“Welcome to the Rebellion”

First they came for the Ghormans
The episode opens with a landscape sequence of the Senate Rotunda’s reflection in a public fountain. Inside the building, Alderaanian Senator Bail Prestor Organa watches as several stormtroopers escort Ghorman’s Senator Dasi Oran away. Oran protests that he is being arrested without a warrant and says that his people are being slaughtered. He warns the other senators that they will face the same fate as Ghorman. A white uniformed Imperial Security Bureau officer is leading the stormtroopers.

Chandrilan Senator Mon Mothma steps beside Organa and expresses horror at the many Ghorman deaths during the Ghorman massacre. Organa tells her not to watch the Imperial news and adds that the winner writes the story. Mothma says that the Galactic Empire has not won yet. She asks Organa’s help in getting her a speaking slot at the Imperial Senate. She tells Organa that the Empire has gone too far and that they need to speak out and tell the truth. She says that they also need to be prepared to escape and devise an exit plan. Organa says he is not prepared to leave.

Mothma says that she has had enough of being silent and hiding for all these years. Organa says that he has to stay to buy time. He says that the Rebellion and the Yavin base are not yet ready. Organa says that they have to stall. However, he agrees with Mothma that something needs to be said about the Ghorman massacre. While Yavin needs her leadership, Organa says that he is not yet ready to go with her. Mothma is concerned that Organa will be a hostage.

Organa says he hopes not and warns Mothma to be careful. He says that Senator Ton found a listening device in her office and warns her not to tell anyone. He warns Organa to be ready to leave when she is done. He warns her to be careful before leaving. Mothma stands alone among several senators and staffers conversing in the hallway, looking out at the nighttime sky.

Preparing for an extraction
At Luthen Rael’s Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest gallery, Kleya Marki operates a printing machine on a bench while Cassian Jeron Andor sheathes a twisted blade. Marki tells Andor that they have to be prepared to evacuate Mothma if she speaks. Marki says that Andor will pose as the journalist Ronnie Googe of the Mid-Rim Network. Marki says that his official cover story is that he is a journalist coming straight from the Ghorman massacre to cover the political fallout. As she prepares her fake pass, she explains that it is a surface pass that will be good for all seasons.

Andor looks away and says that he will not need this because he won’t be coming back after the mission. Marki looks up at him at the restoration table. She sets aside her tools and asks Andor to clarify whether he is done with the Axis network or the Rebellion. Andor counters that she knows what he means. Marki asks if it is a private thing that she doesn’t understand. Marki tells Andor not to consider his work finished since he merely survived the Ghorman massacre, while Mothma intends to give a voice to the atrocity. Andor responds that he wants to make his own decisions. Marki says that this is what they are fighting for before telling Andor to clean himself up. She exits the restoration room, leaving Andor alone. Andor buries his face in his folded hands.

Mothma’s dilemma
Meanwhile, Mothma’s aide Erskin Semaj discovers a listening device hidden under a white makeup table in Mothma’s senatorial office. He passes it to Mothma, who smashes it with a cylinder. Elsewhere, a console meter blinks red. An ISB attendant adjusts the dial but hears static. His console shows 17 other active listening devices. Semaj tells Mothma that he will continue to search for additional listening devices. When Mothma says that she needs to practise her speech, he tells her not to practise it here. He suggests going to the plaza to “get some air.” She nods. Mothma gathers her datapad and credentials before walking to the door.

Back at ISB headquarters, the ISB Attendant Felzonis informs a technician, who confirms that they have lost contact with the listening device in Mothma’s office. Felzonis asks if the device went dead. While Mothma is practising in a nearly empty walkway by the Senate reflecting pool, she encounters a cloaked Luthen Rael. When Mothma asks how Rael knew that she would be here, Rael explains that Erskin Semaj works for him, adding that he wanted to tell her himself. Mothma expresses surprise and anger that Semaj had concealed this secret from her.

Rael says that Semaj has been protecting her from threats. Mothma questions whom she can trust and whether Rael is the only person she can trust. Rael reveals that Senator Organa’s team has been corrupted, clarifying that this was the team that was supposed to take her to Yavin 4 after her speech. When Rael says that he knows what he owes her, Mothma responds that he doesn’t care about her but is only worried that her arrest might expose him. When Rael tells her to think clearly, Mothma warns him to be careful for what he asks for.

