With only one more month to go until Andor season 2 premieres, Star Wars has debuted a new trailer that’s entirely reminiscent of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – and it’s hit me much harder than I expected. Ever since its inception, we’ve known where Andor is ultimately heading. Season 2 will end exactly where the events of Rogue One begin, seeing Cᴀssian Andor depart for his mission to the Ring of Kafrene – where we first met him in 2016.

This close union between the two projects may have always existed, but it’s becoming even more evident in Andor season 2 specifically. The new trailer Star Wars has released proves this, showcasing plenty of familiar Rogue One characters and locations. The layers, however, go even deeper in this trailer. Sitting down to watch it for the first time, I was transported right back to Rogue One‘s first trailer drop in 2016, and there’s a distinct reason why.

Andor Season 2’s New Trailer Is So Much Like Rogue One’s

From The Klaxon Alarms To The Shadow Of The Death Star

As soon as Andor season 2’s new trailer began, I was immediately brought back to the first time I saw the Rogue One trailer in 2016 – all because of those familiar klaxon alarm sounds. The way it’s integrated with the score in the back hit me like the best form of whiplash, reminding me of the experience I had finding out about the story that would one day carve the path of Star Wars’ best TV show to date.

Combining that with the many familiar Rogue One faces truly makes this trailer feel like it’s the perfect precursor to the franchise’s first anthology movie. The two even share an integration of dialogue about the Rebel Alliance – and Andor has borrowed not only Rogue One‘s same font, but also its “A Star Wars Story” tagline. Everything about this new trailer essentially begs us to go back to 2016 and remember how we first met Jyn Erso, Cᴀssian Andor, and the other Rogue One heroes.

The Rogue One Trailer Carries Significant Meaning For Me

My First Viewing Experience Is Bittersweet In Retrospect

The reason why Andor season 2 riffing so strongly off the original Rogue One trailer hits me so hard is because of how memorable my first viewing experience of the latter really was, and how bittersweet the memory is for me nearly ten years later. I was just a high school student when Rogue One came out, and its trailer was released while I was in my 10th grade English class.

We were working in the school’s library that day, which gave my teacher the opportunity to project it onto a mᴀssive screen. Of course, my teacher wasn’t yet aware of how loud the klaxon alarms would be when they started to join the score later on in the trailer. We got shushed by the librarians once the trailer had finished playing, both due to the actual trailer itself and my class’ excited discussion afterward of what was to come.

This was definitely a core memory for me as a young student, but the reason why it stands out so much now is because my English teacher ended up becoming a writing mentor to me all throughout my high school career – and he sadly, and suddenly, pᴀssed away in 2019. Star Wars was something we both loved and discussed all the time, especially with me being in his class the year Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered.

Experiencing all those same feelings I had with the new Andor season 2 trailer not only 9 years later, but also 6 years after my teacher’s pᴀssing, is extremely bittersweet. I can only imagine what he would have thought of all the Star Wars content we’ve gotten ever since – from The Mandalorian to Andor itself – and what he would think of where I am currently, writing a piece like this with the skills he helped me to harness about a pᴀssion we both shared.

Andor Is Definitely Bringing Back The Best Rogue One Feelings

It’s Nothing Short Of Cinematic

These bittersweet, nostalgic feelings aren’t the only ones I have, though. Above all, I feel the thrill of something truly special coming from Star Wars, an event that will completely recontextualize the original Star Wars trilogy in a way that only further improves its legacy. Everything about Andor season 2 feels purely cinematic and exciting in the same way Rogue One did; something brand-new that’s also familiar.

For those who love Rogue One but haven’t yet seen Andor, now is the time. Andor season 2 is going to be the bridge that weds these two crucial prequel stories together, enhancing every story that has come before it in the process. The Andor season 2 trailer makes me feel the way I did as a 16-year-old, experiencing what Rogue One would have to offer for the very first time, and I have no doubt its legacy is going to become just as great – if not greater.