Star Wars, an epic story about rebellious heroes fighting back against power-hungry fascists hellbent on enslaving an entire galaxy, has always been deeply political. But there are few pieces of the franchise that have ever come close to Disney Plus’ Andor series in terms of thoroughly unpacking what being locked in endless cycles of conflict does to people both psychologically and emotionally. Leading with that kind of focus is what made the first season of Andor, a prequel to 2016’s Rogue One, such a refreshing addition to Lucasfilm’s uneven lineup of streaming projects.

Andor’s sobering story felt like it was speaking to the revolutionary heart of Star Wars’ larger ongoing drama. And even though there was never any question about how things would ultimately end, the show took care to emphasize the importance of having hope in times of war no matter how dire the present moment may seem. Andor keeps that same energy in its second and final season as it repeatedly leaps forward into the future to show you how the Resistance’s battle against the Empire intensified in the years immediately leading up to A New Hope.

This chapter is bigger, bolder, and makes some of the most devastating narrative decisions Disney has ever signed off on. And at a time when political tyranny is on the ascent here in the real world, Andor’s message about having faith in the power of collective resistance is worth taking to heart.

Though much has changed for Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) as the show’s second season opens, he, like many members of the Resistance, still understands that their project to topple the Galactic Empire is as massive as it is long-tailed. Even for more experienced rebels like Cassian, Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), and Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), carrying out the Resistance’s plans has become infinitely more dangerous with the Empire pouring more resources into crushing dissent. But with more and more people experiencing first hand how inhumane violence and destruction are pillars of the Empire’s ideology, the Resistance is growing every day. And Cassian’s personal path to becoming a freedom fighter makes him uniquely suited to help bring newcomers into the fold.

Memories of how Cassian and his allies were able to pull off heists and a prison break right under the Empire’s nose still haunt Imperial Security Bureau supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and deputy inspector Syril Karn (Kyle Soller). But Syril’s recent promotion and Dedra’s being pulled into a top-secret project by director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn, reprising his Rogue One role) makes them both more resolute in their life decisions. And a budding, somewhat dysfunctional romance between the pair is just enough to convince them that they haven’t completely lost their humanity.

While Cassian is still very much Andor’s central character, the new season’s 12 episodes pull back from him more than the first’s in a way that emphasizes how all large Rebellions™ are actually a series of smaller battles waged in hope of a better future. On the galactic capital Coruscant where senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) can feel the political temperature rising perilously high, those battles are fought semi-openly with calculating words. For ruthless strategist Luthen — still posing as an antiques dealer — and his right hand woman Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), though, being part of the Resistance at this point necessitates even more deception and being ready to flee the capital at a moment’s notice.

Andor has always excelled at making Star Wars’ alien locales feel real and lived-in. But the new season steps up its worldbuilding game in order to better illustrate how decentralized and at times hamstrung by in-fighting the Resistance can be. As the Empire makes moves on Ghorman, a French / German-coded planet known for its spider silk, rebels from different factions aren’t always on the same page about how best to respond — especially once locals begin organizing public protests.

Showrunner Tony Gilroy and writers Beau Willimon, Dan Gilroy, and Tom Bissell do a superb job of highlighting the ways in which the same fear that inspires some rebels to fight back also causes others to spiral and wonder whether their allies might be traitors. Those suspicions are hard to shake with the Empire running a galaxy-wide propaganda campaign designed to keep people in the dark about what it is really up to on Ghorman. And there are multiple instances where Rebels’ begrudging willingness to trust each other leads to disaster.

Death comes for many of Andor’s characters on both sides of the conflict in ways that reinforce the unquantifiable human (or alien, in this case) cost of war. The high body count also gives the show an organic reason to turn some of its previously supporting players like Kleya and Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier) into proper leads.

This season’s time jumps are a big part of why those freshly-elevated characters are able to work so well as central players. With each leap forward into the future, Andor’s new season establishes a slightly different status quo reflective of how people have changed over time. Some things, like the Empire’s insistence that it’s only trying to keep the peace, stay the same. But characters carry that passage of time in their bodies, and it alters their world views. And because the time jumps each bookend distinct stories that play out over the course of three episodes, this season often plays more like a quartet of mini-movies building to the climax seen in Rogue One.

For all of its Rogue One cameos, Andor’s focus on showing you what the Rebel / Empire conflict looks like from the ground level keeps it from feeling like a narrative retread. This season also sets itself apart from the first by getting far more intense with its exploration of the different kinds of violence that are deployed in times of war. One late-season scene in particular stands out as featuring some of the most brutal, alarming Star Wars storytelling Lucasfilm has ever put on screen. But, as if to make a point about the importance of holding onto hope, this season still finds time to have the occasional bit of fun with things like wildly inspired new droids.

Andor’s first season set a new high bar that none of Disney Plus other Star Wars series have yet to clear, and the show’s final chapters bring things home with a beautiful, but bittersweet poetry. The show may take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away — but Andor’s message couldn’t feel any more timely, and it feels like the franchise at its peak.

_{Andor’s second season also stars Faye Marsay, Varada Sethu, Joplin Sibtain, Kathryn Hunter, Alastair Mackenzie, Anton Lesser, Forest Whitaker, Alan Tudyk, and Benjamin Bratt. The season’s first three episodes premiere on April 22nd.}