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The second and final season of the critically acclaimed Star Wars live-action series, Andor, has been filming since the tail end of November and is expected to conclude in August. The shoot has primarily taken place behind the walls of Pinewood Studios, London, and at various locations across the United Kingdom. However, the most interesting location the production was ventured to is in Valencia, Spain.
The production rocked up at the City of Arts and Science located in Valencia earlier this month, and from what I’d been hearing, the production will be in the Spanish city for around two months. There’s little details on the scenes being shot in Valencia, but we’ve had a plethora of pictures and videos within the past week, as well discovering some cast members that have made the trip.
We know that Robert Emms, the actor who played Lonni Jung, an informant of Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael who works for the Emprie, has been in the city since the start of the month thanks to Instagram posts made by the actor. The presence of Jung ties in nicely with Luthen Rael actor, Stellan Skarsgård being present in Valencia, as he was spotted filming scenes with Genevieve O’Riley’s Mon Mothma. Though we currently don’t know if he’s been cast in the series, actor Benjamin Bratt (Poker Face) has been spotted with members of the Andor crew along with a director of season two, Janus Metz. It’s also worth mentioning that Kleya actress Elizabeth Dulau posted images of herself on a beach, but it’s unclear if she’s part of the Valencia shoot, though it would make sense given characters Kleya is associated with are present in Spain.
We currently don’t know what in universe location the City of Arts and Science is being used for. The most obvious assumption has been Coruscant, given the futuristic design of the location coupled with the presence of Mothma, Rael and Jung, along with a heavy Imperial presence. Another option that I speculated last week is that of Chandirla, the home world of Mon Mothma. The location bares a resemblance to Chandlira as seen in various comics, but more importantly Chandrila may make an appearance in the eagerly anticipated second season given that season one set up that Mon Mothma’s daughter, Leida, was betrothed to the son of Davo Sculdun, Stekan. The marriage was arranged via Mon Mothma and Davo Sculdun after the latter suggested in return for helping Mothma justify the disappearance of 400,000 Imperial Credits and offered the Senator a loan. It’s likely that the wedding would take place on Chandrila given it’s the home-world of Mon Mothma, Perrin Ferrha and Dave Sculdun, with Leida having a keeping a keen interest in Chandrilan traditions.
Over the weekend, fans began speculating that Darth Vader would be present during the second season of Andor, and that Vader was at the City of Arts and Science. The speculation began when a Twitter user captured video of a dark figure with what appeared to be a cape filming a scene from a fair distance. It wasn’t long before eagle eyes fans realised that the figure in the video was none other than Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael, who was filming a scene with Genevieve O’Riley’s Mon Mothma, though admittedly, you’ve really got to pay close attention to Mothma in the video, but she’s there nonetheless.
Once filming has concluded at the City of Arts and Science, the Andor production will move to another location in Valencia, Castell de Xàtiva, a fortress with a deep and rich history which dates back to Roman and Iberian times. In the report it’s revealed that visitors will not be allowed to access the location from the second of April until the seventh, meaning Andor will likely film at the location during that timeframe.
The second and final season of Andor is set to be released during the latter half of next year, and the series will also have a presence at this years Star Wars Celebration, which kicks off on April 7th.
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