• Andor season 2 is laying the foundations for an incredibly harrowing moment in Star Wars history
• The event was set in motion by the meeting held by Orson Krennic in episode 1
• It’s related to the planet Ghorman, which will make its live-action debut later this season

Andor season 2 has finally made its Disney+ debut – and, amid the numerous online discussions that its first three episodes have spawned, there’s one above all others that’s really got Star Wars fans talking.

Indeed, following the release of this season’s first three episodes, it’s all but confirmed that Andor‘s final installment will cover one of the most tragic moments in the near 50-year history of Lucasfilm’s iconic sci-fi franchise.

Full spoilers immediately follow for Andor season 2 episodes 1 to 3. Turn back now if you haven’t watched them all yet.

So, what emotionally devastating event is season 2 building towards? The Ghorman Massacre, which is not only a hugely pivotal moment for many characters involved in the Rebel Alliance, but one whose canonicity has sparked a fierce debate among Star Wars fans for many years.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. First, let’s explore how the final season of one of the best Disney+ shows is laying the foundations to depict this grave moment in such soul-destroying fashion.

In season 2’s opening episode, Ben Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic, aka the Galactic Empire commander who’s overseeing the creation of the Death Star, invites a number of high-ranking Imperial officers to a secret meeting at The Maltheen Divide.

There, Krennic informs the assembled guests that nobody outside of this room – Emperor Palpatine and a couple of high-ranking officers notwithstanding – is to know about what’s discussed at the gathering. Indeed, no notes are to be taken, officers’ personal droids will have their hard-drives wiped once the meeting ends, said meeting shouldn’t have been put in their calendars, etc.

With that housekeeping out of the way, Krennic plays an infomercial-style video to his fellow Galactic Empire employees about the planet Ghorman. This world is famous for the spiders that weave the best silk in the galaxy, which is used to make the finest twill for the priciest clothes, which are sold across the cosmos.

It’s a strange mini-documentary to show to the assembled guests, including Imperial Security Bureau commander Major Lio Partagaz and Dedra Meero. But, hey, Krennic is nothing if not eccentric (he’s also terrifying, but we knew that already).

Anyway, there’s a reason why Krennic played this video, and it’s got nothing to do with the spiders that inhabit Ghorman. The planet is also home to a particularly important material – Deep Substrate Foliated Kalkite (DSFK) – which is apparently important to the Emperor’s Energy Initiative.

The public line is that DSFK will allow the Galactic Empire to create “stable, unlimited power” (Krennic’s words, not mine) that can be used throughout the galaxy, but that’s merely a front for the tyrannical regime’s true intentions. Indeed, DFSK is actually going to be used to coat the Death Star’s reactor lenses. This will allow the Death Star’s crew to concentrate its planet-destroying beam to apply enough force to, well, destroy any planets and their inhabitants who oppose the Empire.

The Empire’s problem is two-fold. For starters, excavating DSFK is an incredibly invasive procedure, so much so that it would destabilize the planet’s core and effectively destroy it. If the Empire fails to find a suitable alternative to DSFK – it has three years to locate a substitute, according to Krennic – it’ll have no choice but to begin “gouge mining” Ghorman for DSFK.

The other issue is the Empire has little to no presence on Ghorman, so its sudden appearance would raise eyebrows and potentially lead to a rebellion from its 800,000-plus inhabitants. But the Empire has a plan. By building an armory in Palmo, Ghorman’s capital, the autocratic regime plans to distract Ghorman’s citizens by using it as a front to secretly ferry in the machines necessary to start digging for DSFK under their noses.

Alright, so what does this have to do with The Ghorman Massacre? Without spoiling too much, Ghorman’s populace isn’t naïve enough to simply take the Empire’s ‘we’re building an armory, honest!’ line at face value. With rebellions springing up across the galaxy as the embryonic Rebel Alliance starts to fight back against the dictatorial Empire, it’s only a matter of time before Ghorman’s own underground resistance is established.

What’ll be most interesting to Star Wars fans is which version of events, neither of which has been covered in a big- or small-screen Star Wars project before, is depicted in season 2.

That’s because there are two incidents that bear ‘The Ghorman Massacre’ name in Star Wars literature. The most well-known one takes place two years before the Battle of Yavin (2 BBY), aka the battle depicted in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. The other, outlined in the now non-canonical Star Wars: Legends timeline, occurs in 3 BBY.

For those unfamiliar with The Ghorman Massacre, I won’t spoil what happens during either event. But, with season 2 episodes 4 to 6 set to play out in 3 BBY, and episodes 7 to 9 in 2 BBY, fans won’t have long to wait to find out which version is made canon in one of 2025’s new Star Wars TV shows.

For more coverage of Andor‘s return on one of the world’s best streaming services, read my spoiler-free review of Andor season 2. Alternatively, read articles from my exclusive chats with the Andor season 2 cast in the section below.

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As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.

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