We are still over a year away from the launch of Andor season 2, but creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy is more than willing to discuss the show’s future every chance he gets. In fact, just days ago, Gilroy revealed that each three-episode block of the 12-episode second season will jump one year forward and take place over the course of three days.
Andor season 2 structure revealed
Earlier this week, Screen Rant attended an Emmy FYC event for Andor. Gilroy and some cast members were in attendance for a Q&A session, and Gilroy took the opportunity to explain the structure of the second season in detail, confirming previous reports:
What we’re doing now for the second season, to finish, is we have four years to cover. Because we break down in these three block chunks, each block of three will be a year; we’re going to jump a year. When we come back for the second [season], we’ll come back [and] a year will have evaporated, and it’ll take place over a Friday, Saturday, and a Sunday. Then we’ll jump a year, and we’ll do the same thing again. We’ll do it four times. The last tranche will be the [three] days before Rogue One, and then we’ll walk you into the movie.
This tracks with what Gilroy said late last year shortly after Andor season 1 ended, but offers more context. Not only will each block of episodes jump forward a year, but they will also take place over the course of just three days. We’ll only get a glimpse into the lives of Cassian, Bix, Mon, Luthen, Syril, and Dedra each time before we speed forward again.
Considering that these twelve episodes will cover four years of time in a galaxy far, far away, bunching each block of episodes into consecutive days will give Gilroy & Co. a chance to drill deep into important moments throughout the lives of these characters as the Rebellion grows. Despite the massive time jumps, the structure is rather similar to the first season, which also featured a few distinct story arcs which played out over 3 to 4 episodes each.
Gilroy is also aware of just how well the first season worked, and he told Empire in a recent interview that he doesn’t plan to let fans down in Andor season 2:
Look, man, I’m not trying to make a career here; if anything I’m on the downhill side of a long career. But this is an opportunity. This is 1,500 pages of the most dynamic material in these people’s lives to deal with. We got it right the first time, and you don’t want to let your foot off the gas.
Andor season 2 doesn’t have a release date yet, but at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, Gilroy hinted that it could premiere on Disney+ in August 2024.
