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Welcome to the Rebellion

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"Welcome to the Rebellion"
Andor episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 9
Directed byJanus Metz
Written byDan Gilroy
Featured musicBrandon Roberts
Cinematography byMark Patten
Editing byYan Miles
Original release dateMay 6, 2025 (2025-05-06)
Running time58 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Who Are You?" 		Next →
"Make It Stop"

"Welcome to the Rebellion" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American science fiction political spy thriller drama television series Andor. It is the twenty-first episode of the series overall; it was written by Dan Gilroy and directed by Janus Metz.

"Welcome to the Rebellion" was released on Disney+ on May 6, 2025 as part of a three-episode block also including "Messenger" and "Who Are You?", and received widespread critical acclaim for its writing, emotional weight, and the performance of O'Reilly.

Plot

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In the aftermath of the Ghorman massacre, the Empire frames the incident as an insurrection. Mothma writes a Senate speech against the Emperor and prepares to flee to Yavin IV. Senator Bail Organa chooses to stay behind to aid the Rebellion in secret. Luthen learns from Jung that Bail's security team is compromised and assigns Cassian to extract Mothma from Coruscant. Meanwhile, Luthen clashes with Mothma over the depth of his subterfuge within the Rebellion and his choice to have Tay killed. With Organa's help, Mothma takes the floor of the Senate and powerfully condemns Emperor Palpatine and the genocidal Empire's manipulation of the truth. Cassian convinces Mothma to leave with him, killing the spy in Organa's rival security team and Mothma's ISB-planted driver Kloris; he brings Mothma to the safehouse on Coruscant where she publicly positions herself with the Rebellion.[a] Cassian accompanies the injured Wilmon back to Yavin IV. Disturbed by recent events, Cassian resolves to leave and begin a new life with Bix, but Bix departs during the night, leaving Cassian a message that implores him to stay and help the Rebellion and promises that she will find him again once it succeeds. Later, technicians reprogram K-2SO, the stolen KX droid, to serve the Rebellion.

Production

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Writing

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The episode was written by Dan Gilroy, in his sixth writing credit for the show, and directed by Janus Metz, after directing the previous two episodes of the series.[2][3][4] The episodes of Andor's second season, like those of its first, are split up into blocks, or story arcs, of three episodes; however, unlike in season one, each arc begins with a time skip of one year from the previous episode.[5] Series showrunner Tony Gilroy decided to structure the season this way after concluding that the original five-season plan for the show was unfeasible, and needing some way to bridge the four years between season 1 and Rogue One (2016) in a single season. As proof of concept, he wrote the first and last episodes of each would-be arc, and eventually decided on this structure for the season.[6]

In May 2022, series showrunner Dan Gilroy said Cassian Andor would meet Rebel leader Mon Mothma in the second season after the pair had separate stories in the first,[7] which occurred in "Welcome to the Rebellion".[8] For K-2SO's introduction in the episode, Gilroy originally wrote an entirely self-contained story for the season's ninth episode that played like a horror film, with a KX unit hunting over a huge tanker ship on Yavin IV with K-2SO involved in the scenario, but budget issues meant the show's crew couldn't afford its production and consolidated things instead, so they opted to move up Mothma's Senate speech to "Welcome to the Rebellion", as it had been originally slated to occur in "Make It Stop".[9] Genevieve O'Reilly, who played Mothma, provided Tony Gilroy with input when writing her speech denouncing the Galactic Empire's role in the Ghorman Massacre in "Welcome to the Rebellion". While Gilroy had initially only written sections of the monologue which were to be spliced into a bigger montage, O'Reilly convinced him to write an entire speech.[8]

Casting

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By March 2023, Benjamin Bratt had been cast for the episode in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Bail Organa, replacing Jimmy Smits in the role.[10][11]

Filming

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In March 2023, director Janus Metz filmed the episode in Xàtiva and Valencia.[10][11] According to O'Reilly, filming also occurred in May 2023.[8]

