s escape with the help of the Ghost crew should occur by the third week of Season 2 (which, coincidentally falls on the week of May the Fourth, also known as “Star Wars Day”). What better way is there to continue May the Fourth celebrations than seeing the Rebel Alliance form in live-action for the first time?Whether Mon Mothma’s intense escape from the Empire with the help of Hera Syndulla and the rest of the Spectre cell (all of whom are now part of the live-action Star Wars universe) will be portrayed in Andor as it happened in Rebels is yet to be seen.
However, Mothma is an integral part of Andor, with her storyline quickly building to a point of no return. Andor and Star Wars Rebels are both streaming on Disney+. The post Andor’s Season 2 First Arc Directly Sets Up Mon Mothma’s Pivotal Star Wars Rebels Story Arc appeared first on ComicBook.
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