Is That Yavin? ‘Andor’ Episode 2 Easter Egg, Explained

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) spends most of the first two episodes of “Andor” Season 2 held prisoner by the few remaining, feuding members of a destroyed rebel faction known as the Maya Pei Brigade. After successfully stealing an Imperial ship, he arrives at his rendezvous point only to find the other rebel he was supposed to meet gone and replaced by the Maya Pei fighters. Cassian is forced to sit, handcuffed, and wait for the perfect moment to capitalize on his captors’ increasingly hostile, divided feelings toward each other.

That moment comes at the end of “Andor” Season 2, Episode 2 when Cassian escapes and flies away on his Imperial ship while the remnants of the Maya Pei Brigade fight each other, along with some monstrous creatures that ambushed and ate some of their members. As Cassian flies away, viewers get their first real look at the moon he had been trapped on all along.

If it looks familiar to “Star Wars” fans, there is a good reason for that. It is a location they have definitely seen before.

Back to Yavin: “Andor” Season 2, Episode 2’s surprising location

At first, the moon shown at the end of “Andor” Season 2, Episode 2 might just look like any other forested region featured in the franchise’s past films and TV shows. That is, at least, until you notice the multiple ancient temples that poke above its dense green tree-line. These temples are the same seen at the Rebel Alliance base featured in “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” which means that the moon Cassian escapes from in the opening arc of “Andor” Season 2 is none other than Yavin 4 (or just Yavin).

Yavin is the moon that the Rebel Alliance uses as its primary base of headquarters in “A New Hope,” and it is from there that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his fellow rebels launch their fateful attack on the Death Star. Before “Andor” Season 2 premiered, creator Tony Gilroy teased that it would delve into the history of Yavin, and the show has delivered on that promise.

Why is its inclusion in “Andor” Season 2, Episode 2 important? The season’s first three episodes admittedly do not offer much insight into the actual history of Yavin. They do, however, establish that the moon was already a secret meeting point for the galaxy’s rebels years before it became a base for the Rebel Alliance. That furthermore suggests that it was, once again, Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), and his network of spies who laid the foundation for the rebellion’s future.

There are still nine episodes left of “Andor” Season 2, but already things feel like they are starting to come full circle.

New episodes of “Andor” Season 2 premiere Tuesdays on Disney+.

The post Is That Yavin? ‘Andor’ Episode 2 Easter Egg, Explained appeared first on TheWrap.