Rael warns Mothma that she cannot leave with Organa’s people and must not reveal to anyone what he has just told her. Mothma’s eyes flutter rancorously. When Rael reminds her of her late childhood friend Tay Kolma, Rael dismisses him as another false savior. Mothma says she remembers Kolma, prompting Rael to warn that if she goes with Rael’s plan, she will end up in prison before dawn. Mothma asks Rael if he regards her as a risk and is more afraid of her. Rael apologizes for concealing Semaj’s allegiance but warns her not to go with Organa’s people. Mothma tries to walk away and expresses disagreement. However, Rael stops her and says that he is sending another agent. He instructs her to ask the agent if he is alone. The agent will respond with the phrase “I have friends everywhere.” Rael repeats the phrase before leaving.

State surveillance
At ISB headquarters, the Attendant Felzonis, who was surveilling Mothma, briefs Supervisor Lagret. Felzonis informs Lagret that their agent, the driver Exmar Kloris, has reported that Mothma has not left the Senate. The Attendant says that Kloris describes this behaviour as unusual. The ISB has been monitoring the Senate for the past few days due to the situation in Ghorman. When Lagret asks if there is a console, Felzonis reports that the technician believes there were technical or communication issues on their end. Felzonis shows Lagret a computer chart showing senators who have been approved for surveillance. Mothma is the only Senator on the chart who has gone dead.

Rising stakes
At dawn, Erskin Semaj waits in the reception area. Mothma exits her office, carrying her datapad. She confides in Semaj that she has never felt this betrayed in her life. She asks when he started working for Luthen Rael. Semaj says he started working for Rael after the wedding. Mothma expresses anger. When Semaj says that he tried to protect her, she replies that he failed. Semaj apologizes, but she looks away from him. She dismisses him immediately. Semaj says that it has been an honor serving her, but she refuses to acknowledge him. As Mon Mothma leaves, she struggles to contain her internal turmoil.

At a public walkway outside the Senate Rotunda, Andor meets with both Rael and Marki. Rael expresses relief that Andor has come and asks about Wilmon Paak. Andor explains that Paak is elsewhere helping someone else. Marki reports that they have not heard from Mothma since Rael disclosed that Semaj was working for him. Marki leaves the group and heads to a promenade leading to the Senate reflecting pool. Via comlink, Semaj tells Marki that Mothma dismissed him, but he does not know if Mothma will proceed with her planned speech.

Meanwhile, Rael tells Andor that Mothma will be going to Yavin 4 but that he will not be coming along. Andor suggests that there are some people on Andor with whom Rael could work. He tells Rael that he has stayed on Coruscant long enough. Rael says that he is not finished on Coruscant yet. Andor warns that the Imperials will eventually capture him. Rael says he is not afraid of facing death at the hands of the Empire, reminding Andor that they both took a risk by joining the Rebellion.

Andor disagrees and tells Rael to speak for himself. When Rael asks if he sees no truth in that, Andor says that he makes his own decisions. Rael questions if that is what Andor has been doing and reminds Andor that he appeared when he needed him on Aldhani, Narkina 5, Ferrix, Sienar, Mina-Rau, and Ghorman. He tells Andor that they are still together. Marki interrupts the conversation with news that Mothma has fired Semaj. She says that Semaj is unaware of Mothma’s plans and warns that Organa’s team has been compromised.

Marki says that they have no choice but to try. Rael thinks this is risky since Andor has never been inside the Senate Rotunda building. Marki counters that both Semaj and Mothma are familiar with the building. Rael counters that Mothma does not trust him or Andor. He adds that Organa’s people may already be there. Andor asks what will happen if Mothma gets arrested, Marki cryptically replies that it “all comes down.”

Entering the Senate
Meanwhile, Klovis contacts Lagret from his limousine airspeeder. Klovis believes that Senator Mothma has not left her office. When Lagret suggests that she could have traveled home without him, Klovis says this is not characteristic of her and reports that she was upset about the news in Ghorman. Lagret orders Klovis to keep him informed about any changes, and he complies.

Elsewhere, Semaj walks through a hallway at the front of the Senate Rotunda. He walks through a series of kiosks that several blue-uniformed Senate Security Officers man. Semaj is followed by a fair-skinned human woman named Beska, a brown skinned human man named Selko, and a bald, dark-skinned human man named Charval, who file through the kiosks. At another kiosk, a disguised Andor hands his fake press accreditation to a desk staffer and identifies himself as Ronnie Googe.

