Score in Andor: A Musical Revolution

A look at Nicholas Britell, Brandon Roberts, and John Williams' contributions to Andor Season 2

May 18, 2025

Now that Andor has concluded, it’s safe to say that this project is like no other within the Star Wars franchise. For me, this is especially clear in the score, which was done by Nicholas Britell in its first season and primarily taken over by Brandon Roberts in the second, who worked to learn and implement Britell’s leitmotifs as well as create some of his own.

For all intents and purposes, this is the only canon Star Wars project that does not utilize any musical motifs from others. Brandon Roberts’ arrangement of John Williams’ 1977 “The Throne Room and End Credits” appears in the end credits of the series finale as well as the 4th score album drop on streaming services, but given that this is not music that appears in the show, I’m discrediting it for the sake of my argument. As far as I remember, the canon video games all use a Williams song or motif, though not all of them can be heard in the soundtracks, as I believe using it within the media and including it in a distributed album are different rights deals. Every single show or film features an appearance of a motif from a project that came before it.

Funnily enough, Lucasfilm’s two most recent shows are two “firsts” in franchise canon. Skeleton Crew, which, as of right now is labeled as a “limited series” thusly implying it has concluded, is the only soundtrack that does not feature a pre-existing theme. The iconic Force theme can be heard when Jude Law’s character uses the force to break out of the Port Borgo prison, but it is removed from the streaming version of the score and replaced with something that is mostly likely as close as Mick Giacchino could legally get. Andor, which has officially ended, is the first show that does not feature any themes from outside the project within the actual show itself, instead reserving a musical callback for the credits as I mentioned previously.

Now I want to take a closer look at the score of the second season, because I think it really is so fascinating how Brandon Roberts was able to bridge the gap between Nicholas Britell’s work on season one (and his few tracks from season two) and Michael Giacchino’s Rogue One.

Character Leitmotifs

6. The ISB/Dedra Meero

The ISB theme is featured much less in the second season but instead seems potentially reworked into what becomes the theme for Ghorman, seemingly a cruel twist of the proverbial knife.

Narkina 5 - Nicholas Britell

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Palmo Town Hall - Nicholas Britell

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Rebellion Leitmotifs

Not only are there motifs that are indicative of certain characters, but themes that I also associate with ideas. Over the course of the last three years, I haven’t been able to find any articles of him speaking to this so of course if I’m incorrect I would greatly appreciate any correction, but it sounds almost like there are three particular themes that represent different states of rebellion. Brandon Roberts not only brings these three back but he adds a fourth that is indicative of the Ghorman Front, and a fifth that represents Yavin 4. All four of these make an appearance in season two.

1. Luthen and Saw’s Rebellions

This particular theme has been a great topic of discussion amongst people over the course of the show. Bearing a striking resemblance to Cal Kestis’ leitmotif by Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, this music was first introduced in the track “Kleya” from season one, leading a number of people, including myself at first, to assume it was a character theme for just her. Contextually that can’t be true, as it’s featured outside of scenes relating to her, including very prominently in the Narkina 5 arc, as well as now in season two when Cassian goes to pick up his Varian Sky disguise on Coruscant and when Mon and Bail are speaking outside Sculdun’s party. It also makes up the entirety of “Saw Gerrera” from season 2, which is why I didn’t feel inclined to say that he had been given a character theme this season because it isn’t strictly true.

Kleya - Nicholas Britell

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One Way Out - Parts 5-7 - Nicholas Britell

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4. The Ghorman Front

Music as Rebellion

There is an idea that is put into place in the first season of music as a form of rebellion. We see it in the first arc, when the Ferrixians are all clanging on the metal pipes in town during Preox Morlana’s visit when Syril attempts to arrest Cassian. It is a synchronized beat at one pitch that grows until everyone goes eerily silent in one unified swoop. We see it on Aldhani, when the Dhanis make the pilgrimage to the sacred valley and perform their native rituals and sing and dance defiantly at the gates of the Empire’s occupational stronghold. This is the first instance in the show of “real” music as a form of open rebellion against the Empire. We see it on Narkina 5, when the chant “One way out!” is taken up by the prisoners as they take control of the facility. And finally, we see it on Ferrix again in the last arc at Maarva’s funeral, when the citizens of Ferrix take to the streets with their instruments and play their funerary song for her, explicitly going against the ISB’s strict parameters. Even Bix, held hostage in the upper level of the hotel, barely cognisant, engages with this “random act of insurrection” and hums along.

