Andor Just Connected Cassian’s Story to an Important Animated Star Wars Moment

This article contains spoilers for Andor season 2 episodes 7-9 and Star Wars: Rebels season 3 episode 18.

The Ghorman Massacre is not only one of Star Wars’ most tragic events, it becomes an important catalyst for the rebel movement. As we see in episode 9 of Andor season 2, Mon Mothma speaks out against the atrocities committed by the Empire against the Ghor and the Emperor himself for allowing them, forcing her to go on the run. The animated series Star Wars: Rebels first introduced this plotline to Star Wars canon in the episode, “Secret Cargo,” but now thanks to Andor we have even greater context for how this all went down.

In the aftermath of the Ghorman Massacre, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) can’t just sit by anymore while the Empire murders its people and lies to them about it. She asks her fellow senator and rebel leader Senator Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt) to stand with her and flee to Yavin 4. Senator Organa promises his support but isn’t yet ready to leave Coruscant behind and tells Mon that she’s braver than he is for doing so.

After witnessing the Ghorman Massacre firsthand, Cassian (Diego Luna) tells Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) and Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) that he will do one last mission for them, but then he wants out of the rebellion. That mission, it turns out, it getting Mon to safety after denouncing the Emperor and calling out the Empire’s genocide of the Ghor in front of the senate. 

Luthen doesn’t trust the team that Bail has assembled to get her to Yavin 4 and believes there to be a mole on the inside. Despite the fact that Mon doesn’t currently trust him, he sends Cassian into the senate building undercover to make sure she makes it out without falling into Imperial custody. 

Mon gives her speech despite the ISB’s best efforts otherwise and flees the senate chambers immediately. She is initially hesitant to follow Cassian, but after a member of Bail’s team outs themselves as ISB and tries to arrest Mon, she sticks by his side. After more than a few close calls, the two make it out and take refuge in Luthen’s Coruscant hideout, the same place that Cassian and Bix lived in during their time on the planet.

But even though Cassian and Luthen by extension are the ones who successfully liberated Mon from the senate and got her to safety, Rebel leaders want the Gold Squadron to deliver her to Yavin 4. They want her to record another speech and give her arrival a little more fanfare. This is where the Spectres of the Phoenix Squadron in Star Wars: Rebels come in.

We now know that the episode “Secret Cargo” picks up after Cassian and Mon have parted ways. Hera, Zeb, Ezra, and Chopper begin the episode trying to stay hidden amongst a debris field while waiting for the Gold Squadron, their original task being to help them refuel for what is presumably the rest of the journey to Yavin 4. Erskin is one of the Rebel officers that the team initially meets, which makes sense given how crucial he was to helping Cassian and Luthen get her to safety.

When an Imperial cruiser arrives and starts attacking, the Spectres soon learn that Mon Mothma herself is the Gold Squadron’s secret cargo. The Spectres and Gold Squadron escape that encounter, but they aren’t in the clear just yet. They fight against other Imperial forces on their journey to Dantooine, but in the end they are successful and get Mon to what is presumably her first stop on the way to Yavin. She makes another speech announcing that she’s leaving the senate to fight for the Republic, encouraging people to join her, and this kickstarts the formation of the Rebel Alliance as we know it.

While Andor does change a few things about how this all went down, it connects Cassian’s story to yet another important moment in the rebellion. Even though he may not be the one to get credit for it as the Rebel Alliance tries to distance itself from the more extreme cells like Luthen and Saw, Mon knows what he did to bring her to safety, and it adds new layers to their relationship in Rogue One. Even in its early days, it turns out that the Rebel Alliance was even more connected than we thought.

Andor season 2 episodes 1-9 are available to stream on Disney+ now. The final three episodes premiere Tuesday, May 13 at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+.

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