I watched Rogue One again after finishing this and it really enhanced the experience for me. I always liked the movie, but could also feel its flaws and sense the reconfiguration of scenes and story elements that got changed during production. I minded that less being able to view it now as a grand finale to Andor. I don’t even mind so much that the movie is centered around Jyn Erso because that feels so in step with this second season where whole episodes and arcs revolve around the other characters. Episodes ten through twelve were largely about Kleya, and Rogue One is the final arc that introduces another integral piece of the story tied directly to the Death Star. And yeah, can’t help but see all these “sisters” in Cassian’s life now right up to the very end; moments he never got to have with his own. His story with Kleya ends with him being the brother who convinces her that her life matters, and his story as Jyn’s brother ends with him basically telling her “dad would be proud of you.” Watching him accept his death is so much more emotionally resonant now. The score in Rogue One does feel a little jarring coming off of Andor, but I think I’ll view it now as part of the baton passing to the next stage of the story with the Jedi in A New Hope.
One other thought I had about Rogue One last night while my mind was running and I couldn’t sleep: Andor enhanced even small moments of triumph like when Mon finds out, along with the rest of the council, that Jyn and the other rebels have broken protocol and have taken off to go fight on Scarif. She gives that little smile because she’s happy this band of rebels has opted to ignore the demands of more obstinate political leaders and do what needs to be done. After all those years of exhaustion and hiding in the shadows and back room dealings, someone has finally broken through the red tape. But it also made me think of the scene between her and her daughter when she offered to save her from the traditional life in an unhappy marriage and her daughter rejected her mother. Here in Rogue One though, she gets to witness a young woman pushing back against the establishment and running for all of their lives. Mon’s sacrifices have an added weight to them and that smile has a look of pride with so much more subtext. “Rebellions are built on hope.”
My buddy and I have been touring Scotland this week and today we hiked up to see the Aldhani Dam from S1. We would’ve gotten much closer but it started to downpour. There’s a steep climb at the start but the views of the dam and loch make it well worth the effort. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/scotland/argyll-and-bute/cruachan-dam
So where does everyone land on season two vs season one? As much as I loved this season, I think season one still beats it by a hair for me. My only knock on this season is really down to the format. While I think they did a great job of communicating the character and plot developments that occurred between the arcs, there are still moments and arcs that felt like they could use just a bit more fleshing out. It’s kind of splitting hairs though, both are fantastic storytelling and it’s a miracle we got this through Disney Star Wars.
I probably like them equally. If the Mon stuff wasn’t so good in the first two episodes to make up for the Yavin stuff I may have said season 1. But the highs in both seasons are beyond anything we’ve had in Star Wars for me and we will probably never get anything as good ever again.