Andor Season 2 Establishes The Best Star Wars Power Couple - And It's Not Who You Think It Is

The axe forgets, but spoilerphobes remember. This article discusses major spoilers from the first three episodes of "Andor" season 2.

Through two seasons, "Andor" has become a series that's unabashedly about the nature of revolution and the lengths we must be willing to go in order to secure our own freedoms ... but what is it all for if we have nobody to share it with? Season 1 depicted this struggle in several ways, from Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) funding a secret Rebellion without even her own husband and daughter knowing, to the romance between freedom fighters Vel (Faye Marsay) and Cinta (Varada Sethu) taking a backseat to the cause, to Cassian (Diego Luna) and Bix's (Adria Arjona) obviously having a thorny history together. In every case, the greater conflict takes precedence over their own wants and needs in the moment. But that's precisely what makes "Andor" season 2's biggest swerve as unexpected as it is thrilling.

The first three episodes of the new season have kept many of these familiar pairings apart — Cassian and Bix don't reunite until the waning moments of episode 3, while it's made clear that Vel and Cinta have broken up in the year since the season 1 finale — with the exception of one. The second episode finally catches us up with Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), the Imperial fanatic who has now risen up the ranks of the Bureau of Standards. It's not until a late reveal in the second episode, however, that we find out Syril has since become romantically involved with an even greater loyalist than himself: Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough).

Yet it's what comes in the next episode that makes this subplot one of the most compelling of this young season, firmly establishing Dedra and Syril as the best power couple in all of "Star Wars."

Anyone who's ever watched a rom-com knows that every great love story needs a villain. In the pantheon of "Star Wars" antagonists, I don't think we give enough credit to the most terrifying one of them all: Syril's mother, Eedy Karn (Kathryn Hunter). "Andor" season 2 reminds us of this with Eedy's first appearance in episode 3, arriving at Syril and Dedra's doorstep (they now live together in a cushy Coruscant high-rise apartment) into an atmosphere of dread that would have Darth Vader himself running for the exit. After an amusing montage showing the Imperial couple nervously preparing for some sort of important dinner meeting, the guest of honor finally arrives and doesn't waste a second needling both of her hosts with one passive-aggressive jab after another. In the blink of an eye, "Andor" transforms into a cringe-comedy sitcom episode about whether Syril and Dedra can possibly survive meeting the scariest parent of all.

But, boy, do they rise to the occasion. After enduring several minutes of awkward banter and razor-sharp insults directed at the underachieving Syril, the couple reaches their breaking point. Syril storms out in a huff and leaves Dedra to deal with this interloper on her own terms. Watching her summon up every ounce of Imperial bravado and unleash it on her boyfriend's mother, of all people, might go down as one of actor Denise Gough's most hilarious and effective performances to date. It works wonders, incredibly enough, as she proceeds to dress down Eedy like she's channeling the take-no-prisoners energy of her boss Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) himself.

When the smoke clears and Eedy nervously behaves like an actual human being (for a change) under Dedra's sharp glare, we're shown the true depths of how far Dedra is willing to go for Syril, and vice versa. Once again, "Andor" proves that it can be many things at once: a politically potent drama, an action-packed thriller, or, in this case, a truly unexpected pitch for a hypothetical "Love Island" spin-off centered on two fascists falling in love. Here's to our favorite villainous power couple, and may their mutual hatred of Cassian and overbearing mothers alike take these crazy kids to greater romantic heights.

New episodes of "Andor" stream on Disney+ every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.