After a few months of hiatus, newStar Warscontent is here, withAndoron Disney+ a little more than halfway through its first season.Andor’s story leans more on the political thriller side of the franchise, which hasn’t been further explored yet — not on its live action shows, at least. Because, yes,Star Warsis not just about family drama and exploding ships, it does have a deeply political side.
In this new show, we follow the first steps that led Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) to become a spy and crucial player for the Rebel Alliance in the years before his tragic demise inRogue One: A Star Wars Story. By then, he is a well established intelligence officer and Fulcrum agent, burdened with the responsibility of obtaining highly classified intel for the Rebellion. But in his show, we will see his formative years as a Rebellion officer, as well as the formative years of the Rebellion as a whole.
Nowadays, everybody knows what the Rebellion’s symbol looks like. For fans, it has been an important sign since seeing it on Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) helmet inA New Hopeback in 1977. For the audience at large,Rogue OneandThe Last Jedidid a good job of making it more popular. Both on and off the galaxy far, far away ofStar Wars, the Alliance Starbird now stands for fighting the good fight. But even this fight has a story, andAndoris looking to explore it even further than all the other shows in this universe.
“We Cannot Let a Thousand Years of Democracy Disappear… Without a Fight.”
Chronologically speaking, though, the history of the Alliance to Restore the Republic — the movement’s formal name — goes further back in time. In fact, it began before the Galactic Republic had even properly fallen. It was in a rapid state of decay, though, as a consequence of the galaxy-wide destruction brought by the Clone Wars. We, the audience, know that the one responsible for such bloodshed was Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), former Chancellor of the Republic and, later, self-proclaimed Galactic Emperor.
By the end of the conflict, some members of the Galactic Senate began smelling something fishy about the way Palpatine held so dearly to power. Time and time again, the House kept agreeing on giving him more and more executive power over the Republic and its army. By the way, the Republic never even had an army before (at least not in the new canon). How come a single being gathered that much power? That’s what senators Padmé Amidala of Naboo (Natalie Portman), Bail Organa of Alderaan (Jimmy Smits) and Mon Mothma of Chandrilla (Genevieve O’Reilly) started to question in the year of 19 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin, according to the most widespread galactic calendar).
19 BBY is the year on which the events ofRevenge of the Sithare set, of course. The theatrical version of the movie doesn’t show it, but three crucial scenes deleted and left out by George Lucas are still regarded as canon. The first showed senators Organa and Mothma introducing the idea of an organization to fight for democracy to a small group of senators, Amidala among them. They debate the most recent attempt by Palpatine against the sovereignty of the star systems, appointing governors to each galactic sector, these being an early iteration of what would become the Moffs during the Empire. The group agrees not to talk about this meeting and their idea to anyone, not even to family.
A second deleted scene, set in Amidala’s apartment on Coruscant, shows them debating whether or not to disclose this issue to the Jedi Order. The conclusion is that, even though the chancellor is in active movement to try and seize control of the Jedi Council as well, by that point it’s better not to include the Jedi and pursue the constitutional way to solve this issue: through a committee (remember how Han Solo mocks Leia inThe Empire Strikes Backby saying “there’s no time to discuss this in a committee”? That’s how the people perceived the effectiveness of this kind of action).
Which leads us to the third deleted scene, set in Palpatine’s office. Led by Amidala, the group now call themselves the Delegation of 2,000 in an attempt to show the chancellor they have strength in numbers. Palpatine, though, does not concede even a millimeter. He quickly waves away the group, with Jedi Knight and protegé Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) by his side. A smart move, giving the impression of being in sync with the Jedi Order, even though the so-called keepers of the peace and justice are completely oblivious as to what to do about him.
A few days later, after Skywalker reveals to the Jedi Council that Palpatine is secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and that he has been playing both sides of the war, the Jedis' attempt to arrest the chancellor fails, Order 66 is issued and, throughout the galaxy, the light of the Jedi goes dark. In an extraordinary session in the Senate, Palpatine declares the end of the war and the Republic, crowning himself Emperor of the First Galactic Empire. Amidala herself would perish later on, and Organa would articulate with surviving Jedi Masters Yoda (Frank Oz) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) their involvement in the movement. They agree that, until the time is right, the best is for the Jedi to lie low and leave it to the politicians to plant the seeds of rebellion in the Senate.
Guerilla Warfare
The seeds of rebellions were already growing across the galaxy, though. Even before the events ofRevenge of the Sith, senators like Organa and Mothma were already the opposed to most of Palpatine’s decisions as chancellor; the former was openly against the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic (aka the clone army) inAttack of the Clones. So Alderaan and Chandrilla were there from the start, acting in sync.
