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Star Wars has always been aggressively anti-fascist. The message became far more blatant and difficult to ignore in each subsequent trilogy of films if you engage with it at anything deeper than the barest surface level. However, the anti-fascist roots of Star Wars are perhaps the most visible in the first season of Andor. Now that I’ve seen the first episode of Andor season two here at Star Wars Celebration 2025, I can already tell that the producers are doubling down and showing just how easy it is to slide into acceptance of evil.

I’ll be talking spoilers for Andor season two ahead, so don’t read on if you want to go into the new season fresh.

One of the four storylines that we see develop in the first episode of Andor season two has a group of Imperial officials gathered to discuss a delicate matter; the mining of a specific mineral from the planet Ghorma. The mineral will be used to create the lens of the Death Star, which becomes the focal point (pun intended) of Rogue One. The catch is that Ghorma is not directly under Imperial control and the local population will likely resist the Empire showing up, strip-mining their planet to the point of collapse, and potentially killing all of them in the process.

The meeting is run by Ben Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic, who is looking for solutions to two problems; one, how to get the mineral out of the planet quickly, and two, how to make sure the impending genocide of the Ghorman population doesn’t become a flashpoint of resistance to the Empire’s control of the galaxy.

If this feels uncomfortable, it is because this is exactly the playbook that authoritarian regimes have employed throughout history. However, the interesting thing about this scene isn’t that the Empire is trying to do horrific things – that is kind of their whole thing. The most interesting thing is watching each member of this clandestine meeting slowly accept their role in the impending destruction of Ghorma. The mood in the room slowly shifts from horror at what they’re being asked to do to actively taking part in the planning.

This is never clearer than on Dedra Meero’s face. There is obvious hesitation in her; she knows what she is being asked to do is wrong and that, by taking part, she will have the blood of countless people on her hands. You can see it in her eyes as she weighs that in her mind and then advises Krennic to plant spies on the planet to create their own “resistance” movement that they can control and manipulate.

We know that Andor season two is going to follow Dedra’s descent from “girl boss” into full-blown fascism and this scene shows just how easy that first step can be to take. She is far removed from the consequences of her decision, making it easy to speak about genocide in theocraticals. As the season goes on, we’re going to watch how each time she goes along with the evil actions of the Empire, it becomes easier to justify more heinous acts in the name of order.

It is what Star Wars has always taught us; resistance and rebellion can’t be something that we do later on, when fascism has taken hold. By then it is too late. Accepting even a single step toward authoritarianism makes it almost impossible to resist going further. In that way, Andor is once again going to be the perfect show for the chaotic world we find ourselves in

Season one was about how rebellions are formed. Based on the first episode of season two, I think this season is going to be all about how easy it is to let fascism take hold of your soul.

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