What does the Empire want with Ghorman in Andor season 2?

The show's creator Tony Gilroy previously revealed that the Ghorman massacre will play a part in season 2.

He told Collider: "There's also a bit of confusion about the Ghorman Massacre, and what is the Ghorman Massacre? There's a lot of confusion within canon.

"So, it was an opportunity to rebuild in a really significant way. It's a very significant part of our show that can do a lot of different things for us. Quite honestly, it's very expensive to build, so we really want to use it as much as possible so it carries over five different episodes.

"I'm really confident that the really deep, passionate Star Wars community will appreciate how we've straightened out that story."

What does the Empire want with Ghorman in Andor season 2?

Ben Mendelsohn's menacing Orson Krennic returns in season 2, gathers a secret group of ISB agents and ordering no one to make any notes and ensuring it's a closed circle.

He declares that Ghorman is of "great interest" to the Empire, telling them about the mineral kalkite present on Ghorman and how vital it is to the Emperor's "energy programme".

But, of course, the extraction of kalkite will "present stark challenges" to the 800,000 Ghorman people, with Krennic saying there's a risk of the planet's "total collapse".

Krennic introduces two men from the Ministry of Enlightenment who point to a smear campaign about the Ghor.

But it's Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) who suggests: "Why not enlist rebels you can depend on to do the wrong thing?" and setting up what seems to be the road to the Ghorman Massacre.

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What is the Ghorman Massacre in Star Wars?

As Gilroy mentions, there is a bit of confusion about what the Ghorman massacre actually is. Broadly, it's referred to as an attack in 2BBY when Imperial forces violently killed peaceful protesters on Ghorman.

At the heart of the attack was Moff Tarkin, who landed his ship on thousands of peaceful protestors, killing them.

The massacre prompted Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) to publicly blame Emperor Palpatine, and deliver the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance, unifying fractured rebel groups and spurring on the fight against the Empire.

Andor season 2 premieres on Disney Plus UK on Wednesday 23rd April 2025 sign up to Disney+ from £4.99 a month or £89.90 for a year.

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