Welcome to the Rebellion

Senator Bail Organa witnesses as the Ghorman senator is arrested as the Empire frames the Ghorman Massacre as an insurrection. Mon Mothma and him converse secretly, where the former insists they publicly condemn these actions. Organa chooses to stay behind to aid the Rebellion in secret, but urges Mothma to continue with her plans and relocate to Yavin IV. He prepares a team to safely extract her, whilst Kleya and Rael call in Andor for this purpose.

Mothma, with the help of her aide Erskin Semaj, removes listening devices from her office. Rael intercepts a practicing Mothma outside, revealing Semaj to be his agent. Mothma refuses to trust Rael due to his constant secrets, despite his insistence that Organa's extraction team are corrupted. A distraught Mothma then confronts and fires Semaj.

The following day, Andor, Rael, and Kleya meet to discuss the plan. Andor successfully infiltrates the Senate building under the alias 'Ronnie Googe', a reporter. Semaj also enters, and the pair identify each other with a code phrase. A worried Mothma questions Organa about his extraction team, and he admits to not knowing them personally.

In the senate, the Senators continue to position the Ghorman Massacre as an unjustifiable attack, focusing on the deaths of tourists from their worlds. Organa passes over speaking power to Mon Mothma, allowing her to deliver a speech. Mothma condemns the treatment of the Ghorman people and how the massacre is portrayed, describing it as 'genocide' before directly calling Emperor Palpatine himself as a monster.

Meanwhile, Imperial officers attempt to shut down the broadcast, but are hindered by obstacles from rebels. Organa's extraction team prepare, but the Imperial mole, Beska, sends an alert to her superiors and subsequently kills a member who discovers this.

Andor approaches Mothma, but she refuses to speak with him until he uses Rael's code phrase. He then wins her trust by describing his own complex feelings about Rael, and his history with her cousin, Vel. The pair are confronted by journalists and Organa's team, before Beska pulls out a gun. Semaj shouts that she is a rebel spy, allowing Andor the cover to kill her. Andor and Mothma then flee whilst Semaj stalls for time. Andor and Mothma run through the senate avoiding the crowds, and they are approached by her driver and Imperial spy Kloris. Andor pretends to have captured Mothma before killing him and escaping on his airspeeder.

Andor, Mothma, and Semaj reconvene in Coruscant safe house, where the latter two reconcile. Andor reunites with Wilmon Paak and his Ghorman girlfriend Dreena, who have evacuated from Ghorman, although Wilmon is seriously wounded. Kleya greets them and prepares to have Mothma and Semaj be collected by Gold Squadron whilst the other three head to Yavin.

On Yavin IV, Andor gives the rebels his stolen KX unit and reunites with Bix Caleen. Andor informs her of his intentions to leave the rebellion to live a proper life with her; she is initially reluctant then seemingly agrees. The following morning, Andor awakens to find her gone, leaving a iterating her belief that the rebellion is too important, and that when the war is over they can be together. A distraught Andor heads to where the KX unit is being rebooted and arms himself with a blaster. To his surprise, the Unit awakens and politely greets the crowd.