But the Clone Wars did more than to make way for the rise of the Empire. Its destruction wreaked havoc on whole planets and made people’s lives miserable. On a planet called Onderon, the conflict brought about the death of a young woman named Steela, and sent her brother on a path of rage and destruction against who he knew was responsible. His name was Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). The wholeThe Clone Warsanimated series is worthy of a watch, but its Onderon arc shows that the Gerreras were trained in the ways of guerilla by the Jedi themselves to survive a well established Separatist occupation. Years after, as seen inThe Clone Warssequel seriesThe Bad Batch, Saw started putting that knowledge and practice to good use against another cruel occupation, this time the Empire’s.
Saw’s practices, though, were not regarded as ideal. His guerilla approach proved to dangerous and put lots of civilians at risk, as well, to a point in which, in the years beforeA New Hope, his group, known as the Partisans (a reference to the Italian and Yugoslavian guerilla groups that operated against the Nazis during World War II), broke off the Rebel Alliance. He was openly critical and even hostile toward Mon Mothma, who only accepted including him in missions when there was absolutely no other way.
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Even after Saw’s death and the destruction of Jedha inRogue One, the Partisans remained active, trying to stop the Empire from mining what remained of kyber crystals from the dead planet. Led by the Tognath Benthic, they even worked with Luke Skywalker and his friends (as seen in multiple arcs of Kieron Gillen’sStar WarsMarvel run).
The Many Rebellions
But not all rebel groups were violent. They did what was necessary to survive, granted, but mostly they tried to preserve life. One of these cells was led by Kawlan Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and created The Path, a network of rescue and support for Jedi and Force-sensitive people hunted by the Empire and its Inquisitors. As seen in theObi-Wan Kenobishow, they operated out of Mapuzo, Jabiim and other planets, and had the support of infiltrated Imperial Officer Tala Durith (Indira Varma) and even Jedi Master Quinlan Vos. In 9 BBY, they helped Ben Kenobi and a young princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair), which led them into open battle against the Empire.
In a faraway corner of the galaxy, on the mineral planet Crait, Bail Organa led the efforts to house and hide a rebel cell in a mining facility. This was eventually discovered by his daughter Leia, who even went back to this base on two occasions: the first one when searching for a new rebel base after the Battle of Yavin (as seen in comic bookStar Wars: The Last Jedi – The Storms of Crait) and decades later, leading the Resistance in the war against the First Order (as seen inThe Last Jedi).
Another rebel cell with humble beginnings were the Specters. Their members are famous, being the main characters of the animated showStar Wars Rebels: pilot and strategist Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Mandalorian weapons expert Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar), Lasat muscle Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum), Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) and astromech war veteran C1-10P “Chopper.”
Operating out of Lothal, the Specters' primary goal was to help refugees that lost everything to the Empire. Through small thefts of Imperial property and schemes built with fellow outlaws, they were able to help the people of Tarkintown, a refugee camp on the planet. After the village was destroyed by Imperial forces, they fled the planet and joined the Phoenix Rebel Cell, where they worked together with Senator Organa, commander Jun Sato (Keone Young), former Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Clone Wars veterans Rex, Wolffe and Gregor (Dee Bradley Baker).
The merging of the Specters and the Phoenix Cell was the start of something special. Their operations brought hope to people through the Outer Rim of the galaxy and quickly became a source of concern for the Empire. First, Imperial Security Bureau agent Alexsandr Kallus (David Oyelowo), the Grand Inquisitor (Jason Isaacs) and Governor Arihnda Pryce (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) were responsible for their capture. After the Phoenix Cell proved to be way too much for them to handle, Emperor Palpatine decided to dispatch Grand Admiral Mitth’raw’nuruodo (Lars Mikkelsen) to finish the task. Thrawn managed to corner and would have beaten them, but was stopped by Bridger, who, in a desperate attempt to save his friends and his homeworld of Lothal, highjacked Thrawn’s flagship and jumped to hyperspace with it. Both his and Thrawn’s whereabouts are currently unknown, and the search for them will be the main storyline of future Disney+ series,Ahsoka, led by Rosario Dawson as the Togruta Jedi.
The Rebel Alliance
Two years before, in 2 BBY, Senator Mon Mothma’s opposition to the Emperor’s policy finally made her an enemy of the regime. She fled from Coruscant and was eventually welcomed aboard the Specters' flagship, the freighter Ghost, while on their way to Dantooine.
