Editor’s Note: The below recap contains spoilers for Andor Season 2 Episode 4.
With Andor Season 2 Episode 4, we arrive at our first one-year time jump following the nail-biting events of the three-episode season premiere. It’s also the first of the three episodes penned by Beau Willimon and directed by Ariel Kleiman, and Willimon brings the same compelling narrative structure that made his Narkina 5 arc one of the most memorable elements of Season 1. A year after the traumatizing events of Episode 3, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Bix (Adria Arjona) are living a quiet, unassuming life in a safehouse on Coruscant. Bix is still plagued by nightmares of Doctor Gorst (Joshua James), though this particular terror seems to have been triggered by a recent mission she and Cassian were on. Gorst is torturing a soldier, and the man’s death seems to deeply unsettle her. Cassian wakes to find the bed empty and goes to find a sleepwalking Bix, comforting her and trying his best to talk her through the nightmare.
The following day, they make their way down to the Coruscanti equivalent of a bodega, where Bix is clearly a regular and Cassian is decidedly not. It’s clever how the series sets up these little elements, filling in the backdrop in subtle ways that allow them the freedom to move through the timeline at an expedited pace. When they return home to make dinner, they discuss their longevity in the safehouse. It’s a property that has been used by numerous people over the years, even in the days leading up to their return from the mission. Bix simply wants to know if they can leave their belongings there, and it sounds like she wants to start putting down roots, or at least whatever roots a pair of rebels on the run can put down.

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The conversation leads into a more difficult topic: the mission and the soldier Cassian killed. Cassian is resolute in his opinion that Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) only cares about results, and in his mind, the soldier was a threat to those results. Bix, on the other hand, is haunted by what happens, something that Cassian is confident will fade in time. This Cassian Andor is closer to who he was — or will be — in Rogue One. In a year’s time, he has hardened into a careful and more callous rebel, shaped like a tool for Luthen to wield. But there are subtle signs that that tool could snap under the right amount of pressure, at least where Bix is concerned.
Bix wants normalcy. She wants to go for walks through the park with Cassian, but he’s too paranoid about them being seen by cameras. Unlike Luthen, whose paranoia is rooted in protecting the rebellion, Cassian’s sole concern is protecting Bix. While the series has overtly shown how Dr. Gorst’s torture has had a long-lasting impact on Bix, Cassian’s desperate desire to keep her safe seems to be his own reaction to that terrible event. He wasn’t able to prevent it from happening — and it happened because of him — and now, every day, he’s confronted with the mental scars that she carries from it. Bix makes it quite clear that there’s nothing Cassian can do to truly protect her. She may love him, and regret all of the time they lost, but she has given up on hoping for anything more than the here and now. The conversation turns back to the mission that went awry, with Bix accusing Cassian of killing the soldier because he saw her face, not because of the mission. He tries to argue against it, but that’s clearly exactly why he did it.
Later in the episode, Cassian finds the bed beside him empty once more. This time, it isn’t a nightmare; she simply can’t sleep. Bix sits by the window, watching a beacon flash across the city, signaling that Luthen needs to talk to them. The following morning, Cassian meets up with Luthen and learns about what’s happening on Ghorman. The details are largely scattered and unclear, which is precisely why Luthen needs Cassian to head there for an assessment. This mission is different from their previous assignment, as Luthen doesn’t want Bix to go with Cassian. He’s hesitant about that and asks for time to consider it. Luthen doesn’t want to wait and tries to convince Cassian that Bix will be fine without him, but he isn’t convinced — especially not given how wan and forlorn she’s been looking throughout most of the episode.
Syril Karn Is a Single Man (Or Is He?) in ‘Andor’ Season 2 Episode 4

