Andor is officially over, and while it used many of its connections to Rogue One and other Star Wars stories effectively, it didn’t include a cameo that fans were “begging” for — an appearance by Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso. Showrunner Tony Gilroy talked about this omission in a new interview with Backstory Magazine this weekend, explaining that he couldn’t see a way to include Jyn without upsetting the carefully balanced plot as we know it. While some fans are disappointed, others applaud Gilroy for avoiding contradictions, especially as these stories are set during such an important part of the overall plot.
“When I was building Season 2 after Season 1, I was looking at everything. Felicity is just a fantastic actor and a really great person, and I know how much love there is for her online and how many people were begging for that to happen,” Gilroy said. “If I could have thought of a way that didn’t tip everything upside down, I don’t think Lucasfilm would have had a problem.”
The issue started and ending in the writing phase, Gilroy said. “I could never… Once you start it, what do you do with it? You got to go all the way. Is she some connection to Saw, and then you get into that, but then you go back, and what does he say in Rogue One? It just never pulled together.”
[RELATED: Every Star Wars Disney+ Series Ranked]
Some fans online have said they would have been happy with a cameo from Jyn that did not connect her to any of the storylines in Andor — just a glimpse of her as a reminder of where this story is headed. Others argued that this would have needlessly eaten into the budget and the screentime, both of which were used to great effect in Andor Season 2.
Andor is a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which stars Jyn Erso as a new, reluctant recruit to the Rebel Alliance. Introducing her early in Andor would upset the whole timeline, and disrupt the consistency of the movie. As Gilroy pointed out, even Jyn’s closest contact in the Rebellion, Saw Gerrera, had not seen her for years before the start of the movie, so it would be hard to explain her presence on the prequel series.
Rogue One is a prequel to the very first movie in the franchise, A New Hope, where the Rebels destroy the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin. This event is so central to Star Wars that it’s even the reference point for the entire timeline — years are numbered as having occurred “before the Battle of Yavin — BBY,” or “after the Battle of Yavin — ABY.” That makes this a heavily scrutinized part of the narrative, and one that fans have a lot of emotional investment in. Any inconsistencies would have cast a Andor and Rogue One in a negative light.
Fortunately, Gilroy and his collaborators threaded the needle expertly, and Andor is already one of the most acclaimed titles in the Star Wars library. The completed series is streaming now on Disney+, along with Rogue One and the rest of the Star Wars franchise.
The post Andor Creator Explains Why This Popular Rogue One Character Didn’t Appear appeared first on ComicBook.com.