The staffer consults his computer and cannot find a bay that has been assigned to the Mid-Rim Network. After a moment of hesitation, the staff member relents and issues Andor a float for the day. At a Senate cafe, Beska meets with Selko and Charval to discuss their plan to extract Mothma following her speech. They will be waiting for her at Gate 9. The trio is revealed to be members of Bail Organa’s resistance movement.

At the ISB headquarters, Felzonis informs Lagret that there are rumors that several senators may try to challenge the official Imperial narrative on Ghorman. Lagret dismisses his concerns, saying that the Chair has submitted this morning’s senate agenda and has no intention of allowing dissenters to take the stand.

Mothma meets with Organa in the Senate ring corridor outside the Galactic Senate Chamber. Organa tells Mothma that he does not need to do this. Organa replies that if he is brave enough to stay, she should be brave enough to go. Organa tells Mothma that his team of agents will be waiting to extract her at Gate 9. He tells Mothma to follow their instructions. When Mothma asks if he trusts them, Organa vouches for them but admits he does not know them personally. Organa tells Mothma not to worry and promises to see her at Yavin next year. Before leaving, he tells Mothma to “tear the shit out of this place.”

Political theatre and spy games
At the press gallery, Andor mingles among several journalists of various species, who are seated on desks. The Oathkeeper commences proceedings and orders the stewards to begin counting the quorum. Semaj joins Andor in the press gallery and explains that the Imperial Senate calls an early session when they want to keep the numbers down. Andor asks if they have met and gives the code phrase “I have friends everywhere.” Andor follows Semaj out of the press gallery.

The first to speak is the furry Senator Nico, who announces that the Imperial Senate will submit a list of fallen Imperial patriots and martyrs, who “gave their lives on the brutal streets of Ghorman.” He also denounces alleged Ghorman perfidy. Meanwhile, Selkirk ascends up a turbolift. Semaj leads Andor to a rope gate, telling him that it is the only way inside. He adds that he is the last person she wants to see.

In the Senate chamber, a bald alien with black round eyes named Den Gane gives a speech denouncing Ghorman’s provocations as a prelude to the Ghorman Massacre, which he spins as a “savage” attack. A plump human Senator in brown and orange robes named Karloo mentions that his homeworld lost a citizen in Palmo Plaza yesterday and expresses grief. Mothma waits inside her pod to give her speech.

Meanwhile, Charval and Beska enter a kitchen. Charval says that he will enter a supply room to fetch blasters. Karloo continues his speech by asking the world to think about its citizens being slaughtered by insurgents. Felzonis informs Lagret that one of the agents in the Senate has an urgent message. Lagret uses a secure line to contact the agent, who is revealed to be Beska, a double agent working for the ISB. When Charval asks who she was talking to, Beska claims that it was work. A suspicious Charval asks to see her comlink. Beska hands him the comlink before striking him on the head with a canister. She seizes his blaster and nails him in the throat. Beska then shoots him in the chest, killing him.

Senator Mothma’s speech
While Lagret waits, Senator Erveen yields her time to Senator Organa, who has a point of order to address. Beska reestablishes contact with her ISB handlers and requests instructions. Organa invokes Article 17-252, which allows a Senior Senator in the case of an emergency to yield the floor freely to another Senior Senator. Organa acknowledges Karloo’s speech about the Imperial martyrs on Ghorman and reminds the other senators that Karloo had invoked the word’ emergency’ several times. He yields the floor to Senator Mothma.

The various agents Andor, Semaj, Beska, and Selko converge at Gate 9. The Senate staffer who handed Andor his media accreditation sprinted with a nervous expression. In response to Mothma’s impending speech, Lagret attempts to order the Senate to shut down the feed, but to no avail. Mothma exits her office and boards a repulsorlift pod that floats out into the center of the Galactic Senate Chamber. After touching her brooch and straightening her robes. She greets her fellow senators and allies.

Semaj leads Andor to a door marked with a Chandrilan symbol, leading to Mothma’s pod chute. Mothma then goes on to discuss the beginning of her political career as a Senator. Beska finds Selko at a public seating area where Mothma’s speech is televised live on a screen. Several people watched her speech. She discusses the passions that the Galactic Senate chamber evokes. A Senate communications staffer tries to unlock a door, but it is locked.