Music

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The original score for "Welcome to the Rebellion", as with nine other episodes of the season's twelve[b], was composed by Brandon Roberts, replacing Nicholas Britell, the composer for the show's first season, due to scheduling conflicts.[12]

The soundtrack for the episode was released alongside that of the other two episodes in its block on May 9, 2025 via Walt Disney Records as part of the third of four volumes of the second season's original score.[13]

Andor Season 2: Episode 9 (Original Soundtrack)
No.TitleLength
1."Andor (Main Title Theme) – Episode 9 – Brandon Roberts & Nicholas Britell"0:43
2."Bug"1:46
3."Next Year, in Yavin"1:07
4."Article 17-252"3:50
5."I Have Friends Everywhere"2:06
6."Welcome to the Rebellion"3:32
7."Bix's Message"3:01
8."Senate Escape Suite"3:25
Total length:19:30

Release

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"Welcome to the Rebellion" was released on Disney+ on May 6, 2025 as part of a three-episode block, alongside "Who Are You?" and "Messenger".[8]

Reception

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Critical response

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The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 100% approval rating, based on 9 reviews.[14]

William Hughes of The A.V. Club gave a positive review, writing "Andor reminds us how much fun it can have when it's locked into pure spy mode."[15] Mike Redmond of Pajiba also gave a positive review, summarizing that "I know I was really hard on this arc, but to its credit, it was a breezy watch unlike last week. Episode 9 was particularly great, and I did not feel chained to my couch".[16]

Notes

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  1. ^ This leads directly into the events of the Rebels episode "Secret Cargo".[1]
  2. ^ All episodes of season 2 but "Ever Been to Ghorman?" and "I Have Friends Everywhere" credit Roberts as the main composer

References

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  1. ^ "The Star Wars Rebels Episode You Need To Watch After Andor Episode 9". Empire. May 12, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  2. ^ Lovitt, Maggie (April 8, 2023). "Tony Gilroy on the Race to Finish His Final 'Andor' Season 2 Script". Collider. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  3. ^ "Andor (2021–2024)". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on June 9, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  4. ^ Lovitt, Maggie (November 3, 2022). "'Andor's Season 2 Directors Revealed by Series Creator Tony Gilroy [Exclusive]". Collider. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  5. ^ Travis, Ben (May 4, 2023). "Andor Season 2's Final Three Episodes Cover The Three Days Before Rogue One – Exclusive". Empire. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  6. ^ Hadadi, Roxana (May 16, 2025). ""Before Anyone Else Defines It, I'm Going to Define It": Tony Gilroy on 'Andor', 'Rogue One', the Star Wars Universe". Vulture. Vox Media, LLC. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  7. ^ Breznican, Anthony (May 23, 2022). "'Andor' Star Wars Series: "What You Know Is Really All Wrong"". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Marsh, Walter (May 7, 2025). "By calling a genocide a genocide, Andor just made its most political point yet". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  9. ^ Goldsmith, Jeff (May 7, 2025). Andor S2 Q&A - Dan Gilroy - Episodes 7-9. Archived from the original on May 10, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ a b "Los actores y técnicos de 'Andor' ya están en Valencia a la espera de Diego Luna". March 17, 2023. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  11. ^ a b "THE STAR WARS FILM CREW VISITS EL MERCADO DE LA IMPRENTA". HOSTELERIA EN VALENCIA. March 18, 2023. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  12. ^ "Brandon Roberts Scoring Disney+'s 'Andor' Season 2". Film Music Reporter. April 11, 2025. Archived from the original on April 16, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  13. ^ "Details for 'Andor' Season 2 – Vol. 3 (Episodes 7-9) Soundtrack Album Revealed". Film Music Reporter. May 8, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  14. ^ "Welcome to the Rebellion". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  15. ^ Hughes, William (May 8, 2025). "Andor's beautiful speeches strain against the burden of Prequel TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  16. ^ Redmond, Mike (May 7, 2025). "'Andor' Season 2 Recap: Somehow, The Force Awakens". Pajiba. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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