The episode was written by Dan Gilroy, in his sixth writing credit for the show, and directed by Janus Metz, after directing the previous two episodes of the series.{{Cite web |last=Lovitt |first=Maggie |date=April 8, 2023 |title=Tony Gilroy on the Race to Finish His Final 'Andor' Season 2 Script |url=https://collider.com/andor-season-2-tony-gilroy-script-comments/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408223151/https://collider.com/andor-season-2-tony-gilroy-script-comments/ |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |access-date=June 24, 2025 |website=Collider}}{{Cite web |title=Andor (2021–2024) |url=https://directories.wga.org/project/1225499/andor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609150719/https://directories.wga.org/project/1225499/andor |archive-date=June 9, 2024 |access-date=June 24, 2025 |website=Writers Guild of America West}}{{Cite web |last=Lovitt |first=Maggie |date=November 3, 2022 |title='Andor's Season 2 Directors Revealed by Series Creator Tony Gilroy [Exclusive] |url=https://collider.com/andor-season-2-directors-ariel-kleinman-janus-metz-alonso-ruizpalacios/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114191104/https://collider.com/andor-season-2-directors-ariel-kleinman-janus-metz-alonso-ruizpalacios/ |archive-date=November 14, 2022 |access-date=June 24, 2025 |website=Collider}} The episodes of Andor{{'s}} second season, like those of its first, are split up into blocks, or story arcs, of three episodes; however, unlike in season one, each arc begins with a time skip of one year from the previous episode.{{Cite web |last=Travis |first=Ben |date=May 4, 2023 |title=Andor Season 2's Final Three Episodes Cover The Three Days Before Rogue One – Exclusive |url=https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/andor-season-2-final-three-episodes-cover-three-days-before-rogue-one-exclusive/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506204817/https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/andor-season-2-final-three-episodes-cover-three-days-before-rogue-one-exclusive/ |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |access-date=June 24, 2025 |website=Empire}} Series showrunner Tony Gilroy decided to structure the season this way after concluding that the original five-season plan for the show was unfeasible, and needing some way to bridge the four years between season 1 and Rogue One (2016) in a single season. As proof of concept, he wrote the first and last episodes of each would-be arc, and eventually decided on this structure for the season.{{cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/tony-gilroy-andor-star-wars-rogue-one-interview.html |title="Before Anyone Else Defines It, I'm Going to Define It": Tony Gilroy on 'Andor', 'Rogue One', the Star Wars Universe |website=Vulture |publisher=Vox Media, LLC |last=Hadadi |first=Roxana |date=May 16, 2025 |access-date=June 24, 2025}}

In May 2022, series showrunner Dan Gilroy said Cassian Andor would meet Rebel leader Mon Mothma in the second season after the pair had separate stories in the first.{{Cite web |last=Breznican |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Breznican |date=May 23, 2022 |title=Andor Star Wars Series: 'What You Know Is Really All Wrong' |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/andor-star-wars-series-diego-luna |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523141300/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/andor-star-wars-series-diego-luna |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |access-date=June 23, 2025 |website=Vanity Fair}} The two lead characters finally meet in "Welcome to the Rebellion", with Cassian convincing an endangered Mon that he is her best chance of escaping the Senate building.{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/andor-recap-season-2-episode-9 |title=Andor{{'s}} Beautiful Speeches Strain Against the Burden of Prequel TV |website=The A.V. Club |first=William |last=Hughes |date=May 8, 2025 |access-date=June 22, 2025}} William Hughes of The A.V. Club noted, "Andor likes to play a very long game with keeping its main characters disconnected from each other, and ... there’s a base-level charge to seeing O’Reilly and Luna getting to share a scene together that elevates the entire sequence."

For K-2SO's introduction in the episode, Gilroy originally wrote an entirely self-contained story for the season's ninth episode that played like a horror film, with a KX unit hunting over a huge tanker ship on Yavin IV with K-2SO involved in the scenario, but budget issues meant the show's crew couldn't afford its production and consolidated things instead, so they opted to move up Mothma's Senate speech to "Welcome to the Rebellion", as it had been originally slated to occur in "Make It Stop".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeXed1Kozwg |title=Andor S2 Q&A - Dan Gilroy - Episodes 7-9 |last=Goldsmith |first=Jeff |date=May 7, 2025 |access-date=June 23, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250510042256/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeXed1Kozwg |archive-date=May 10, 2025 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}} Genevieve O'Reilly, who played Mothma, provided Tony Gilroy with input when writing her speech denouncing the Galactic Empire's role in the Ghorman Massacre in "Welcome to the Rebellion". While Gilroy had initially only written sections of the monologue which were to be spliced into a bigger montage, O'Reilly convinced him to write an entire speech.{{cite news |last1=Marsh |first1=Walter |title=By calling a genocide a genocide, Andor just made its most political point yet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/07/by-calling-a-genocide-a-genocide-andor-just-made-its-most-political-point-yet |access-date=June 23, 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=May 7, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250508162408/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/07/by-calling-a-genocide-a-genocide-andor-just-made-its-most-political-point-yet |archive-date=May 8, 2025 |url-status=live}}

