Andor creator Tony Gilroy has explained why Mon Mothma's iconic anti-Empire speech naming Emperor Palpatine as being behind the Ghorman Massacre was changed from its initial iteration in Star Wars Rebels.
"We are hijacking canon," Tony Gilroy told Entertainment Weekly of the decision to deviate from a set-in-stone event on the Star Wars timeline. "In canon, she's rescued by the Gold Squadron and the speech that they gave in the cartoon, which was a canonical show, [is on that ship]. And [writer Dan Gilroy is] like, 'Do I have to stick to this fucking speech?'"
In Star Wars Rebels' third season, Mon Mothma is whisked away by Gold Squadron and broadcasts a speech that pulls back the curtain on the Empire's actions on Ghorman. While only part of the speech is shown on-screen, the Senator says, "This massacre is proof that our self-appointed Emperor is little more than a lying executioner, imposing his tyranny under the pretence of security. We cannot allow this evil to stand."
In Andor's second season, a speech takes place in the Senate before Mon Mothma is rescued by Andor.
From there, she is then picked up by another squad and, as shown in the Disney Plus series, is preparing to make another speech. While the outcome is ultimately the same, the Senator's speech makes explicit reference to 'genocide' in the live-action series.
"In a really sneaky way, we're minimizing what they did in Star Wars Rebels, but we're keeping it consistent," Gilroy said. "We're just saying you don't really know the whole story of what happened."
"I was so grateful to Tony for this because there was a speech that was recorded in the animated Rebels that you're referring to and so I didn't think they would be able to write the speech and yet that was the most important moment for me," Mon Mothma actor Genevieve O'Reilly told GamesRadar+ of her character's crowning moment.
"That's what this woman [is], that's the risk, that's the moment where she risks everything, risks her whole life, and so how Tony carved out a space and recreated [it] still respecting the lore and and the canon and what has lived before, and yet he carved out a space within our story to allow her to use her voice – and that was everything to me," she added.
Andor season 2 is now streaming on Disney Plus.
For more, check out the Andor season 2 release schedule and our comprehensive look at all the upcoming Star Wars movies heading your way in a galaxy far, far away.
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