One vital element of the opening crawl inThe Empire Strikes Backfeels more strange than ever afterAndorseason 2. As far ashighly-rankedStar Warsmoviesgo, perhaps none eclipseThe Empire Strikes Back. Although everyone has their own favorite, the majority tend to agree that the secondmovie inStar Wars' release orderis the strongest in the franchise to this day.
Whether anyupcomingStar WarsmoviessurpassThe Empire Strikes Backremains to be seen, though it is fair to say that this would be an incredible feat. Even 45 years after its release,The Empire Strikes Backholds up as not only a sequel toA New Hopebut as one fantastic part of an entire saga. Concerning the rest of that saga,The Empire Strikes Backstands relatively on its own, yet some connections can be found. One, for instance, comes in the opening crawl of the movie that immediately feels stranger now after witnessingAndorseason 2’s ending.
Andor Season 2 Shows How Important Yavin 4 Was To The Rebellion
Yavin Was The Headquarters Of The Rebel Alliance
InAndor’s two seasons, the formation ofStar Wars’Rebel Alliancewas shown, beginning around five years beforeA New Hope. In the second season specifically, the show’s timeline took audiences right up to the events ofRogue One: A Star Wars Story, which takes place mere days beforeA New Hope. Therefore, the Rebel Alliance’s true origins were shown more intently in this season, as was the base of the organization’s operations, Yavin 4.
Andorseason 2 placed a great deal of importance on Yavin. The opening act showcased how the titular character found the moon, with subsequent arcs showing the growing band of rebels across the galaxy making their way to Yavin. Characters like Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Luthen Rael, and Cassian Andor himself place so much importance on Yavin throughoutAndorseason 2, with the show doing so to set upA New Hope. This certainly makes a lot of sense, as Yavin 4 is a big deal to the Rebellion’s early fight against the Empire.
The Opening Crawl Of The Empire Strikes Back Removes Yavin’s Importance
Yavin Is No More
This leads me to my point aboutThe Empire Strikes Backand its opening crawl. The first few lines of the iconic text indicate the Empire routed the Rebel Alliance from their hidden base after the destruction of the Death Star. While this has always been something I have naturally known aboutStar Wars, I only truly took in what this meant: Yavin 4 is of no importance afterA New Hope. The planet is not seen in any of the subsequent movies of the original trilogy and is not even referred to by name inThe Empire Strikes Back’s opening crawl.
The Doctor AphraStar Warscomics explain that Yavin 4 was evacuated after the Battle of Yavin.
Despite the Battle of Yavin being the focal point of the entireStar Warstimelineand the focus placed on it by supporting stories likeAndor, Rogue One, andStar Wars Rebels,Yavin fades into obscurity fromThe Empire Strikes Backonwards. I am not saying this does not make sense, as the Empire discovered the planet was a base for the Rebels inA New Hope. Nonetheless, the sheer importance placed on the planet byStar Warsmaterial since 1980 makesThe Empire StrikesBack’s disregard of the planet feel unceremonious and strange.
The Rebels Planned Hoth To Be The Yavin Replacement - But It Didn’t Work Out
Thanks To The Empire
Of course, the Rebel Alliance planned to move their full-time base to Hoth after Yavin 4, but this proved difficult to achieve. As explored inThe Empire Strikes Back’s opening, the Hoth base was not fully operational before it was found by the Empire. Vader’s probe droids found Hoth and led to an assault against the Rebel Alliance once more, causing the group to flee the planet. This all makes perfect sense within theStar Warstimeline, but I cannot deny how shocked I was to remember that a core Rebellion planet was reduced to an offhanded mention inThe Empire Strikes Back’s opening crawl.