This music played by the Ferrixians for Maarva is what makes up the previously mentioned second rebellion motif and can be heard throughout season one, most notably in “Past/Present Suite” but is also found in tracks like “The Night Before,” “Rix Road,” and the main titles for episode 10. It does not reappear in a new track (there are a number of season one tracks remixed and repurposed for season two) until “Messenger” from episode seven, when Bix and Cassian are speaking about what the force healer said to him.

2. Ferrix Rebellion (CONT.)

The Night Before - Nicholas Britell

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Forming Up/Unto Stone We Are - Nicholas Britell

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In season two, Nicholas Britell continues this trend on Ghorman. Dan Gilroy, the writer of the Aldhani arc, makes his return to the franchise with the Ghorman massacre. As tensions are mounting between the Ghor and the Empire’s skittish occupational forces in the Palmo plaza, song breaks out: the planetary anthem for Ghorman. A peaceful, united display of open rebellion to Dedra Meero’s forces and for whoever is watching the Holonet. This is the aforementioned fourth rebellion theme, as this song actually makes its first appearance the week prior in Nicholas Britell’s “Palmo Town Hall,” buried in the score.

4. The Ghorman Front (CONT.)

Palmo Town Hall - Nicholas Britell

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We Are the Ghor (Planetary Anthem: Acapella Version) - Grace Davidson

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Reprise

There are two songs in particular from season 2 that I want to highlight. The songs themselves are not “themes,” but there is definitely a deliberate parallel drawn back to iconic moments from season one.

The first is “The Bix is Back,” which parallels the end of S1E02’s shot of Cassian walking out from the Ferrix scrapyard with Cassian and Bix leaving Dr. Gorst’s building as it explodes behind them. It’s definitely Bix’s “Pilgrim” moment, and it’s also one of my favorite tracks from the season so I was glad to hear those drums return.

Pilgrim - Nicholas Britell

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The Bix is Back - Nicholas Britell

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The second is “Past/Present/Future.” At the end of S1E03, it cuts between Maarva and Clem flying away from his home of Kenari with a young Cassian behind them, headed towards a new life, and “present day” Cassian looking over the shoulder of Luthen Rael as he pilots the Fondor haulcraft out of Ferrix. The song that plays over this scene is called “Past/Present Suite” and actually appears over the credits of S2E03, referencing the season one moment as Cassian pilots the TIE Avenger off Mina-Rau with Bix and Wilmon behind him, and again in S2E09 when he drives Mon Mothma off of the senate grounds and into the Coruscant sky.

The “—/Future” suffix is added and a new arrangement is made by Roberts in the final sequence of the series as it builds over Cassian walking through Yavin to reach Kaytoo and his U-Wing before they fly to the Ring of Kafrene to meet with Tivik. We also see a number of other characters preparing for what lies ahead, some of whom we know reach their end on Scarif, some with unwritten endings. The final moment of the song (and the show as well) is what can only be described as the lightest version of Bix’s theme we’ve heard over the course of the show. She’s holding a baby in her arms and looking out towards the horizon, forming an inverted parallel of Cassian’s death on Scarif as she looks out at gold fields and a blue sky with her future in her arms, vs. Cassian staring out at a fiery sky and blue ocean with his arms around the woman who had become his closest companion in the end.

Past/Present Suite - Nicholas Britell

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Past/Present/Future - Brandon Roberts

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The Throne Room

As the credits roll over the series finale, Brandon Roberts quietly makes history as the first composer to put the iconic Throne Room music from the original Star Wars in a television show. He is now the fifth composer in canon to use the main theme, and the first person outside of John Williams to specifically release a version of the Throne Room.

In release order, the composers who have used the main theme are:

John Williams (Episodes I-IX)
Michael Giacchino (Rogue One)
The Kiners (Rebels)
John Powell (Solo)
Brandon Roberts (Andor)

And these are the projects that have implemented the Throne Room arrangement. My favorite thing about them is that they all sound slightly different.

Episode IV: A New Hope

The Throne Room and End Title - John Williams

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