‘He’s holding a lot of the cards’: Andor stars tease Luthen’s ‘important’ role in the evolution of Mon Mothma and Vel Sartha’s familial dynamic tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power) | usagoldmines.com

• Andor season 2 will delve deeper into Mon Mothma and Vel Sartha’s family relationship
• Genevieve O’Reilly and Faye Marsay say Luthen Rael will play an “important” role in how it plays out
• Mon and Vel were revealed to be cousins in Andor’s first season

Genevieve O’Reilly and Faye Marsay have lifted the lid on the “important” role that Luthen Rael will play in the evolution of their characters’ dynamic in Andor season 2.

Speaking to TechRadar ahead of the Disney+ show’s return, O’Reilly and Marsay suggested that Mon Mothma and Vel Sartha’s relationship will be explored in more detail this season. However, their kinship will be at the mercy of Luthen, aka the nascent Rebel Alliance’s shadowy leader.

Indeed, clear though it is that Mon and Vel care dearly for one another, their relationship will always be considered second-best – in Luthen’s mind, anyway – in the fight to overthrow the Galactic Empire.

And, with the rebellion’s puppet master “holding a lot of the cards” in terms of orchestrating the role of every rebel in the Star Wars TV series, Mon and Vel will find themselves pulled in different directions throughout the final season’s 12-episode run.

“From Vel’s perspective, the relationship [she shares with Mon] isn’t difficult,” Marsay told me. “It’s the circumstances around it that are tough.

“Vel is on the frontline, but Mon is – while she’s still a prominent figure in the rebellion, she’s – working in the background. That puts their relationship in an interesting position, because the affection they have for each other is there, but one of them is acting from the shadows while the other is very much a ‘boots on the ground’ fighter.”

“We have a great conduit in Luthen,” O’Reilly added of Luthen’s impact on the pair’s relationship in Andor‘s second installment. “He’s a really important part of this triangle. You understand his machinations, but you’re also quite uptight about how he’s keeping these family members apart.

“There’s a scene in season 2 that we filmed in Valencia,” O’Reilly continues. “It’s a party scene where Mon and Luthen cross paths again, and Mon asks him ‘How is my cousin? I haven’t heard from her’. There’s a worry there that something might have happened to Vel but, Luthen being Luthen, he doesn’t reveal anything. So, he becomes an integral person within this familial structure and he’s holding a lot of the cards that keeps everyone on their toes.”

The second and final season of Andor, aka one of the best Disney+ shows, begins airing on April 22 (US) and April 23 (UK and Australia). Before its three-episode premiere arrives, read my spoiler-free review of Andor season 2 to learn how good it is, find out who’s who in Andor‘s second season, or read the section below for more Andor-based coverage.

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