Plot
In BBY 4, [a] one year after the uprising on Ferrix, [b] Cassian Andor poses as an Imperial test pilot on the planet Sienar in order to steal a prototype of a new experimental starfighter, the TIE Avenger. Struggling with the ship's unusual and unfamiliar control scheme, he narrowly escapes the Empire's armed response. Cassian lands the Avenger on a jungle moon where he has been instructed to hand the fighter off to another pilot; he is surprised to discover his own ship in ruins and the relay pilot missing. Upon exiting the Avenger, he is ambushed by members of a guerrilla rebel cell, the Maya Pei Brigade, led by the squabbling Bardi and Gerdis. Cassian is taken prisoner as the rebels continue to fight among themselves over the best course of action.
On the agrarian Outer Rim world of Mina-Rau, Ferrix survivors Wilmon Paak, Brasso, B2EMO and Bix Caleen are in the undocumented employ of a local farmer; Bix suffers from traumatic dreams of Dr. Gorst, the Imperial scientist responsible for her torture on Ferrix. They observe the arrival of Imperial ships on the planet, and worry about the possibility of an Imperial inspection.
On Chandrila, the arranged wedding of Mon Mothma's daughter Leida to Davo Sculdun's son Stekan begins; Mon and Vel Sartha are surprised to see Luthen Rael and Kleya Marki have been invited by Sculdun; both refuse to explain their presence at the wedding. Tay Kolma approaches Mon to set a time for the two to "catch up" on an unspecified subject. As the wedding on Chandrila continues, Luthen is anxious for updates on the progress of Cassian's mission; Kleya is confronted by Vel, who it is implied she has a history with, and reveals that they have been contracted by Sculdun to provide a gift for the couple. Tay reveals to Mon that his business has gone sour, and that his wife has left him; however, he wishes instead to discuss their funding of the Rebellion. Before he can continue, Mon is called away to console Leida, who is distraught over Stekan's unwillingness to hold her hand.
Orson Krennic holds a top-secret meeting with several Imperial officers, including Dedra Meero and Lio Partagaz, to plan an operation to gather the mineral kalkite for the Emperor's "energy program" from the planet Ghorman. The planet is a single-product economy known for its "Ghorman twill", a kind of spider silk fabric used to make high-end luxury items prized by the galaxy's elites. The extent of the planned mining could put enough stress on Ghorman's core that there is significant danger of planetary collapse. In the event that no suitable alternative to the required kalkite is found, the gathered officers must make plans to stifle any potential resistance from the local Ghorman population in order to strip-mine the planet as needed. Partagaz and others are nervous that Ghorman is a well-known and politically powerful planet, not a frontier world where they could hide their actions. Several alternate courses of action are suggested, such as faking a natural disaster to encourage the Ghormans to leave voluntarily, but Krennic's advisors have calculated that the risk is too great. Two officers lay out a plan for an elaborate anti-Ghorman propaganda campaign, which has already begun. When Dedra is approached by Krennic, she notes her concern that propaganda alone will be insufficient and suggests they need a Ghorman resistance that the Empire can "depend on to do the wrong thing".
On the jungle moon, the conflict between the Maya Pei rebels develops into a shootout killing the only pilot other than Cassian, and Cassian is taken away as several rebels around him are killed.
Production
Development
The episode was written by series creator Tony Gilroy, in his sixth writing credit for the show, and directed by Ariel Kleiman, who would go on to also direct the next five episodes of the series. [1] [2] [3] The episodes of Andor's second season, like those of its first, are split up into blocks, or story arcs, of three episodes; however, unlike in season one, each arc begins with a time skip of one year from the previous episode. [4] Gilroy decided to structure the season this way after concluding that the original five-season plan for the show was unfeasible, and needing some way to bridge the four years between season 1 and Rogue One (2016) in a single season. As proof of concept, he wrote the first and last episodes of each would-be arc, and eventually decided on this structure for the season. [5]
Writing
The episode's title refers to the one-year time jump between the first season finale and this episode, and appears at the beginning of all three-episode blocks of the season, each time denoting a similar time jump of one year. [1] "One Year Later" marks the beginning of the first three-episode block of the season, and was the last arc to be written. [5] Gilroy finished the script for the third episode on a flight days before the start of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. The planet Mina-Rau was named after the daughter of Tom Bissell, [6] another writer for the season, who penned episodes 10-12.
Casting
Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O'Reilly, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Faye Marsay, Elizabeth Dulau, Anton Lesser, Joplin Sibtain, Muhannad Bhaier, Alastair Mackenzie and Richard Dillane all reprise their roles from the first season. [1] In "One Year Later", marking his first appearance on Andor, Ben Mendelsohn reprises his role as Orson Krennic from previous Star Wars media, including Rogue One, in which he served as the main antagonist. [7] The roles of Bardi and Gerdis are played by Benjamin Norris and Sam Gilroy, the son of series creator Tony Gilroy, respectively. The two were cast by Gilroy himself after he observed their rowdy behavior at a family gathering and thought they would serve as good fits for the roles of the squabbling Maya Pei rebels. [8] Pierro Niel-Mee joins the series' ensemble as Erskin Semaj, a character originally seen in Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018) who serves as an aide to Mon.
Filming
"One Year Later" was filmed in the United Kingdom, similar to the majority of the series. The first block of the season was the last to be filmed, and faced some disruptions due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, specifically in the Central England Midlands, where the crew had planted 200 acres of rye for the scenes on Mina-Rau. [9]
Music
The original score for "One Year Later", as with nine other episodes of the season's twelve [c] , was composed by Brandon Roberts, replacing Nicholas Britell, the composer for the show's first season, due to scheduling conflicts. [10] This was the first episode of the series to not feature a new opening title theme, instead reusing Britell's theme for "Kassa", the series premiere.
The soundtrack for the episode was released alongside that of the other two episodes in its block on April 25, 2025 via Walt Disney Records as part of the first of four volumes of the second season's original score. [11]
Andor Season 2: Episode 1 (Original Soundtrack)| Title |
|---|
| 1. | "Andor (Main Title Theme) – Episode 1 [d] " | 1:18 |
|---|
| 2. | "Sienar Avenger" | 2:08 |
|---|
| 3. | "Canyon Run" | 2:15 |
|---|
| 4. | "Remember Me?" | 1:22 |
|---|
| 5. | "The Wedding Begins" | 1:29 |
|---|
| 6. | "Mina-Rau" | 2:01 |
|---|
| 7. | "Jungle Breakdown" | 2:26 |
|---|
| 8. | "Ghorman!" | 1:59 |
|---|
| Total length: | 14:58 |
|---|
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
