We’re just one week away from Andor flying onto Disney+, meaning time is running out to make predictions over what’s in store. If there’s one thing Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna and others have promised time and time again, it’s that Andor is a story of immense scale. And, so far, that looks to be true. Mon Mothma will be one of the show’s primary figures, Saw Gerrera will play a role and a few more of the galaxy’s familiar faces will surely make an appearance, too.
Star Wars: Rebels is a particularly fertile ground for such appearances. To lay out the timeline, the events of Rebels occur across the five years preceding the Battle of Yavin. Season one of Andor, which will unfold over the course of year, just so happens to begin at that same moment, inching right up to the film that inspired it, Rogue One. Put more simply, each of those stories exists alongside one another, making crossover an inevitability.
We’ve already seen evidence of that, too. While we don’t know who was in the cockpit, the Ghost made a brief appearance in the background of the Battle of Scarif. And Rebels characters have begun making the leap to live action, with Sabine Wren, Chopper and Hera Syndulla all set to appear alongside the titular character in Ahsoka.
Now, the question becomes, could other characters follow suit, perhaps showing up even earlier in Andor? There are some likely candidates, particularly Agent Kallus. But, let’s shift to the talk of the town at the moment, Ezra Bridger. Is there a chance the missing Jedi could appear in Andor?
Could Ezra Bridger make an appearance in Andor?
Well, frankly, it seems unlikely. Ezra’s story has become directly intertwined with Grand Admiral Thrawn’s ever since the two characters were sent adrift at the end of Rebels. I can’t imagine a scenario where one appears without the other, and all signs indicate that Ahsoka is set to continue that storyline, not Andor.
While Ezra being a main character in the story is largely out of the question, that doesn’t mean a cameo is off the table. For one, the casting seems set in stone, and an appearance in Andor could be a neat way of letting fans familiarize themselves with this version of the character before he becomes a focal point in Ahsoka.
Secondly, there’s a powerful story that connects Ezra to Andor‘s larger plot. He’s had a long history with the Empire. He was born on Empire Day, which recognizes the official formation of the Empire, and his parents were imprisoned — and later killed — for their opposition to them.
That same fighting spirit manifested in Ezra. He became a voice that led others to believe they could defeat the Empire, inspiring pockets of resistance to spring up across the galaxy. As the trailers have shown us, those are the exact sects the Empire is fighting against in Andor.
Then, there’s the fact that Ezra and the Ghost crew have crossed paths with characters set to appear on Andor, namely Saw Gerrera and Mon Mothma. But here’s where the specifics of the timeline come into play. In Andor’s earliest episodes, Mon Mothma is an Imperial Senator, whereas Saw Gerrera’s Partisans are still a valuable tool to the Rebellion. Ezra has yet to enter the picture.
All that is to say that, despite his personal conflict with the Empire, Ezra making his way into Andor seems unlikely. His relationships with the show’s key figures and the Rebellion at large has simply not taken shape yet. A season two cameo may come, but even that may feel a bit forced. Ultimately, his story is best served elsewhere. Ezra’s time will soon come, just not in Andor.