A pivotal moment in Tony Gilroy’s Andor season 2 may have overwritten a pivotal moment from Dave Filoni’s Star Wars Rebels.
The quiet feud inside Lucasfilm may not be so quiet anymore. Following a recent podcast that exposed Dave Filoni’s alleged gatekeeping of the Star Wars franchise, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy is making it clear—he’s not playing by Filoni’s rules. In fact, he’s rewriting them.
Mon Mothma in Andor – YouTube, Star Wars
A new interview with Entertainment Weekly reveals that Andor season 2 directly rewrites a major canon event from Star Wars Rebels—a series created and overseen by Dave Filoni. The incident in question is the Ghorman Massacre and Mon Mothma’s iconic speech denouncing Emperor Palpatine, a pivotal moment in the founding of the Rebel Alliance.
In Rebels season 3, episode 18 (“Secret Cargo”), that speech is delivered aboard a rebel ship after Mon Mothma is rescued by the Gold Squadron. But Gilroy and his brother Dan Gilroy, who co-writes the show, clearly had other ideas. And they weren’t exactly subtle about their feelings.
“We are hijacking canon,” Gilroy admitted to Entertainment Weekly, referencing the original Rebels episode. “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 Danny’s like, ‘Do I have to stick to this f—ing speech?’”
That line says it all.
Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©.
The Andor boss makes no attempt to hide his disdain for the existing Rebels version of events. Instead, Andor recontextualizes the moment—moving Mon Mothma’s public break with the Empire to a dramatic Senate speech on Coruscant, long before her escape. And while Gilroy claims the rewrite still “minimizes” but “keeps consistent” with Rebels, it’s clearly a backhanded nod, if not a full dismissal toward Lucasfulm chief creative officer and Rebels creator Dave Filoni.
Gilroy Doesn’t Care About Filoni’s Star Wars
Let’s be blunt: Andor is playing by a completely different rulebook. It’s grounded, politically charged, adult-oriented storytelling—everything Filoni’s animated legacy (and the more recent Ahsoka series) are not. And it’s not just fans who are seeing the disconnect.
Genevieve O’Reilly, who plays Mon Mothma in both Andor and Rebels, described the new version of the speech as the defining moment of her character—something the Rebels version never accomplished.
“That was everything I really wanted to do,” she said. “That’s the fulcrum of who Mon Mothma is. I hope it means something to people because it felt really great to be able to give her that voice.”
This wasn’t just a tweak—it was a total rewrite of one of Filoni’s most iconic scenes. And Gilroy seems proud of that fact.
The Filoni-Gilroy Rift Grows
Taken together with Joanna Robinson’s recent claim that Lucasfilm insiders dislike Andor and that many projects are killed at a “Filoni wall,” this latest revelation confirms what fans have long suspected: Lucasfilm is not united.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: (L-R) Leslye Headland, Dave Filoni, Chief Creative Officer, Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm attend the launch event for Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Filoni’s shows rely on animated legacy characters, Jedi mysticism, and increasingly convoluted mythology. Gilroy’s Andor rejects all of that in favor of grounded, original storytelling. And the fact that Andor is rewriting Filoni’s canon—openly and with a smirk—only underscores the deeper war happening behind the scenes.
And if Andor had to sneak past the gatekeepers just to be made? That tells you everything you need to know about who’s really controlling Star Wars—and who’s not.
How do you feel about Andor undoing a pivotal moment from Rebels? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
