Mon Mothma's Husband Was Supposed To Suck Less in the 'Andor' Finale

In the final moments of the Andor Season 2 finale, Mon Mothma’s husband, Perrin, is shown looking sullen in the backseat of a space limo while downing a drink. Except he’s not alone. Alongside him is Runai Sculdun a.k.a. his freaking daughter’s mother-in-law. Keep in mind, this is a full year after Mon abruptly quit the Senate and fled to the rebel base on Yavin, but it’s still not a great look.

One could correctly argue that this scene is on-brand for Perrin, who has been a man-bunned douche-waffle for the vast majority of his time on Andor. His wife sacrificed everything for the galaxy’s freedom, and he remained firmly ensconced in a life of a luxury. The rebels can have fun using teddy bears to fight the Empire. Ol’ Perrin will stay knee-deep in booze and space strange, thank you very much.

Knowing full well that I’m the guy who called out Star Wars bros for being weird about Syril just the other day, let’s take a minute to appreciate how Andor somehow made a dude like Perrin seem sympathetic before getting into the deleted scene that’s floating around. It’s easy to forget that Mon did him dirty in the Season 1 finale, which is an incredible thing for me to say considering I could not shut up about how much this guy sucks.

Turns out, Perrin and Mon were on the same page about not forcing their daughter into an arranged marriage. They wanted a different life for her and were united on that front. But when Mon needed Davo Sculdun to launder the money she’s using to fund the rebellion, she sandbagged Perrin by making him think his gambling forced them into a situation where their daughter has to be married off. Mon not only brought their worst nightmare to life, she convinced Perrin that it was his fault. It was some diabolical sh*t, and Perrin almost definitely put the pieces together down the road.

According to Andor writer Tom Bissell, Perrin was supposed to get a scene in Season 2 that would’ve made Mon’s betrayal and abandonment sting even more. Via Backstory:

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. The double heartbreak of her walking away from her life, thinking she’s dropping this deadbeat husband who never supported her, and then the double dagger stab… But that’s head-cannon, that didn’t happen.

Here’s the thing, this scene would have completely tracked. The attention to detail on this show is off the charts. It’s f*cking phenomenal. While getting ready to write this piece, I looked back at my Andor Season 1 recaps to see how much I hated on Perrin, and this moment from Episode 6 jumped right out at me. I can’t believe I caught it because I’m not very smart. You’ve read my work:

This time around, he’s letting their teenage daughter completely shit all over his wife, which is a primo asshole move. If Mon Mothma wants to blow up the whole freaking Empire because she hates her husband, Timothy Olyphant in a cowboy hat wouldn’t be more justified. As for how they got together, Gilroy has hinted that it’s an arranged marriage, which would turn me into the silent architect of a radical resistance movement. More importantly, the scene heavily suggests that Mon Mothma’s family is not oblivious to the fact that she’s being extra performative about her allegiance to the Empire.

Even without the deleted scene, it’s safe to say that Perrin knew what Mon was doing and never once ratted her out. Does that mean he was ready to take up arms and join the Rebellion? Let’s not get carried away. Have you seen the way Sculdun’s wife has been looking at him? He should probably hang back — as a distraction. Yeah, that’s the ticket…