Andor Just Dropped The Most Crucial Rogue One Easter Egg
“Erso? Galen Erso?”
For a prequel to Rogue One, the second season of Andor has been weirdly light on cameos or Easter eggs. The series isn’t all that interested in referencing the Star Wars stories we’ve already seen before: it’s more of a complement to those films and shows than a live-action remix of their events. Aside from Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt, taking over for Star Wars veteran Jimmy Smits), Davits Draven (Alistair Petrie), and Ruescott Melshi (Duncan Pow), very few characters from Rogue One have popped up in the series. However, the final three episodes of Andor Season 2 are designed to lead right into the events of the film, which makes certain references to the future unavoidable.
As Andor jumps forward to 1 BBY and the Rebellion discovers the Empire’s latest evil plan, the series makes one of its most overt connections to Rogue One yet. We don’t get any major cameos in Episodes 10, 11, or 12, but Andor does namedrop a character who’s crucial to the Rebellion’s first big victory against Imperial forces.
Spoilers ahead for Andor Season 2 Episode 10.
Lonni passes on his most important tip yet in Episode 10.
Andor Episode 10 opens with a clandestine emergency meeting between Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and Lonni Jung (Robert Emms), his Imperial informant. After infiltrating the private files of a top ISB agent, Lonni drops a major bomb: the Empire is building a superweapon.
Any Star Wars fan can likely guess that Lonni’s referring to the Death Star, the moon-shaped planet-killer that destroys Alderaan and nearly decimates the Rebel Base on Yavin in Episode IV — A New Hope. It also poses a major threat in Rogue One, at least until Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his rag-tag squad steal the blueprints for the weapon and discover the weak point that can destroy it. Imperial scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelson) was essentially forced to start building the Death Star 17 years before Andor and Rogue One. Fortunately, he does sabotage the weapon by building the very weakness the Rebels later exploit — but neither Luthen nor Lonni have any idea about that when they first learn about the Death Star.
Though we don’t get a Galen cameo in Andor, he’s one of the most important figures in the Galactic Civil War.
Lonni tells Luthen that the Empire’s “energy project” is just a ploy to consolidate power. The destruction of Ghorman and the occupation of Jedha (which we see in Rogue One) were attempts to mine kyber crystals. That’s the gem that once powered Jedi lightsabers; now, the Empire is using it as fuel for the Death Star. As Luthen later relays to his assistant Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau), Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) has been pulling the strings of “Project Stardust” for decades, but Galen Erso is the person the Rebellion needs to find.
This discovery will pave the way for a good chunk of Rogue One’s action: half the film is dedicated to the search for Galen, with Cassian tasked with assassinating him as soon as possible. Once Galen’s daughter Jyn (Felicity Jones) learns about that aforementioned weak spot, however, the plan changes, and Rogue One becomes a heist. The Rebellion’s most important mission yet begins with Galen and his deepest secret, and it’s only just beginning to unfold at the end of Andor Season 2. Though we don’t get to see the character or learn what he’s up to in the series, the mere mention of him is enough to drive the Rebellion into the next phase of their battle with the Empire.
