Andor returns for its second and final season to prove that it is not just the best piece of Star Wars media but also one of the best TV shows in recent years.

As we learned in Rogue One, rebellions are built on hope, but they’re also built by people—people with egos, insecurities, relationships, and flaws. With season two, Andor continues giving us some of the most fleshed-out characters in any Star Wars story and takes its superb writing to the next level by exploring how relationships lie at the heart of revolution.

We begin in BBY4, a year after the end of the first season. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is posing as a test pilot in an attempt to steal a TIE Fighter. His first interaction is with a nervous technician who is down for the cause, but also terrified. 

Right out of the gate, we feel the themes of the series: that the resistance to the Empire is about more than lightsabers; it’s about people. There are so many regular folks, people whose names aren’t famous in the canon, who make up the rebellion, and their motivations and relationships are a central part of this story.

This first arc involves a wedding on Chandrila, where a tense Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) is barely keeping it together, trying to play all her connections without revealing too much to anyone. The walls feel like they’re closing in, things are getting more intense, and everything feels so uncertain.

Trust is such a crucial component of the rebellion, and it’s extra challenging to achieve in a world where everyone is keeping enormous secrets. How can you know who to trust, who you can truly let your guard down with, and how can those relationships evolve or devolve as motivations shift? Relationships are the thing that makes us the most vulnerable, but they’re also the entire reason it’s worthwhile to fight back.

And this show is all about relationships.

We get a rather humorous glimpse into the relationship between Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), especially with regard to Syril’s overbearing mother Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), but we also see the suspicion, secrecy, and competitiveness in their interactions. 

We look deeper into the feelings, motivations, and connections shared by secondary characters like Val Sartha (Faye Marsay) Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu), and of course, we get another superb performance from Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael—high in the running for being the MVP of the entire series. 

Andor is remarkable in the way it makes things we previously brushed off feel fleshed-out and gives them weight without being an “I clapped because I recognize a thing” cheap nostalgia hit.

With such an enormous fictional world to play in, Star Wars can sometimes feel small, too focused on the Skywalkers or the Jedi to let us have a peek into other communities or cultures. One of Andor’s greatest strengths is that it opens up the galaxy and lets us look around. 

Star Wars has never felt more real or lived-in than it does on this show. We get unique environments and an exploration of culture—of traditions, ceremonies, and even languages—that enhances the galaxy of Star Wars in such magnificent ways and makes the world feel so rich and detailed.

In addition, Andor does tension better than almost any series right now, a testament to just how good the filmmaking truly is here. It’s not just about action, it’s about editing, performances, music, all elements working together to put us right where they want us emotionally and make scenes resonate. The way each arc builds to a climax is masterful, especially in later episodes, but this entire show accomplishes so much with its three-episode arc structure and feels so cinematic in the process.

What’s so beautiful here is how the show hits so many political themes that are (sadly) becoming more relevant by the day. From undocumented farmers to the use of propaganda to the rise of fascism to the feckless politicians who do nothing, the show is overtly political and rightfully demands that the audience be mature enough to understand these themes. While I’m sure we’ll hear the usual complaints that “they made Star Wars political”, I would argue that, if you’re watching Andor, you should be grown enough to know Star Wars has always been political.

It’s insane to me that something this mature, complex, well-written, and well-performed can come from this franchise. I want to live in a world where Star Wars has something for everyone, including adults who like mature storytelling, and I’m so grateful for Andor for being exactly that.