A Rogue One Fan-Favorite Finally Returns in Andor Season 2

Warning: Spoilers for Andor Season 2

A fan-favorite character from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story finally returns in the latest batch of Andor Season 2 episodes, as Cassian Andor meets his droid companion K-2SO. Audiences first see K-2SO in the eighth episode, “Who Are You?” when he’s operating as an Imperial security droid. He is part of a group of KX units stationed on Ghorman the Empire deploys to brutally murder citizens during the massacre. Viewers get a sense of how ruthless and terrifying the KX droids are, and the droid fans know as K-2SO is responsible for killing many innocents himself. Towards the end of “Who Are You?” K-2 approaches Cassian and Wilmon, but Samm crashes into the droid, rendering him useless.

Cassian opts to recover K-2’s parts and brings the droid to the Rebel base on Yavin IV. In the ninth episode, “Welcome to the Rebellion,” K-2SO has been reprogrammed and is reactivated. The Rebels know K-2 is no longer a threat to them when he politely asks Cassian to stop pointing his blaster at him. The episode ends with K-2’s rebirth.

Star Wars fans had known for a while that Andor Season 2 would feature the return of K-2SO. Unlike the case of Benjamin Bratt taking over the role of Bail Organa, Lucasfilm did not attempt to hide actor Alan Tudyk’s involvement with the series. K-2SO was featured in Andor marketing materials, including a special featurette that gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at Tudyk and Diego Luna filming a scene together.

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What’s fascinating about the way Andor handles Cassian and K-2SO’s first meeting is that it significantly differs from the comic Rogue One – Cassian & K-2SO Special, which was canon’s first attempt to depict the origins of their friendship. In the comic, Cassian is on a mission on the planet Wecacoe, and K-2SO tracks Cassian and his allies down. Cassian tries to wipe K-2SO’s memory (but is only partially successful) and ultimately is able to remove the droid’s base programming.

K-2SO’s arrival on Andor was a long-awaited development. There are only three episodes left in the series, and it seems like the droid is going to have a sizable role in Season 2’s final arc. In some ways, it’s understandable why it took showrunner Tony Gilroy eight episodes to bring K-2SO to the fold. The first half of Andor Season 2 had a lot of ground to cover, and there really wasn’t room to include such a substantial character over those first two arcs. But now that Andor is quickly approaching the events of Rogue One, it feels more natural to have K-2SO around. Over the remaining episodes, fans will likely get a taste of what Cassian and K-2 were up to before they met Jyn Erso. Perhaps the two will embark on a dangerous mission together, cementing their partnership.

Cassian and K-2SO’s relationship was one of the highlights of Rogue One. It was a source for both humor and heartbreak over the course of the film. It will be fun to see the beginnings of their dynamic and watch it evolve in the last episodes of Andor. At the end of “Welcome to the Rebellion,” Cassian is in a very interesting place emotionally, as he’s just learned Bix has left so he will continue fighting with the Rebellion. Obviously, there isn’t anything that can fill that void, but finding a friend in K-2SO could be part of his healing process. Whatever Andor has in store for Cassian and K-2, it’ll be fun to see the two together again.