Image via Disney+

Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) may still be a middle man at the Bureau of Standards, but at least he’s now running the field office on Ghorman. While Episode 4 takes some time to reveal that he’s on Ghorman at the behest of Dedra (Denise Gough), it’s clear from the start that he didn’t just end up on the assignment by chance. It’s also clear that there’s something bigger going on. As he gets ready to leave for work, he ties a bit of string at the base of his door to catch a potential intruder snooping through his belongings.
His transfer to Ghorman has seemingly brought an end to his whirlwind romance with Dedra — or at least that’s what Syril has allowed his mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), to believe. After he arrives at the office, he has a chat with his mother (who has fully bought into the propaganda about the Ghor) about how things are going, and his call is being monitored by a group who are decidedly not part of the Empire. Syril’s conversation with his mother reveals quite a bit about what has come to pass in the past year, including the fact that the Empire is making everyone take loyalty oaths to remain in their positions (eerily familiar) and Eedy is worried her son is going to “become an individual” and lose his job.
At first, it does seem like Syril may have turned a new leaf in the time between Episodes 3 and 4. When he walks to work that morning, he passes by Ghorman protestors, and he almost seems sympathetic to their cause. Later, when he clocks out for the day, he’s approached by a vendor selling spider trinkets in the plaza who invites him to “learn more about Ghor,” and Syril doesn’t dismiss the offer. When Syril returns home, he finds his suspicions confirmed: someone has been snooping around his place. This revelation — and the invitation to attend the Ghorman town hall — sends Syril back to the office to report to Dedra. Despite running the Bureau of Standards on Ghorman, Syril doesn’t have after-hours clearance to get back into the office, so he pretends he left his notes on his desk to get security to bend the rules and let him in. There’s a safe room hidden within the building, which allows him to place a direct call to Dedra’s office in Coruscant. He tells her everything that has come to pass, and she presses him to attend the town hall in hopes of picking up a lead on the Ghorman Front. Interestingly, this entire operation seems to be off-the-record, as she doesn’t want Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) to know what she’s up to.
Syril attends the town hall, which is unsurprisingly packed. There seem to be two divisions within the burgeoning Ghor rebellion: those who want to play it safe and those who are ready to fight. Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel) tries his best to moderate the conversations and participants, but some, namely Lezine (Thierry Godard), rally the audience with what could be considered fearmongering, if we didn’t know that something bad will happen on Ghorman. It’s also here that the series draws a clear line of demarcation between Tarkin landing his cruiser on hundreds of protestors, and whatever impending tragedy is on the horizon. Rather than taking the easy way out and having the Ghor speak Basic like most of the characters in the series, Andor opts to give them their own distinctive language that gives them a French flair. It’s a styling that works quite well with the imagery that evokes thoughts of the French Resistance. They wear caps that look vaguely reminiscent of berets, the grand architecture around them feels Parisian, and thoughts of rebellion and resistance naturally lead back to the French.
While Syril tries to piece together what’s being said in Ghor, he is approached by Dilan (Théo Costa-Marini), Enza Rylanz (Alïs Lawson), and Samm (Abraham Wapler), who are eager to see someone working for the Empire show up to one of their meetings. They ask him what he thinks of the rumors that the Empire is building a fortress on Ghorman, but he stays neutral on the topic. After the meeting, Enza introduces Syril to her father, who thinks it’s very brave of him for showing up (clearly believing they have found an ally in him). Throughout it all, Syril maintains a certain level of ignorance that may actually be genuine.
Everyone Else Is Making Plans of Their Own in ‘Andor’ Season 2 Episode 4

Image via Disney+

On Coruscant, things aren’t going entirely as planned for the ISB. While Partagaz is thrilled with the increase in seizures and arrests as of late, they are facing significant delays. Supervisor Lonni Jung (Robert Emms) points out that they are arresting too many people — more than they can process — which takes some of the pressure off his coworker, Supervisor Heert (Jacob James Beswick), who took up the mantle of hunting for “Axis” after Dedra was taken off the assignment. This still proves to be a point of contention for her, despite her new, elevated responsibilities with Ghorman. Heert even accuses her of being too focused on “seeking glory,” just to rub salt in her wound. Heert also expresses his gratitude to Jung for jumping in when Partagaz was questioning him, and he asks how he can repay him for the assist.
After the meeting, Jung rendezvouses with Luthen — just as he did in Season 1 — to relay the information he’s been gathering. It’s been three months since they last spoke, which seems to be an issue for Luthen, who expects more frequent updates about the ISB’s movements. But the information he has is worth the wait. Jung tells Luthen that while everyone else thinks Dedra has been put out to pasture after the fallout of Ferrix, she’s actually running an operation on Ghorman that only three people know about. This sets in motion Luthen’s plan to send Cassian to Ghorman to uncover what’s going on.
Concurrent with these subplots is Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly), as she navigates an increasingly fraught situation in the Senate. As anticipated, the situation on Ghorman remains a major focus for Mon — and not just because her aide Erskin Semaj (Pierro Niel-Mee) is Ghorman. In a sort of montage, we see her meeting with a number of fellow senators in a bid to get them to do something to ensure that the Ghor are protected from the propaganda machine working against them and the P.O.R.D. law (Public Order Resentencing Directive). Her attempts to garner the votes she needs to introduce a bill fail, mainly because the senators have bought into what they’ve heard about the Ghor. Even Ghorman’s representative, Senator Dasi Oran (Raphael Roger Levy), has reservations about causing a stir, and not just because he knows Mon failed to find support. They have a very chilling conversation about how the Empire isn’t finding criminals, but rather making them, which feels like the thesis of so much of what Andor is trying to underscore with the Empire’s tactics. Ultimately, Mon’s plans fail because Dasi recognizes the risk that might befall Ghorman if they upset the Emperor, and it’s a risk he isn’t willing to take for his people.
Toward the end of the episode, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) makes his return to Andor, as Wilmon (Muhannad Ben Amor) heads to D’Qar to deliver a volatile explosive device fueled by Rhydonium. He’s there to teach Saw’s partisans — starting with Pluti — how the eight variations and six gauges function, as the machine is highly temperamental. Wil intends to teach one and simply leave D’Qar, but Saw has other plans for the young rebel.
The episode ends with Cassian making his decision to go to Ghorman, and it is one of the most beautiful — and romantic — scenes in all of Star Wars. In recent years, Star Wars has made a habit of using hands as a substitute for more intimate connotations, and here Andor utilizes touch in such a pure, hypnotic way as Cassian and Bix say their goodbyes, without a single word being exchanged. Have Han and Leia officially met their competition for the best couple in the Rebellion?
The first six episodes of Andor Season 2 are streaming now on Disney+.

Andor

Everyone descends on Ghorman in Andor Season 2 Episode 4.

Release Date

2022 – 2025-00-00

Network

Disney+

Showrunner

Tony Gilroy

Pros & Cons

Andor Season 2’s time jumps are perfectly paced and suit the driving nature of the story.
Adria Arjona gives a heartbreaking performance in this episode as she struggles with her mental health.
Ghorman is a vibrant and beautifully designed world.