Following the thrilling heist on Aldhani, Andor takes a tour around the galaxy as the rebellion gets into motion with this week’s installment. It’s another enticing episode, chocked full of stellar performances, a diverse score and a few cameos, especially during the deviation on Niamos.
What begins as a hopeful getaway for Cassian quickly turns south, as the Empire makes its presence felt there as much as anywhere. We see a welcomed return of the Shoretrooper, a design that made its debut in Rogue One on Scarif. And there looked to be some seeker droids patrolling the skies, who many will remember as Iden Version’s companion in Star Wars: Battlefront II.
The biggest cameo, however, comes in a character who may not be much of anything at all. After being interrogated by a shoretrooper, Cassian is unjustly roped into the anti-Imperial activity taking place on Niamos. And, rising from the beach with two bodies in hand, a KX enforcer unit is set to keep watch on him, or as the trooper says, “Hang onto” him.
The droid takes those words literally, grabbing Cassian by the throat as it was told. Some fans may have been caught off guard by such brutal actions from Cassian’s friend, as it’s fair to think, isn’t that droid K-2S0?
The short answer is no. Most likely.
As a refresher, K-2SO fought alongside Cassian in the years preceding Rogue One. He became a hero of the Rebel Alliance and sacrificed his life so Cassian and Jyn could complete their mission in the Imperial vault on Scarif.
That wasn’t always the case, though. K-2SO was originally one of many KX-series security droids put into service for the Empire, ruthless and cold-hearted like the one in this episode. These droids formed a fearful contingent of Imperial force, built with supersized human portions, incredible strength and uniquely programmed to bypass restrictions against harming humans.
K-2SO was one of these droids until crossing paths with Cassian, who successfully reprogrammed him to aid the Rebellion rather than the Empire. A Marvel Comic special, “Cassian and K-2S0” documents exactly how this happened, too.
Cassian and a pair of Rebel spies went to the planet Wecacoe to obtain some information from an Imperial facility there. They encountered more opposition than expected, including from a fleet of KX droids. Cassian and company overpowered one, securing the data it held within. Cassian saw an opportunity to keep the droid for himself, but would need to wipe its memory to do so. He did just that, removing any of K-2’s ties to the Empire and adopting him as a parting gift.
Will K-2SO appear in Andor?
The rest is history, as the two worked in tandem on behalf of the Rebellion. This encounter happened somewhere around 1 or 2 BBY, and at this point in time, Andor is still positioned about three years earlier. That means the droid we saw was not K-2S0, assuming, Lucasfilm doesn’t intend on changing the canon that’s already in place, But, they’ve done it before and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they did it again here.
However, if Tony Gilroy and Alan Tudyk, the voice of the character, are to be believed, those types of changes won’t be coming in season one.
Speaking about reprising the role of K-2, Tudyk said the following to Collider early last year, “They’re shooting it right now, I’m not in it. But, if it stays on the air, stories keep getting told, I’ll end up in there.” It just so happens that we know a season two of Andor is already on the way.
So I’d say it’s almost a guarantee that we see the K-2SO we know and love in Andor. When and how are much different questions. For now, though, Episode 7 gave us just a little tease of what’s to come. Because if one thing is for sure, Tony Gilroy is always keeping fans on their toes.