“Andor” Season 2 has given “Star Wars” new life.

Fresh off “Tales from the Underworld,” an average series with great moments, “Star Wars” needed a definitive win to make it relevant again.

“Andor” Season 2 is exactly that.

I’m not surprised. I loved “Andor” Season 1. I considered both “Andor” seasons to be among the franchise’s best. Showrunner Tony Gilroy has brought to life some of the most compelling conflict and storytelling this series has seen all-time.

“Andor” has netted critical acclaim the franchise needs. It’s also pulled in an impressive $310 million in subscriber revenue for Disney in its first season alone against a $250 million budget.

That’s laudable, considering that its titular character’s story concludes in “Rogue One,” and while Cassian was well liked in that movie, he wasn’t necessarily a fan favorite.

It accomplished this through the most grounded storytelling “Star Wars” has seen in years, focusing on the early days of fascism in the Galaxy Far, Far Away and how it affected everyday people. Some embrace it, like ISB Supervisor Dedra Meera and her partner, Syril Karn. Others let it idly take root, like the majority of the people we see on Coruscant going about their business. A select few, including Cassian Andor, Luthen Rael and Sen. Mon Mothma, openly challenge it, recognizing that fascism is an evil that will eventually come for them all.

Season 1 illustrated this well with its Narkina 5 and Morlana One storylines, in which Cassian is sent to an Imperial prison filled with dissidents and his home planet is slowly pushed to its breaking point, only to be snuffed out by the Empire, respectively.

Season 2 gives us a dark next step: The Empire manufactures a genocide on the planet Ghorman because it needs a reason to strip mine it for a mineral needed for the Death Star.

Meera and Karn lead the charge of this and are quickly disposed of when they cease to be useful to the regime. Meera also gets a stunning moment of clarity when stormtroopers start firing on innocent people — the Empire is finally given the gravity it needs for us to take it seriously. This also represents a point of no return for Meera, who will forever be tied to the atrocity.

In “Andor,” the Empire is an expressive force that destroys everything and everyone it touches. The cutthroat nature of its bureaucracy also guarantees that it will implode. It’s ultimately a system that punishes ambition and competency — only the loyal and foolish can survive in its ranks, other than Vader and Palpatine. Everyone else is expendable.

“Andor” is unfortunately all too pertinent to the current moment, where President Donald Trump’s fascism is threatening to take hold. It’s an important series for viewers both in and outside the “Star Wars” fandom to watch, especially as current events start to echo some of the earlier points in the show.