Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Andor season 2 episodes 1–3.Andor season 2 has finally been released on Disney+, and this Bix scene from season 2, episode 3, is the darkest thing I've ever seen in Star Wars. Andor season 2's place in the Star Wars timeline puts episode 3 approximately one year after Andor season 1's ending. This is a pivotal point in the Star Wars timeline, as tensions are reaching an all-time high between the Empire and the rebels.
It was therefore expected that Andor season 2 would go to some very dark places, not unlike its "sequel," Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I had expected that darkness to be in keeping with much of what has been shown in Star Wars movies and TV shows before, though: violence, death, betrayal, and so on. Yet, one scene in Andor season 2, episode 3, went so much darker than I expected to ever see in Star Wars.
Andor's Bix Scene Makes Star Wars History In The Darkest Possible Way
This Is Star Wars' Very First Use Of The Word "Rape" On Screen
In Andor season 2, episode 3, Bix becomes the very first Star Wars character to utter the word "rape" on screen, and it's because she's just survived a rape attempt by an Imperial officer. In the scene, Bix is cornered by the officer, who has already come onto her before. In this final interaction, though, things escalate, with the officer backing Bix against the wall as she begs him to stop. Thankfully, Bix then shoves the officer away and fights back, ultimately killing him in their physical fight with one another.
This scene truly makes Star Wars history in the darkest way—but it's such an important scene. There are many other moments throughout Star Wars in which rape or sexual assault are implied, sometimes heavily so, but there has never been one that has directly depicted a rape attempt in this way, nor has the word rape ever been used on screen in the franchise. It is particularly meaningful that this happens in the context of Andor, a show that is meant to capture the brutal realities of the war against fascism.
This scene truly makes Star Wars history in the darkest way—but it's such an important scene.
Andor Actually Seems To Be Mirroring A Shocking Legends Scene
The Legends Story Of Tregor And Bex Is Jarringly Similar
Although this is a first-of-its-kind scene in Star Wars movies and shows, this story actually bears a striking resemblance to a scene in Legends. In the Star Wars: Rebellion series of comics, written by Brandon Badeaux and Rob Williams, an Imperial officer named Tregor tried to sexually assault Rasha Bex, a former Imperial agent who had become a rebel sympathizer. Similar to Bix in Andor, Bex was able to fight Tregor off; although she didn't kill him directly like Bix did, Tregor did die in the end.
The names alone suggest the similarities between these two stories are no accident or coincidence, given Bix and Bex are nearly identical. Likewise, the plot points in this arc of the Rebellion comics and in Andor season 2, episode 3, follow very similar beats. Presumably, this Legends story had a direct influence on this surprising arc in Andor season 2. The decision to include this scene in Andor is nevertheless a shocking one, though, as depicting a moment like this on screen is a different matter entirely.
Andor Reveals The Everyday Evils Of Fascism
Andor Doesn't Shy Away From The Brutal Truths—Far From It
Andor season 2 is the perfect Star Wars project to depict such a heavy scene, given Andor is meant to reflect the real-life horrors of fascism and the brutality everyday people experience in regimes of this kind. This is just one example of many that proves Andor didn't pull any of its punches, especially in season 2, which leads directly into Rogue One. While those Star Wars movies of course also represented the painful truths surrounding rebellion and war, Andor is distinct among them.
Andor is meant to reflect the real-life horrors of fascism and the brutality everyday people experience in regimes of this kind
This is clear especially in the handling of sexual assault/rape. In movies like Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, for example, there are undertones that hint at rape, but neither movie outright says the word or makes that an overt threat. In Return of the Jedi, rape is implied in Leia's enslavement to Jabba, during which she's forced to wear a hypersexualized outfit and stay chained to Jabba. In fact, there are suggestions of sexual assault when it comes to all of Jabba's dancers.
In The Force Awakens, the threat of sexual assault is arguably even subtler. In the interrogation scene, Kylo Ren has Rey physically restrained and tells her, "You know I can take whatever I want." Technically, he is referring to using the Force mind probe on Rey to find out what she did with the map to Luke Skywalker. However, the context combined with what he says makes it clear what the underlying threat is. These scenes are important in their own right, but Andor sheds light upon sexual assault in a time of war in an entirely different way.
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It May Be Shocking, But Andor's Bix Scene Is So True To Lucas' Vision
George Lucas Based Star Wars On The Vietnam War, And This Scene Captures That History
There will undoubtedly be backlash to this scene, part of which will likely argue that bringing rape into Star Wars somehow changes, damages, or even 'ruins' the franchise. Yet, the reality is, this scene with Bix and the Imperial officer is exactly what George Lucas intended to show with Star Wars. Lucas has long been clear that the Vietnam War was a direct influence on the original Star Wars trilogy, with the Empire positioned as America and the rebels meant to represent the Viet Cong.
It's a brutal reality—just as it is meant to be in Andor—but Vietnamese women (and children) were raped during the Vietnam War. If that fact is difficult or uncomfortable to accept or sit with, that is very much the intention behind this scene in Andor. It is meant to highlight what can too easily be overlooked or pushed aside in discussions of real-life wars, such as the Vietnam War. Horrifyingly, rape has been a part of war and at times even a tool of war for centuries.
Related to this is the fact that, when fascist regimes rise, it is often women and other marginalized groups who pay the price first and, arguably, the most in the long-run. This is yet another reality Andor tackles beautifully; the show is clear in depicting how such oppression impacts women in particular. I was absolutely shocked to see this Bix scene in Andor season 2, but, in an odd way, I was also glad to see it because it is a painful truth that should be shown.
New episodes of Andor season 2 release weekly on Tuesdays at 9 PM EST, 6 PM PST on Disney+.
| Release Date | Episode Drop |
|---|---|
| April 22, 2025 | Andor season 2, episodes 1-3 |
| April 29, 2025 | Andor season 2, episodes 4-6 |
| May 6, 2025 | Andor season 2, episodes 7-9 |
| May 13, 2025 | Andor season 2, episodes 10-12 |
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Andor
TV-14
Action & Adventure
Drama Thriller Sci-Fi
8/10
176 8.8/10
- Release Date
- 2022 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Disney+
- Showrunner
- Tony Gilroy
Cast
-
Diego Luna
Cassian Andor
-
Stellan Skarsgård
Luthen Rael
WHERE TO WATCH
Streaming
- Directors
- Susanna White
- Writers
- Dan Gilroy
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Creator(s)
- Tony Gilroy
