While Andor ended its superb run, it's not a perfect show (though it nearly is). Because of the Season 2 structure, where they squished what would have been four seasons into one, some characters got their stories shortened. One was Perrin Fertha, Mon Mothma's supposedly deadbeat husband. I had suspected that he had more going for him, but it wasn't revealed in the show. Turns out, I was right!
Writer Tom Bissell revealed a cut scene for Perrin that would have changed Mon's story: He knew about her rebel activity the entire time and protected her. Bissell said, "That was gonna be an interesting moment. Tony Gilroy performed it — Perrin just saying, 'I knew what you were up to. This whole time. They talked to me. Every week, they'd interrogate me. I never said a word. You didn't trust me. You could've trusted me.' And the heartbreak she would feel in that moment, of this guy that she'd pushed out, could've been reliable."
This kills me. Perrin was always one of my low-key favorite characters of Andor. Knowing that he was protecting Mon from afar would have made his ending in the final montage more heartbreaking. However, it doesn't have to be the end of Perrin's story.
I want to see him back in Ahsoka Season 2, reunited with Mon as a power couple in the New Republic.
The first thing I thought of when I heard about Perrin's cut story was how badly I wanted him to be a chaos agent for Mon Mothma. I shared on my own Bluesky, "I now want Perrin in Ahsoka Season 2, reunited with his wife, just so he can tell Hamato Xiono to his face to shut up and because no one likes him." Because this would be the best use of Perrin!
Mon, as Chancellor, would have to play nice with other senators. Perrin does not. He can voice what Mon and the audience think, telling off the snooty senator from Hosnian Prime (and I say all this as someone who loves Star Wars Resistance and the entire Xiono family). I so desperately want Perrin and Hamato Xiono in a room together. Alastair Mackenzie and Nelson Lee would play off each other so well in the best way possible, lobbing catty remarks back and forth. Give it to me, Dave Filoni. Put it in Ahsoka.
I'd also love to see the rekindled romance. In the novel Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed, Mon and Perrin's relationship is explored more in nuance. They try to make the best of their own arranged marriage, ending not in love but working well as partners. However, I need to see in the New Republic timeline the two of them desperately in love with each other for the first time.
"I want to write the story of Perrin becoming the Scarlet Pimpernel of Star Wars to win Mon back," Bluesky user @mariecgould.bsky.social replied to my post. The way I would throw all my money at this story, Disney. Give me this book of Perrin and Mon falling in love and learning how to trust each other again. I want it.
And the people want it too. The replies to my original post included:
"Now we're talking. Rebellion Perrin is a liability. New Republic Perrin is a tonally perfect agent of chaos and Mon's secret weapon," from @attimowens.bsky.social.
Artist Iledra agreed, wanting someone to tell off Resistance's main character's crappy dad, Hamato. "I can envision this so clearly, it rocks! and YES!!!" and then added for Mon, "She's like Jabba with his Bounty Hunters, but with her husband."
Journalist Charlie Ashby emphatically declare, "MAKE THIS HAPPEN."
As Season 2 of Ahsoka has just started filming, I don't think this is going to happen in the show, at least in the next season. However, perhaps there is more room down the line in New Republic storytelling to bring back Perrin Fertha, have him once again with his powerful wife, and supporting her as they are finally free to be in love.
Give it to me, Star Wars.