By March 2023, Benjamin Bratt had been cast for the episode in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Bail Organa, replacing Jimmy Smits in the role.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lasprovincias.es/culturas/cine/actores-tecnicos-andor-valencia-espera-diego-luna-20230316013700-nt.html |title=Los actores y técnicos de 'Andor' ya están en Valencia a la espera de Diego Luna |language=es |date=March 17, 2023 |access-date=June 23, 2025 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317170239/https://www.lasprovincias.es/culturas/cine/actores-tecnicos-andor-valencia-espera-diego-luna-20230316013700-nt.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.hosteleriaenvalencia.com/noticias.asp?id=9153 |title=THE STAR WARS FILM CREW VISITS EL MERCADO DE LA IMPRENTA |work=HOSTELERIA EN VALENCIA |date=March 18, 2023 |access-date=June 23, 2025 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322200923/https://www.hosteleriaenvalencia.com/noticias.asp?id=9153 }}

In March 2023, director Janus Metz filmed the episode in Xàtiva and Valencia. According to O'Reilly, filming also occurred in May 2023.

The original score for "Welcome to the Rebellion", as with nine other episodes of the season's twelve{{efn|All episodes of season 2 but "Ever Been to Ghorman?" and "I Have Friends Everywhere" credit Roberts as the main composer}}, was composed by Brandon Roberts, replacing Nicholas Britell, the composer for the show's first season, due to scheduling conflicts.{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2025 |title=Brandon Roberts Scoring Disney+'s 'Andor' Season 2 |url=https://filmmusicreporter.com/2025/04/11/brandon-roberts-scoring-disneys-andor-season-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250416183502/https://filmmusicreporter.com/2025/04/11/brandon-roberts-scoring-disneys-andor-season-2/ |archive-date=April 16, 2025 |access-date=June 23, 2025 |website=Film Music Reporter}}

The soundtrack for the episode was released alongside that of the other two episodes in its block on May 9, 2025 via Walt Disney Records as part of the third of four volumes of the second season's original score.{{cite web |url=https://filmmusicreporter.com/2025/05/08/details-for-andor-season-2-vol-3-episodes-7-9-soundtrack-album-revealed/ |title=Details for 'Andor' Season 2 – Vol. 3 (Episodes 7-9) Soundtrack Album Revealed |website=Film Music Reporter |date=May 8, 2025 |access-date=June 23, 2025}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Andor Season 2: Episode 9 (Original Soundtrack)

| total_length = 19:30

| title1 = Andor (Main Title Theme) – Episode 9{{efn|Performed by Roberts and Britell, the track is an altered mix of the theme for "The Axe Forgets", with chanting of the Ghor planetary anthem played over it}}

| length1 = 0:43

| title2 = Bug

| length2 = 1:46

| title3 = Next Year, in Yavin

| length3 = 1:07

| title4 = Article 17-252

| length4 = 3:50

| title5 = I Have Friends Everywhere

| length5 = 2:06

| title6 = Welcome to the Rebellion

| length6 = 3:32

| title7 = Bix's Message

| length7 = 3:01

| title8 = Senate Escape Suite

| length8 = 3:25

}}

"Welcome to the Rebellion" was released on Disney+ on May 6, 2025 as part of a three-episode block, alongside "Who Are You?" and "Messenger".

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 100% approval rating, based on 9 reviews.{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes |id=andor |type=tv |title=Welcome to the Rebellion |season=2 |episode=9 |access-date=June 22, 2025}}{{cbignore}}

William Hughes of The A.V. Club gave a positive review, writing "Andor reminds us how much fun it can have when it's locked into pure spy mode ... this is the stuff Andor most frequently excels at: moving parts and rising tension, moment-to-moment improvisations and whispered plans." Mike Redmond of Pajiba also gave a positive review, summarizing that "I know I was really hard on this arc, but to its credit, it was a breezy watch unlike last week. Episode 9 was particularly great, and I did not feel chained to my couch".{{cite web |url=https://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/is-cassian-a-force-sensitive-jedi-andor-season-2-episodes-7-8-9-recap.php |title='Andor' Season 2 Recap: Somehow, The Force Awakens |first=Mike |last=Redmond |website=Pajiba |date=May 7, 2025 |access-date=June 23, 2025}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb episode|20603310}}
• {{Star Wars.com episode|andor/andor-season-2-episode-9-episode-guide}}
• {{Wookieepedia episode|Welcome to the Rebellion}}

{{Andor (TV series)}}

{{Janus Metz Pedersen}}

{{Dan Gilroy}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Andor (TV series) episodes

Category:2025 American television episodes

Category:Television episodes directed by Janus Metz Pedersen

Category:Television episodes written by Dan Gilroy