The most disturbing scene in Episode 1 of Andor Season 2 recalls an infamous summit held by Nazi leaders during WWII.
It’s no secret that elements of Star Wars have been inspired by WWII, from iconography and terminology, to the central story of Rebels battling an evil Empire.
Disney+ series Andor focusses on the price of that revolution, through characters on both sides of the conflict, in a narrative that’s working its way to the events of Rogue One.
A chilling scene in the first episode of Season 2 ties directly back to a meeting that the Nazis held midway through WWII, that had devastating consequences for European Jews.
Andor scene recalls the Nazi ‘Wannsee Conference’
Ben Mendelsohn as Director Krennic.
The scene in question unfolds in a remote location at a place called ‘The Maltheen Divide.’ Standing at the end of a huge desk, and addressing the senior officials before him, Director Krennic says:
“No notes, no records, none of you were here. Nobody puts this in their calendar. All service and transport droids will be data-wiped once we are done. Your colleagues? Superiors? If they’re not in this room, they’re not cleared for the project… the group in this room is of this moment the tightest of closed circles.”
He then reveals why they are there – to deal with the Ghorman problem. Krennic says that the planet in question is of “great interest to the Empire,” due to a mineral that’s found underground. That’s because “Deep substrate foliated Kalkite” can coat reactor lenses, which will contribute to the Emperor’s dream of stable, unlimited power.
Trouble is, mining the rock will place stress on Ghorman’s core, and potentially collapse the planet, killing 800,000. With relocation not an option, Krennic needs alternatives, and knows the Ghorman people will not go quietly. So they need a solution to that problem.
Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) attends the meeting.
That mirrors the The Wannsee Conference, a meeting that was held by Nazi officials near Berlin in January 1942. High-ranking officials like Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann attended, with the aim to determine how to make Germany and the countries it was occupying free of Jews.
That “Jewish Question” soon gave way to “The Final Solution,” whereby the men at that meeting discussed how to exterminate the Jewish population, settling on gas chambers to kill, and ovens to burn the bodies.
The parallels are clear and stark, with Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy telling Polygon: “Krennic’s conference that he has – where he first brings up the topic of Ghorman – that’s very much modeled after the Wannsee Conference that the Nazis had when they, you know, had a PowerPoint luncheon to figure out the Final Solution.”
The episode also reflects how propaganda was used during WWII, as where the Nazis wanted people to associate Jews with rats to turn the world against them, so the Empire’s ‘Ministry of Enlightenment’ plans to make a connection between Ghorman’s populace and the spiders that inhabit their planet. As one minister puts it: “The right ideas planted in the right markets in the right sequence can weaponize opinion.”
HBO movie Conspiracy tells the original story
Stanley Tucci and Kenneth Branagh in Conspiracy.
The “no notes and no records” aspect of the Andor summit – to maintain secrecy and ultimately avoid responsibility – was also important to the Wannsee Conference, as although notes were taken, they were heavily edited to remove anything explicit.
Those minutes were sent to attendees after the meeting, who destroyed them at the end of the war to maintain innocence of the plans. But undersecretary Martin Luther’s copy was found by US Prosecutors in the run-up to the Nuremberg Trials in 1947.
That document became known at the ‘Wansee Protocols,’ and was used as the basis of the script for Conspiracy, a 2002 movie that was co-produced by HBO and BBC.
Written by Loring Mandel and directed by Frank Pierson, the film starred Kenneth Branagh as Heydrich and Stanley Tucci as Eichmann, and simply focused on the meeting and what was said.
That straightforward approach to the shocking material garnered acclaim from both critics and historians, and the film went on to win a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and two Emmys.
If you want to watch Conspiracy to see those Andor parallels, the movie is currently streaming on Max, while it’s also available to rent or buy from Amazon, Apple, and Fandango at Home.
Episodes 4-6 of Season drop on April 29, 2025, while for more Star Wars, head to our Andor Season 2’s full release schedule, find out when it takes place in the Star Wars timeline, and read our Andor Season 2 Episode 3 ending explainer. You can also check out what’s happening The Mandalorian and Grogu, Starfighter, and every other upcoming Star Wars project.
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