After years of articulating the unification of the various rebel cells into a single unified movement, it was finally time to make the galaxy know that liberty and democracy would not be let to die without a fight. In a speech delivered from the Ghost and broadcast to the whole galaxy through the HoloNet, Mothma announced the birth of the Alliance to Restore the Republic — the formal name of what is popularly called the Rebel Alliance.
From that moment on, civil war was declared in the galaxy. The references most of the fans have about the Rebellion started at this moment, lasting up until the very end of the war. Mothma was the official leader of the Rebellion, but never made any decisions based on her authority alone. There was still a core group of political players inside the organization, of which Bail Organa, his daughter Leia (Carrie Fisher), and other senators-in-exile were part.
Military leaders included intelligence specialist General Davits Draven (Alistair Petrie), and generals Jan Dononna (Ian McElhinneyinRogue One,Alex McCrindleinA New Hope), Carlist Rieekan (Bruce Boa), Raddus (Stephen Stanton) and Gial Ackbar (Erik Bauersfeld). Intelligence officers included Fulcrum agents Ahsoka Tano, Alexsandr Kallus (who defected from the Empire) and Cassian Andor himself. From her days as a pilot, Hera Syndulla eventually achieved the rank of general by the Battle of Scarif.
The symbol of the Rebel Alliance is also universally known: a red starbird. The iconic design was created by Sabine Wren (who was not only a weapons specialist, but also an artist). She blended the Specters' symbol, an orange starbird, with the sigil of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. The result is known to all who have watchedStar Wars, and went on to become the symbol for Leia Organa’s Resistance in the war against the First Order as well, to remind them what they stood for.
A Galaxy-Wide War
The Rebel Alliance was based on Yavin 4 for almost two years, as it was previously the home for Jan Dodonna’s own rebel cell, the Massassi Group. Those were the headquarters from which they scored their two first major victories against the Empire.
The first started with Operation Fracture, which consisted of extracting imperial scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) after intercepting classified messages revealing the construction of a “planet killer” super weapon by the Empire. Erso’s extraction was led by his own daughter, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), Cassian Andor and the newly formed Rogue One crew, which also consisted of reprogrammed imperial cargo droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), the Guardians of the Whills called Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), and former imperial technician Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed). The operation started with Jyn’s own rescue from imperial captivity, which eventually led the team to the moon of Jedha, where Saw Gerrera held a message from Galen to him and Jyn detailing how to extract the blueprints to this super weapon and exploit the only flaw in its structure, which he purposely left behind. Little did they know that, as they saw this message, the planet killer itself was orbiting Jedha, ready to make its first strike. The Death Star earned its name then, ending Saw Gerrera’s story of rebellion and nearly killing the Rogue One crew, too.
To prevent more genocides from happening, everything depended on the Rogue One crew’s efforts. They tried extraction Galen Erso from the Imperial facility on Eadu, but the scientist was killed in the process. Their efforts eventually led them to Scarif, the planet that house the Imperial database containing most of its initiative’s plans. To provide support to the crew on land, the Rebel Fleet appeared on the orbit of the beach planet to do battle against the imperials. Heavy casualties were suffered by the Rebellion during the Battle of Scarif, including the Rogue One team making the ultimate sacrifice themselves. But it was ultimately considered a victory, as the Death Star plans were successfully extracted.
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All these events were, of course, depicted inRogue One: A Star Wars Story, and led immediately to the Alliance’s second great blow to the Empire. With the Death Star plans in hand, the Rebel Fleet went all in and attacked the gigantic battle station after their Yavin 4 base was revealed to the Empire in the aftermath of Leia Organa’s rescue from inside the planet killer weapon. There was no fleet anymore, only 30 starfighters to face the gargantuan power of the ultimate weapon in the galaxy. With the help of smuggler and scoundrel Han Solo (Harrison Ford), though, newcomer Luke Skywalker was able to deliver the killing blow to the Death Star, right where Galen Erso said his purposely laid flaw on the structure would be, its exhaust port. The Rebellion was saved, and the Empire lost its biggest asset, but it doesn’t mean things were made easier for the rebels. In fact, another cruel stage of the Galactic Civil War was just beginning for them…
On the Run
The Rebels had to leave Yavin right after the battle, as their location was still known. They spent their following years going from place to place in search of a new location for their main base, but never settling down. They rarely had a moment of peace, now that the Empire actually took them seriously as a threat and spared no efforts to find them.
