This article contains spoilers for the end of “Andor” season 2.

The gap between “Andor” seasons 1 and 2 left plenty of space for fans to theorize as to what the second installment of the “Star Wars” series might bring. And while it was always pretty clear that Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) would continue to play a major role in the story, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), many might not have guessed just how central their romance arc would be to “Andor” season 2. Cassian’s relationship with Bix is, in many ways, the emotional core of the season, and by extension, the show, exploring how two people caught in impossible circumstances can make both devastating decisions and unbreakable bonds.

The end of “Andor” season 2 sees Bix safely escape the violence of the war against the Empire, and also that she gave birth to a child with Cassian. It’s a beautiful moment, but one that may have surprised fans who had previously read romantic implications in Cassian’s relationship with Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) in “Rogue One.”

Showrunner Tony Gilroy, who led major rewrites and reshoots on “Rogue One,” recently acknowledged that fact in an interview with Collider. “I felt bad for the people who had invested so much time in the fan fiction and stuff like that,” Gilroy said. “It’s not considered canon, and it’s not something I have to pay attention to, legally, within the order, but people worked hard on that stuff, and it meant a lot to them,” he explained. “You don’t want to trample on somebody’s flower garden, you know? But I have to do what I have to do.”

It’s natural in any story with a strong bond between two leading characters for at least some fans to read romantic intent. Cassian and Jyn have a particularly charged end to their relationship (and, well, their lives) via a pair of scenes after getting the Death Star plans safely off of Scarif. First, there’s the dimly lit elevator ride, featuring a shared look of deep connection. Then there’s the hand-holding on the beach as they wait for the Death Star’s blast wave to destroy them.

“I knew very well what had happened with Jyn and Cassian in ‘Rogue One’ and what had happened in the elevator,” Gilroy told Collider. “And I was really pleased to see how we’d edited that, that it was really ambiguous about what it was.” Gilroy compared the bond between Jyn and Cassian to any other strong platonic connection built in times of struggle — something that carries great meaning, but which doesn’t necessarily need to be connected to a romantic relationship. Still, he feels at least a little bad for the shippers out there. “I’m sure there’s somebody who will never get over that,” Gilroy said. “I apologize. I really do.”

Even at the time when “Rogue One” came out, there were many who argued against a romantic reading of Cassian and Jyn’s final moments. The film avoids a lot of stereotypes by not having them kiss, and their moment on the beach is all the more powerful because it is purely human, rather than being charged with some sort of tragic love.

Bix might leave Cassian behind without giving him a choice in “Andor,” but he doesn’t seem to hold any resentment. He understands why she had to go, and why she believed he had to stay — a conviction that he comes to share by the time “Rogue One” comes around. During the film, he seems disillusioned at times with the mission of the Rebellion, right up until Jyn’s renewed fervor convinces him once again that their work is the most important thing.

On the beach, waiting for death, Cassian doesn’t mourn the future he won’t have. He seems utterly at peace, using his few words to assure a more anxious Jyn that her father would have been proud of her — that her sacrifice, while impossibly tragic, is worth it. It’s this version of Cassian whom Bix sees. Knowing that the knowledge of her pregnancy would push him away from the Rebellion, she leaves, even though it would devastate them both.

Still, Cassian finds new human connections with comrades like Vel (Faye Marsay) and Melshi (Duncan Pow), and later with Jyn. These bonds reflect the spirit of the Rebellion, and of Star Wars as a whole — a story about the unbreakable bonds of life and kinship that will always resist unnatural oppression. As Gilroy put it to Collider, “Why wouldn’t you hold somebody’s hand at the end of the world?”