Mothma urges those who disagree with her to vouch for her. Meanwhile, Andor takes a turbolift, which leads to the chute door that leads to Mothma’s pod. A frustrated and terrified Lagret orders his staff at the Senate building to shut down Mothma’s speech. As Mothma begins talking about the truth being lost in an abyss of lies, the official asks two technicians, including a dark skinned woman named Jeen and a cyborg, to open the door. Jeen explains that the protocols have changed, and the official rushes to the Security Office to obtain a sequence key. After he leaves, the pair exchange a smile.

Mothma warns that the loss of objective reality is the most dangerous and that the loss of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. Klovis listens to her speech through the limousine airspeeder radio. Mothma warns that when the truth is lost, people become vulnerable to the appetite of “whatever monster screams the loudest”. An irate Lagret orders his staff to find a way to prevent her speech from being broadcast, even if it means cutting power to the entire building.

Mothma says that the truth was lost on Ghorman yesterday. Her remarks elicit cries and hisses from the Senate chamber. Mothma denounces the Imperial actions on Ghorman as “unprovoked” genocide and denounces Emperor Palpatine as “the monster screaming the loudest”. Senators Organa and Erveen wink a smile while Mothma concludes her speech as the Senate erupts in furore. Meanwhile, the Comms official manages to enter the broadcasting chamber and suspends the transmission. Her platform heads back towards its chute while Rael and Marki learn that the transmission has been shut down.

Mothma’s extraction
Rael radios Semaj via comlink and asks about Andor. He tells them that Andor has gone upstairs. Mothma exits her chamber and is met by Andor. Andor tells her that he was in Ghorman yesterday, but she insists on walking away. As she approaches a turbolift, Andor gives her the coded message “that he has friends everywhere.” Back at Imperial headquarters, Lagret issues arrest orders for Mothma. Inside the turbolift, Andor tells Mothma that he knows her cousin, Vel Sartha, and says she is on Yavin. Mothma is suspicious, but Andor tells her that he knows Rael and concedes he can be difficult, but if Luthen is correct, he’s her only hope of getting out alive. Before they exit the turbolift, Andor tells Mothma that she has his back.

After exiting the turbolift, the two encounter a media scrum. Semaj tells the journalists and camera crew that Mothma is making no further comment to the media. Just then, Beska and Selko approach Mothma. Beska tells Mothma to come with her. When Semaj asks who she is, she points a blaster pistol at Mothma. A shocked Selko, who is unaware that she is a double agent, asks what she is doing. Andor stands in front of Mothma, blocking Beska’s gun range.

She is an ISB agent and attempts to arrest Mothma. Semaj distracts Beska by calling her a rebel spy, allowing Andor to shoot her dead with his blaster, and Andor levels his blaster at the crowd, including a shocked Selko. Semaj also levels his blaster while Andor confronts Selko. Selko claims he doesn’t know Beska and says that they just met. He denies being ISB, and Andor orders him to the ground. Andor escorts Mothma out while Semaj keeps Selko and the crowd pinned down with his blaster.

As they make their way through the atrium, Andor hands her a brown greatcoat. When Mothma expresses shock that Andor killed a woman, he welcomes her to the Rebellion. Armed stormtroopers, Imperial soldiers, and Senate Security officers enter the Galactic Senate chamber. Senate security officers search Mothma’s pod but find she has escaped. Meanwhile, Andor and Mothma walk through a walkway towards the docking platform. Seeing more stormtroopers enter the building, Mothma decides they need to change their escape plan.

Semaj slips through the crowd unnoticed. Meanwhile, Lagret angrily countermands orders to evacuate the Grand Senate chamber. Felzonis reveals that Lonni Jung’s agent, Beska, was killed. Mothma and Andor race down the spiralling staircase while Kloris receives new orders from Lagret. He reaches for his blaster. When a driver asks what is going on, he feigns surprise and heads towards the Senate building. Rael and Marki slip out of the Senate building as stormtroopers impose a lockdown. Marki tells Rael to go to the gallery while she attends to matters.

Kloris climbs the stairs of the plaza while Mothma and Andor exit the Senate arcade building. While walking through a walkway, they see Kloris approaching. Mothma recognizes her driver and warns Andor that he is an ISB asset. Andor pretends to be an ISB operative and shoots Kloris dead when he approaches. The pedestrians scatter while Mothma reacts with horror. The two rush down the staircase over the reflecting pool while the Senate Rotunda looms large in the background.