As usual, the adventures of Luke, Leia and Han often took another direction from that of the Rebellion, as shown, once again, in Kieron Gillen’sStar Warscomic run. Meanwhile, the Rebellion bled. They lost not only Yavin, but most of their infrastructure as well, like Mako-Ta Space Docks production center and Sunspot Prison. Things only settled down when they arrived at the icy planet Hoth to establish their new main base. That didn’t last long, though, as seen inThe Empire Strikes Back. They were soon located by the Empire on 3 ABY and went on the run again after suffering heavy casualties on the Battle of Hoth.
Without a home once again, the Rebellion relied more than ever on the strength of its fleet. Despite the losses, the movement also grew, now that people around the galaxy started to see the Empire for what it was. Pilots, soldiers, technicians and strategists started joined the Alliance from all over. It wasn’t enough to overthrow the Empire, but at least it leveled the odds a little.
By 4 ABY, Bothan spies discovered the Empire was building a second Death Star over the forest moon of Endor and that Emperor Palpatine himself was aboard the new planet killer. Unfortunately, they gave their lives bringing the information to the Rebellion. It was time for the rebels to go all in once again, with the bulk of their fleet taking part on the Battle of Endor, shown inReturn of the Jedi.
A coordinated effort took rebel Pathfinders to the forest moon to disable the Death Star’s shield, led by general Han Solo, allowing the starfighters to infiltrate the bowels of the planet killer and destroy it. The attack on space was led by general Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and Wedge Antilles (Dennis Lawson), and many other seasoned fighters took part of the battle itself. On the ground, Kes Dameron and clone captain Rex were among the Pathfinders, while in space Shara Bey (Kes' wife and mother to baby Poe Dameron) and Norra Wexley were among the notable pilots.
The New Republic
The victory on Endor meant the Empire had lost its leader. Palpatine was dead (at least as far as they knew, of course), along with Darth Vader and many other Imperial officers. The Rebel Alliance reorganized itself as the New Republic, with a new Galactic Senate, Mon Mothma as chancellor and Chandrilla as its first capital planet. To avoid concentrating power on the Core of the Galaxy, the New Republic rotated its capital every few years. The last one was Hosnian Prime, as seen inThe Force Awakens.
That didn’t mean the war was over, though. The year following Endor saw a lot of action, especially because Palpatine’s death triggered the infamous Contingency Plan. That was an initiative based on the premise that “an Empire that can’t protect its Emperor has failed,” and therefore needs to be purged of all weakness. The most important moment of the Contingency was Operation Cinder, depicted across multiple platforms, like theAftermathandAlphabet Squadronbook trilogies andBattlefront IIvideogame. That was one of the lowest moments of the already infamous Imperial history.
The Contingency led the Imperial Remnant to Jakku on 5 ABY, where the last battle of the Galactic Civil War was fought between the New Republic and the Empire. NovelsAftermath: Empire’s End, by Chuck Wendig, andAlphabet Squadron: Victory’s Price, by Alexander Freed, depict the Battle of Jakku in extensive detail. Jakku was chosen as the field of battle as it housed an old Imperial observatory of great interest for Palpatine, that was destroyed as the last part of the Contingency.
During the battle, Mon Mothma signed the Galactic Concordance with Imperial Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, an armistice that put an official end to the Galactic Civil War. What took everyone by surprise was the fact that, as soon as the treaty was signed, all remaining Imperial vessels on Jakku jumped to hyperspace towards the Unknown Regions. Already “purged” of its weakness, the Empire would reorganize into the First Order, led by former Imperial officers like Brendol Hux and Rae Sloane, and wait until it was strong enough to invade the known Galaxy.
The New Republic, on the other hand, lost most of its strength. In the name of peace, one of the first acts of Mon Mothma as chancellor was to demilitarize the Galaxy, leaving most of the planets to organize their own defenses by themselves. There still was a fleet, but not as big as the time of the Rebellion. The political regime itself was modeled almost exactly after the Old Republic, which started to corrode in time with many bureaucrats and phony politicians trying to make a name for themselves.
In 30 ABY, the First Order invaded the Galaxy, and the rest is shown in depth in the Sequel Trilogy and novels likeResistance Reborn. This was only possible because the New Republic, as its older namesake, forgot that democracy is a regime of the people, by the people, for the people. It focused too much on the Republic side of things, and forgot that, before them, came the Rebellion. And even though Jedi Knights and brave Generals call for attention, the Rebellion succeeded by the effort of regular, everyday people. People like Cassian Andor, as we will see asAndorcomes to Disney Plus.
