Somehow Andor’s Mon Mothma Is Now One of the Greatest Star Wars Characters Ever

Spoilers travel for Andor Season 2, Episodes 1-3, “Harvest.”

“Many Bothans died to bring america this information…”

When histrion Caroline Blakiston uttered the supra celebrated Star Wars enactment arsenic Mon Mothma successful Return of the Jedi, it was undoubtedly a chill moment, a glimpse into the antecedently unseen hierarchy of the Rebel Alliance… albeit 1 that lasted astir “26 and a fractional seconds,” arsenic the histrion erstwhile joked. Indeed, that little country was beauteous overmuch each we got of Mon Mothma, onscreen anyway, for many, galore years.

And yet present we are arsenic Andor Season 2 debuts, and Genevieve O’Reilly’s instrumentality connected Mon Mothma has, combined with the penning from bid creator Tony Gilroy and his team, transformed her into 1 of the top Star Wars characters ever. And that’s saying a batch erstwhile 1 considers the pantheon of many, galore chill characters successful George Lucas’ universe.

While O’Reilly’s reserved but tortured Mothma was already a item of Andor’s archetypal season, the culmination of her Episodes 1-3 communicative this play genuinely drives location however astonishing and antithetic this amusement is successful presumption of Star Wars projects, and wherefore O’Reilly and her quality person proven truthful captious to its success.

I’m talking, of course, astir the last moments of the 3rd episode, arsenic Mothma dances the nighttime distant astatine her daughter’s cursed wedding. Is the legislator from Chandrila dancing to artifact retired the expanding horrors astir her, to numb herself to the symptom and hardship that her ain actions person caused (how galore Chandrilan Squig shooters did she lb successful that scene?), oregon is she simply unravelling successful that moment, with thing near to bash but dance?

“It was an bonzer time filming that,” O'Reilly precocious told IGN’s Michael Peyton astatine Star Wars Celebration. “It was my 2nd to past time connected the full of Andor … shooting that. It felt similar a precise beauteous crescendo, a large portion of the extremity of 3 episodes astatine the wedding. But [creator] Tony [Gilroy] and I person been talking astir this week [of the wedding]. Perhaps from the extracurricular it looks similar this beauteous Renaissance coating moment, but really it's a pistillate trying to exorcize the chaos that's successful her brain. Tony said the different time astir it, she's dancing to support herself from screaming. So everything successful Andor, determination are layers, determination is depth, determination are questions.”

Early successful Episode 1, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) meets a young Imperial tech serviceman who is helping him bargain a TIE Fighter. He gives her a pep speech regarding her determination to enactment with the Rebels: “You made this determination agelong ago,” helium tells her. “The Empire cannot win. You'll ne'er consciousness close unless you're doing what you tin to halt them.”

But does helium truly mean those words? Or is helium conscionable giving the newbie Rebel anticipation to cling to (Rebellions are built connected hope, don’t you know)? It seems apt that the pistillate volition beryllium astatine the precise slightest arrested aft Andor’s flight with the ship, if not executed arsenic she fears. But arsenic with truthful galore moments successful Andor, the origin is greater than those who are warring it. And that goes for Mon Mothma too.

So erstwhile Andor says “You'll ne'er consciousness close unless you're doing what you tin to halt them” astatine the commencement of this archetypal section of Season 2, we tin past look astatine the extremity of the section with Mothma spinning endlessly successful a vortex of guilt, anxiety, and despair. She is doing everything she tin to halt the Empire, and she decidedly doesn’t consciousness close successful that moment, having allowed her girl to beryllium joined disconnected into a shady household of well-to-do criminals portion besides lasting by arsenic Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael much oregon little tells her that he’s going to person her puerility person Tay Kolma (Ben Miles) killed present that he’s outlived his usefulness. What other tin she bash but dance?

Her eleventh-hour effort to dissuade her girl Leida (Bronte Carmichael) from going done with the matrimony is of people besides haunting Mothma, falling connected deaf ears arsenic it does. The calamity is that the legislator erstwhile stood wherever Leida does present and made the aforesaid mistake her girl is astir to make, becoming ensnared successful a loveless matrimony that’s much astir money, power, and optics than thing else. Mothma’s ain mother, drunk arsenic she was that day, must’ve seen what Mothma sees now, but that show didn’t assistance either to impact immoderate change. “Nothing connected the different broadside of that doorway matters,” she tells Leida. Of course, we cognize Mothma’s not conscionable talking astir the wedding. But it’s excessively precocious for Leida – she’s already lost.

The climactic creation series is intercut with Andor rescuing his friends backmost connected the satellite Mina-Rau, though helium finds he’s excessively precocious to prevention Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) (who seemed similar benignant of the champion feline you’d ever privation to beryllium friends with). Meanwhile, Tay is flying disconnected into the distance, ignorant of his impending doom, and Mothma’s relative Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) ponders the person she’s seemed to person mislaid to the cause. And connected the Chandrilan creation floor, adjacent Mothma’s deadbeat hubby Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie), who has seemingly ever been successful the acheronian astir his wife’s Rebel activities and support, notices that thing is disconnected with his woman and she spins and spins heedlessly.

Of course, dissimilar galore of the characters connected Andor whose eventual destiny is presently chartless to us, Mon Mothma volition successful information past the events of the amusement and yet basal connected the span of the starship Home One to talk those immortal words successful Return of the Jedi. But for present on, whenever we ticker that scene, it volition travel with a overmuch heavier and tragic backstory not conscionable astir Bothans, but astir Mon Mothma herself.

For much connected Andor Season 2, cheque retired the formed racing to five large moments from the premiere. And observe wherefore the planet Ghorman is truthful captious to the Rebel Alliance.