Sean Fantasy hosts Chris Ryan on The Big Picture to discuss Andor season two and rank all Star Wars movies and TV shows. Ryan serves as the show's primary Tony Gilroy advocate, having championed the series throughout its run on The Watch podcast.

The conversation explores how Andor stands apart from other Star Wars properties by operating as sophisticated espionage fiction rather than space fantasy. Drawing inspiration from The Hero With A Thousand Faces mythology that originally informed Star Wars, the show instead follows the Le Carré tradition found in works like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Fantasy admits to delaying his viewing of season two for nearly a year despite Ryan's persistent recommendations, finally watching it in January and finding it to be the series' superlative season. The discussion examines how Tony Gilroy's background in films like Michael Clayton brought a unique perspective to the Star Wars universe.

Tony Gilroy's Heretical Approach to Star Wars Mythology

Gilroy brought none of the infantile romanticism most fans have toward Star Wars, allowing him to tell mature stories without deference to Jedi mythology or Force-based storytelling.

The show features minimal Jedi presence and treats the Force like folk medicine - 'I need a doctor' rather than space healing - reflecting how non-believers view religious faith.

Originally campaigning against the project, Gilroy wrote a memo stating 'nobody should do this, but if they were going to do it, this is what they have to do' before Kathleen Kennedy hired him.

The series operates as sophisticated espionage fiction drawing from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and other Le Carré works, treating rebellion as actual revolution rather than adventure.

The $600 Million Gamble on Prestige Television

Andor cost approximately $600 million across two seasons, representing a massive investment in prestige television during the streaming boom era.

The show benefited from being conceived during a time when studios weren't demanding proof of concept every three episodes, allowing Gilroy to tell his complete story.

Originally planned as five seasons covering one year each leading to Rogue One, the series was compressed to two seasons due to practical constraints including COVID and actor availability.

The three-episode arc structure functions like individual novels, allowing viewers to revisit specific storylines like the Aldani heist or prison break as standalone experiences.

Revolutionary Cinema Influences and Political Resonance

The show draws from multiple film traditions including revolutionary classics like Battle of Algiers and Z, prison break movies, and post-war espionage thrillers like The Third Man.

Lines from the show have appeared on protest placards, with 'no more kings' becoming a rallying cry in real-world political movements during the second Trump era.

The Gorman Massacre episode integrates real historical events, echoing the French Resistance, American political movements, and the Reichstag fire as examples of orchestrated rebellion.

The series portrays paranoia and dread with exceptional skill, feeling prescient about contemporary authoritarianism - 'a bunch of stuff that's in the show feels like we watched a version of it at home.'

Character Complexity and Performance Excellence

The rebellion consists of warring factions with different approaches - Mon Mothma as the political figure, Luthan as the philosophical militant, and Saw Gerrera as the guerrilla extremist.

Stellan Skarsgård's Luthan delivers the show's thesis statements, embodying a character 'mourning the loss of his life, but not his death' as someone who gave everything to a cause he won't see victorious.

The series excels at taking seemingly minor characters like Kleya and making them pivotal - 'saves the rebellion by killing Luthan and then escapes' in a genuine payoff for patient viewers.

Diego Luna's Cassian operates as an unwilling participant throughout, constantly pushing against what Luthan wants him to do - 'find my sister, find Bix, get back to Marva' rather than defeat the Empire.

Star Wars Rankings and Franchise Future

The hosts rank Andor as the third-best Star Wars property after Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope, above Return of the Jedi and all other films and shows.

Rise of Skywalker ranks dead last as 'a consequential film that changed this entire franchise's past, present, and future' through its creative failures.

The upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu film feels small compared to Andor's scope - 'crazy how big this show feels and how small what I saw on a big screen felt.'

Future Star Wars projects are unlikely to match Andor's ambition and budget - 'I don't think for the next decade at least' will we see anything comparable to this achievement.