Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy discusses another one of the sophomore season’s cut stories, or in this case, just reduced. Andor season 2 covers four years of time, leading up to the events of Rogue One. Several episodes depict the tensions and power plays that ultimately result in the Ghorman Massacre. In Andor season 2, episode 6, the more experienced rebel operatives Vel (Faye Marsay) and Cinta (Varada Sethu) lead the burgeoning Ghorman front in stealing Imperial weapons to prove that the Empire is planning a military takeover of the planet.
While the timeline of the second season meant some plot points were cut, it has been revealed that funding also played a role. In an interview with Backstory Magazine, Tony Gilroy said that the weapons robbery on Ghorman was initially a train heist, with a much bigger set piece. However, he argues that it was ultimately better for the story that this was downgraded to an attack on a single transport (essentially a truck), despite money being the original reason. Check out his comments below:
I was reminded this morning, you know when Beau [Willimon] came in on Ghorman, Luke [Hull] and I didn’t just build Palmo and the thing — the heist, you know when they steal the guns. The heist was supposed to be, we had really built the Ghorman economy so that all nine cities of Ghorman sent all of their Ghorman twill, or whatever the silk, the spider silk and the weaves and all the material to this huge railroad distribution center. There was this massive planetary rail system that landed in a depot outside Palmo, and we were going to CG the s*** out of this thing and have a train. It was going to be a train robbery on a thing and Beau and Luke, they wasted a lot of time on that. And it was really cool and we were looking at trains, and high-speed trains, and what kind of thing, and the guns come in on the trains and hijacking and levels. Oh my god, money, man. Money. Couldn’t do it.
Now, the show’s better for it. It’s like Aldhani. What we ended up with is character. What we ended up with instead of having the [K-2SO] episode was the proper allocation of Ghorman Massacre and Senate. We ended up with character and we had more intensity than we would have had these bravura visual experiences, I think.
Beau Willimon is a screenwriter who wrote Andor season 1, episodes 8-10, and season 2, episodes 4-6; Luke Hull is a production designer and executive producer for Andor.
What This Means For Andor
It Allows The Rebellion & Empire’s Plans For Ghorman To Take Center Stage
The storyline of the political scheming surrounding the Empire’s takeover of Ghorman is dark, compelling, and well-thought-out. Reviews for Andor episodes 7-9, which depict the Ghorman Massacre and the immediate aftermath, are hailed as harrowing and the best episodes of the series. While the writers missed out on a bigger spectacle for the preceding robbery, this doesn’t affect how the episodes depict Luthen Rael’s (Stellan Skarsgård) accelerationist tactics, wanting the upper-class planet of Ghorman on the Rebellion’s side, no matter the cost.
Related
Andor Season 2’s Missing Episodes Explained: Writer Dan Gilroy Explains Cut K-2SO & Mon Mothma Stories
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On the other hand, one of the character-driven parts of the heist is the reunion between Vel and Cinta, and Cinta’s subsequent accidental death. Andor‘s approach to Cinta’s fate has been criticized for exhibiting some problems associated with the “Bury Your Gays” trope, so Gilroy’s suggestion that the character side of this was prioritized and came across well isn’t entirely true. However, the moments showing the tensions between the Ghor and the other rebels were well-received, and the train heist may have been a distraction from this.
Our Take On Andor’s Cut Ghorman Story
As Much As We Would Have Liked To See It, Ghorman’s Arc Works As Is
Image via Disney+
Admittedly, this whole train robbery thing sounds pretty cool. However, I am forced to admit that if all the thematic elements were exactly the same (the Ghor only proving something everyone already knew; Luthen helping them because of what it would symbolically mean for Ghorman to rebel despite the likely collateral damage), the show didn’t need it. I also would have liked to see Cinta’s death happen differently, and there are other spaces where I think this season really would have benefited from more episodes, but it’s almost unanimously agreed that Andor‘s Ghorman storyline is already devastating and perfect.
Source: Backstory Magazine
Andor
8/10
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Tony Gilroy
- Directors
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Susanna White
- Writers
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Dan Gilroy