While Lagret receives a call from Colonel Wullf Yularen, Andor drives a shaken Mothma away in her limousine airspeeder. He swerves out of the driveway and flies over the reflecting pool. Andor fazes out of the window into the surrounding cityscape, including the distant Senate building.

Missing Andor
At the Great Temple on Yavin 4, a rebel officer addresses several recruits, whose weapons are being inspected by Vel Sartha. While inspecting a blaster pistol, she finds one belonging to Andor. Sartha addresses the recruits and asks who the blaster belongs to. Ruescott Melshi raises his hand and says the blaster belongs to him.

The safe house
Elsewhere on Coruscant, Andor and Mothma reach the safe house where Erskin Semaj meets them. Semaj asks Mothma if she is alright. She gives a friendly nod and allows him to affectionately touch her arm. In the kitchen, Andor drinks water and turns to face Marki, who expresses both relief and amazement that they escaped. Andor rests in the bedroom and finds Wilmon Paak with a bandage on his left knee. Paak is seated with Dreena, who has also escaped with him from Ghorman. Dreena says Paak needs a proper doctor.

Marka tells Mothma that Rael made it. When Andor enters the room, she tells him that he needs to leave soon. When Andor says that Mothma needs to rest, Semaj explains that Mothma will be rendezvousing with another starship that will take her offworld to make a speech. She will then travel to the rebel base on Yavin 4. Kleya says that they want to rewrite the story and adds that Rael has arranged for Paak to see a doctor.

Mothma watches Andor as he pours a flask into a glass. Mothma asks if he is familiar with this place. Andor explains that this apartment was his safe house. She thanks him for saving her. Andor tells her to make it worth it.

Homecoming
Later on Yavin 4, a flagman guides a landing U-wing. Andor exits the starship while Dreena helps the medics to remove a wounded Paak. The medics load Paak onto a stretcher. While Dreena accompanies Paak and the medics, he talks with General Davits Draven. When Draven asks about Dreena, Andor tells him that she survived the Ghorman Massacre and will fit right in. Draven says they won’t record the flight and adds that Gold Squadron will escort Mon Mothma to Yavin 4. He says that she is making a speech that they want to be broadcast as far across the galaxy as possible.

Draven offers to brief Andor in his office. Andor tells Draven that he has a broken KX-series security droid inside the U-wing. Draven watches as Andor departs the airfield for his and Bix Caleen’s treehouse. He enters the house through a wide, circular opening. Caleen enters the living area in a tank top.

Later, Caleen serves him a teapot brewed from Nerian leaves, telling him he needs to sleep. She sits down with him at the table. Caleen serves him a cup of tea. Andor tells her that he is done with the Rebellion and wants to be with her. He puts his hand to her cheek, and they touch their foreheads together. Andor plans to talk with Draven tomorrow and leave for a quiet place with Caleen. Caleen is silent, but she tells Andor that she is listening. He reiterates that he has done enough for the Rebellion, and the two share a tearful embrace.

Bix leaves
In the morning, Andor awakens to find that Caleen has left their bed. Entering the living room, he finds it empty. Andor walks outside but cannot find Bix. Andor later finds that Caleen has left a video recording on a datapad telling Andor that she has decided to leave him because she knows that she cannot stay with him. She tells him that she cannot be the reason that he leaves the Rebellion and that she will never forgive herself for that. Caleen resolves to beat the Galactic Empire and reiterates that she is choosing to leave the Rebellion for both of them. Caleen promises to find Andor before closing her eyes.

Later, Andor sprints through the jungle to the Yavin base’s spaceport. The flagman tells him to move off the path of the vehicles. When Andor asks about the departing transports, he tells Andor that they just left this morning, leaving Andor saddened.

Restarting K-2SO
A dark-skinned human man tells him that the KX-series unit is ready to be powered up. Inside a hangar bay, an engineer discusses the technical issues surrounding the reprogramming of the KX-series unit. Andor and several rebel soldiers stand guard with blasters while the engineer turns a dial that activates the droid. As the power surges, the droid begins moving its hands and legs. The droid turns to face the armed humans and apologizes if it has offended them. He asks if they could point the weapon elsewhere. Andor grips his blaster.