Andor was not only one of the best shows of 2025, but season 2 also helped change the way fans see the universe of Star Wars. Andor grew from the Star Wars show that no one asked for into one of the best things the franchise has ever created. Andor season 2 saw the series come to an end, but it did so by deepening what a Star Wars project could be.
Star Wars is often seen as rather simple yet entertaining space opera stories about good versus evil. As successful as that has been, Andor carved a path for the future in which more complex stories can be told that use this galaxy far, far away to comment on the real world. Along with being great television, these moments from Andor season 2 change Star Wars completely.
The wedding dance
Mon Mothma is a famous hero to Star Wars fans and one of the pivotal faces of the Rebellion. However, she is made a much more fascinating character in Andor as we see how she gradually came to that position, forced to make one troubling decision after another. It is at the reception for her daughter's wedding that she realizes she cannot escape the morally gray decisions being made on her behalf.
With her desperate friend, Tay Kolma, suddenly becoming a liability, Luthen Rael tells her he'll have to deal with Tay. When Mon insists she doesn't know what that means, he cuttingly replies, "How nice for you." As Mon tries to participate in the energetic wedding dance, we can see how heavy this realization lies on her. She dances as if she is trying to escape the knowledge that people will die because of her.
It is easy to see the heroes of the Rebellion as these unquestioning noble figures who were brave enough to stand against the Empire. This moment presents that with far greater humanity. The morally gray Rebellion is a big part of Andor, and this is a fascinating moment of someone facing that they can't hide from the ugliness of their mission any longer.
The massacre of Ghorman
Star Wars has shown widespread destruction at the hands of the Empire since the very beginning of the franchise. However, with the Death Star blowing up a planet, we were spared the details. Andor gives no such reprieve when it comes to the massacre of Ghorman in season 2.
It is a defining set piece in the season, which is built up over the course of several episodes. It is not the Empire shooting a giant space laser, but rather them using lies and propaganda, and fueling an insurgency in order to give them an excuse to kill everyone. It is a shocking and disturbing sequence that shows the horror of the Empire on a scale never seen in Star Wars. Even more disturbing, it comments on how the massacre was essential for the future of the Rebellion.
Mon Mothma's speech to the senate
Though Emperor Palpatine is wisely not seen on screen in Andor, he is mentioned plenty. Revenge of the Sith showed how he took control, while the original trilogy depicted him as the embodiment of evil. However, Andor explores the idea of how the galaxy gradually let someone like Palpatine gain a level of power that made him seemingly unstoppable.
Even with the massacre on Ghorman, some deflected, suggesting Palpatine may not have known about it. In the most heroic moment in the series, Mon Mothma addresses the senate and calls out the "monster" Palpatine by name. It is a fiery speech and a glimpse at how the most important first step in the Rebellion was admitting to the galaxy that their leaders were corrupt.
Dedra's poetic end
Dedra made for another memorable villain in Andor, showing the unflinching ambition of an Imperial officer. She is not depicted as some staunch follower of the Dark Side, but someone who wants to be on the winning side at its highest levels. That means she is willing to do anything to ensure she gets there.
While any other Star Wars project would give the audience the satisfaction of seeing the heroes defeat and end her, Dedra's downfall in Andor is a much more poetic one. After fighting so hard to crush the Rebellion, her ego gets the best of her, and she lets her chance at victory slip. Having failed so spectacularly, it is her own people who destroy her. The last we see of Dedra, she is in the same horrific prison that she helped make possible.
The final shot
Cassian Andor cemented himself as a great hero in the Star Wars universe in this series, but with this being a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we all knew the fate that awaited him. The question then became, how would this series give him an ending that felt meaningful even though his death was on the horizon? It turns out that Andor found the perfect way.
It is the final shot of the series that delivers an emotional conclusion to his story. We see Bix, living on some far-off planet, away from the war, and finally having found peace. In her arms is a baby, which we can all assume is Cassian's child. It is a beautiful reminder of what Andor was about this whole time: these rebels are fighting for a future they will not see, but they do it for the next generation.