By George & Josh Bate
Dan Gilroy’s script for the Andor Season 2 episode “Welcome to the Rebellion” has been made available for Emmy’s consideration, which has led to eager Star Wars fans like us to pick it apart for nitty gritty details. And, in the form of a deleted dialogue from a character the episode, we uncovered a particularly interesting detail.
The script for the episode, which largely takes place at the Imperial Senate following the Ghorman massacre, features an unnamed senator mentioning the planet Ilum. Check out the scripted dialogue below….
Ilum first appeared in The Clone Wars episode “The Gathering,” in which Yoda took a group of Jedi younglings on a pilgrimage to find the kyber crystals that would ignite their lightsabers. Ilum later featured in The Force Awakens, albeit in a decidedly different state. By the time of the sequel trilogy, Ilum had been transformed into Starkiller Base by the First Order. Previously, Ilum was also a planet in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order, which showcased how the Empire were pillaging the planet for its kyber resources to power the Death Stars.
Mentioning Ilum would have been a nice namedrop in Andor, although its eventual exclusion was probably a good idea. That’s because it wouldn’t really make sense for Ilum to have a seat on the Imperial Senate at this time. Not only is Ilum located in the Unknown Regions, but it is also being actively exploited and destroyed by the Empire at this time. Collectively, this suggests a senate seat for Ilum would have been highly unlikely. Nonetheless, it’s cool to see writers like Dan Gilroy take the time to try and incorporate elements from other Star Wars stories into their own.
All 24 episodes of Andor are now streaming on Disney+.