Star Wars spin-off Andor episode on genocide draws parallels to Israel's Gaza onslaught

A recent episode of Andor, the critically acclaimed Star Wars spin-off on Disney+, has sparked widespread commentary over its political themes, with many viewers drawing comparisons between a fictional massacre in the series and Israel's ongoing war on Gaza.

In the show's ninth episode of its second and final season, Senator Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O’Reilly, delivers a fiery speech before the Galactic Senate. In it, she warns of growing authoritarianism, the erosion of objective truth, and what she explicitly calls "genocide", referring to a fictional massacre on the planet Ghorman following a crackdown on peaceful protesters.

"The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil," Mothma declares. "What took place yesterday… was unprovoked genocide - yes, genocide." Her remarks were met with jeers from fellow senators.

Debate over links to Gaza

The scene has been widely circulated online, with social media users and media critics noting its timing as the episode aired just as global debates over the term "genocide" and Israel's military campaign on Gaza continue to intensify.

Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom were women and children. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and refugee shelters, has been repeatedly targeted and destroyed. International legal experts and human rights groups have advised that Israel's campaign meets the legal definition of genocide.

Against that backdrop, Andor's reference to genocide and its depiction of truth being manipulated by a dominant state power struck a chord. Some viewers praised the series for "saying what mainstream coverage won't", while others pointed to the show's long production timeline as evidence that any parallels were coincidental.

Production on Andor's second season began in November 2022 and concluded in early 2024, according to cast and crew.

The Ghorman storyline - in which the Empire stages a media-driven provocation to justify a brutal crackdown for mineral extraction - had been planned years in advance and is loosely based on earlier Star Wars canon.

Showrunner Tony Gilroy said in interviews this week that Andor's themes were rooted in broader historical cycles.

"Peace and prosperity, and calm are the rarities," Gilroy told The Hollywood Reporter. "You could drop this show at any point in the last 6,000 years, and it would make sense to some people about what’s happening to them."

Gilroy added that the show's depiction of Ghorman draws directly from real-world history, including the Nazi regime's Wannsee Conference, which planned the Holocaust.

"Power dictates the narrative," he said. "Look at what the Empire does to Ghorman with their propaganda campaign."

Although Gilroy says he isn't trying to comment on current events directly - "I'm not psychic," he told THR, adding that the resonance with today's headlines was widely noted.

This week, Andor aired the same day as a headline on the Drudge Report warned of "America's Slide Into Authoritarianism".

The scene has also renewed discussion around Disney's handling of political themes. While Andor is being praised for its bold storytelling, the studio has previously faced criticism over allegedly discouraging political speech by its actors, including reported pressure on Snow White star Rachel Zegler to remove pro-Palestinian and anti-Trump posts.

Despite the controversy, Andor continues to be one of Disney's most acclaimed Star Wars properties, holding the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Star Wars series or film. The show follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and traces the rise of the Rebel Alliance in the years before Rogue One and A New Hope.

With just three episodes remaining, the series is moving toward its conclusion, which was written decades ago yet perceived by many today as disturbingly current.