Wilmon Paak's crucial moment from Andor Season 2 is similar to a moment from V for Vendetta

Andor Season 2, Episode 5, "I Have Friends Everywhere", featured another dramatic monologue in its closing minutes. But this time, it is not Luthen Rael who has a monologue, but rather, it is Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera who gives a dramatic speech to Cassian Andor's friend Wilmon Paak, who is helping one of Saw's men, Pluti, understand an explosive powered by the fuel rhydonium.

However, this episode of Andor Season 2 built up tension for Wil's chances of survival as Pluti, at one point, is instructed by Saw to kill Wil, after learning everything from him. But, at the last moment, Saw pulls the trigger on Pluti because the latter is revealed to be an imperial spy. But the most dramatic moment in this episode comes in its closing minutes.

After Wil installs the explosive device, Saw inhales the toxic fumes of rhydonium. After doing that, he gives a dramatic speech that inspires Wil to take off the protective gear and inhale the fumes as well. As he does so, the night sky starts raining, adding to the dramatic impact of the scene. This specific moment shares some thematic similarities to Alan Moore's 1980s graphic novel V for Vendetta.

What happens in the dramatic Andor Season 2 scene?

It is the night sky on an unknown planet as Wil installs the explosive device. As he does that, Saw Gerrera is giving a dramatic speech:

"I was younger than you are now. I was a prisoner. They made a work camp in the jungle. No droids, no beasts, just men and cargo. Onderon jungle. Real jungle. Hot, wet, blistering jungle. Old men died fast. Just dropped where they stood. We came back next day, there'd be nothing but a bone or two where they went down. Our clothes, just- just melted away. So they worked us naked. Two, three hundred men. Boys really. Back and forth until the only thing you could remember was back and forth. Then one day, everyone started to itch. Everyone, all at once. Even the guards. You could feel your skin coming alive. It was the rhydo. They had a leak. You could feel it before you could smell it. So they all panicked and ran away, but it was new to me."

Then, Wil informs Saw that the device is ready and that he can open the valve. As Saw opens it, he inhales the toxic, poisonous fumes of the fuel, shocking Wil, who is wearing protective gear. As the young rebel asks Saw how he was able to inhale the fumes, the leader responds:

"Because I understand it. Because she's my sister rhydo, and she loves me! That itch, that burn... You feel how badly she wants to explode? Remember this. Remember this moment! This perfect night. You think I'm crazy? Yes, I am. Revolution is not for the sane. Look at us: unloved, hunted, cannon fodder. We'll all be dead before the republic is back and yet... here we are. Where are you, boy? You're here! You're not with Luthen. You're here! You're right here, and you're ready to fight! We're the rhydo, kid. We're the fuel. We're the thing that explodes when there's too much friction in the air. Let it in, boy! That's freedom calling! Let it in! Let it run! Let it run wild!"

Hearing these words, Wil, encouraged by this sight, takes off his mask and takes in the fumes. The rain hits his face as Wil has a euphoric experience. This Andor Season 2 moment of a previously timid character having a more empowering experience is very similar to another iconic story featuring an anarchist protagonist, Alan Moore's V for Vendetta.

How is this Andor Season 2 scene similar to a moment from V for Vendetta?

Andor Season 2, much like the first season, follows ordinary people transforming into revolutionaries who play a role in transforming the world. The Empire is a brutal Fascist state that's oppressive and commits atrocities across different planets of the galaxy. The first season especially had a storyline in which people are rounded up and sent to a hard labor prison for the rest of their lives.

This is similar to the iconic graphic novel and movie V for Vendetta, which featured a post-apocalyptic Britain under the Fascistic Norsefire Party. An unnamed, mysterious anarchist figure, simply "V", carries out a long and complex plan to tear down this oppressive regime. A young girl (in the graphic novel), named Evey Hammond, gets involved in the middle of this plan.

At one point, Evey, after being abandoned by V, is arrested by the state and endlessly tortured for V's details. She tries convincing them that she doesn't have any details, but they are unconvinced and continue torturing her in a variety of ways. At her lowest point, Evey finds a letter written by another inmate, Valerie Page makes her stronger.

One day, Evey's captors give her a choice: reveal V's whereabouts, or death, and she chooses the latter. It is after this moment that V reveals that this entire scenario was orchestrated. Evey, very much like Wil in the closing moments of Andor Season 2 Episode 5, is struggling to breathe on a rainy night. V offers these words of encouragement to her:

"That's because you're afraid, Evey. You're afraid because you can feel freedom closing in upon you. You're afraid because freedom is terrifying. Don't back away from it, Evey. Part of you understands the truth even as part pretends not to. You were in a cell, Evey. They offered you a choice between the death of your principles and the death of your body. You said you'd rather die. You faced the fear of your own death and you were calm and still. The door of the cage is open, Evey. All that you feel is the wind from outside.”

This speech from V in V for Vendetta #7 is very similar to Saw Gerrera's speech in the episode. This isn't surprising because both Saw and V are described as anarchists, and therefore, both these characters will unsurprisingly have a similar outlook on life.

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Six episodes of Andor Season 2 are accessible through Disney+. This twelve-episode season will conclude on May 13, 2025.

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