Andor Season 2 is in full swing, and while there are only three episodes available as of writing this, the scale of this season is amped up as we play catch up to the events of Rogue One. Now that the first block of episodes has been released and Season 2 reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, showrunner Tony Gilroy broke down some of the questions fans are having, as well as talked about the characters we won’t be seeing, and why. As understandable as it all is, you can’t help but think it would have been cool if Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine showed up.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gilroy was asked if Andor intends to include either of the aforementioned Sith Lords. His answer was pretty cut and dry:
No, that was never on my agenda. Writing for Darth Vader is really limiting. I’ve done it. He doesn’t have a lot to say.
Seeing as he was one of the Rogue One writers, that already puts Vader’s limited appearance into more perspective. On the topic of Emperor Palpatine and whether or not he would make an appearance in Andor, once again, Gilroy had a pretty honest response:
He was too big a piece of meat for me to introduce. It was too heavy a lift. I thought about it at one point, but it was too heavy a lift.
Again, that's a very fair statement to make. Leading up to the release of Andor Season 2, there have been hints and nods from Gilroy and cast, teasing what characters we’re going to see. We knew that Mon Mothma will be having a "hellacious time" in the newest season, and we were already aware that Orson Krennic will be returning.
But on the subject of why specifically we won’t be seeing, Palpatine or Darth Vader, despite the fact that we did see Vader in Rogue One, Gilroy had this to say:
One of the fascinating things that I realized when I started the show in the very beginning is how many billions of beings are in the galaxy. Nobody knows about the Jedi, nobody knows about the Sith. It’s just a tiny percentage of people that have any notion of it at all. It’s not in the culture. And I remember being really surprised as it was explained. I thought it was something that everyone knew about, but no, it’s very secretive and small.
In the interview, and for anyone who has actually seen Andor, its focus has been less space wizards with glowing swords, and instead been compared to a Russian novel like War and Peace. It follows the struggle of the normal masses who are just at the mercy of the constant strife of the Empire.
While it would be cool to have another moment like in Rogue One, where all we see is the ominous glow of red highlighting Vader before he hacks and slashes at a bunch of Rebels, it really doesn’t have a place in Andor. This has been, in my opinion, its greatest appeal, a fact Gilroy touched on. We get to focus on a story that is removed from the traditional fight of the Light and Dark sides of the Force because for most people in the galaxy, they know very little about that.
Gilroy has shown before that the focus is to tell a real and grounded story, one that is removed from some of the antics of the Jedi and the Sith. This is shown even in the limited use of aliens in the show, something that Gilroy is a bit sensitive about.
And again, while yes, it would be cool to see Vader and Palpatine in Andor, I do understand why they are absent. They just don’t have much of a place in this story, and they’re more suited for places like Obi-Wan Kenobi, where their actions and presence hold more weight. Though that doesn’t mean they hold no weight in a show like Andor.
There is plenty to talk about from the three released episodes, including Mon Mothma's drunken dance sequence, and there is plenty to enjoy without focusing on the stuff we don’t have. And there is still lots more to come, so use your Disney+ subscription to stay current on Andor.
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