Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Andor Season 2.
Fans ofRogue Oneknew thatAndorwould include a number of things. One of those things was our beloved droid, K-2SO. Played byAlan Tudykin the film, the Imperial droid was Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) companion. We met them and they already have an established relationship. So we knew thatAndorwas going tohave to include how the two metand began working together, and it was quite the journey to get there. Collider’sSteve Weintraubspoke with creatorTony Gilroyabout figuring out when to bring K-2 into the fold.
Weintraub was askingGilroy about limitationsand scheduling with the show (which did end up with recasting of Bail Organa) and asked what was one thing they couldn’t pull off as planned and Gilroy said that the reunion between Cassian and K-2. “The K-2 reunion, Danny did that third block, and [Episode] 9 was a standalone episode at that point. Episode 9 was an episode where Vel and Melshi were supplying Yavin. It was a huge supply ship that was bringing all these supplies to Yavin, and a KX unit gets on the ship. It wassort of likeAlien,” Gilroy said.
The writer went on to say that what they had originally planned andhow his brother,Danny Gilroy,put a lot into how he wanted thatreunion to play out.“It was like a horror movie, what happens on this ship. Cassian was on there, as well, and it was a standalone episode. It was really badass. And Danny poured his ass into it. And they were like, ‘You gotta lose something really big.’ And that was the big thing that fell off right away.‘We can’t do that.‘Now, I think, honest to god, it was really cool, but I wouldn’t go back to it. I wouldn’t swap it out. I like what we have now better.”
K-2 Has Made His Debut
We knew going into Season 2 thatK-2SO would make an appearanceand the delay in seeing him has led to fans wondering just how long we’d have to wait to see Tudyk’s return. Obviously,that wait is overbut it wasn’t always an easy decision. Gilroy shared with Weintraub that even Tudyk was upset about having to wait to have K-2 back. “I have correspondence with Alan Tudyk from before Season 1, pre-COVID, because he was upset. And I was like, ‘Look, man,I’ve got to do this for a reason. It’s going to be great when it happens. I’m sorry to make you wait.’ But I just I knew it was going to be way late. I did.”
One of the more fascinating aspects ofK-2 finally joining the showis you get to see the little bit of lightness and fun their relationship has. K-2 allows Cassian to have moments of levity that otherwise do not exist. Everything is still serious, a fact that Weintraub pointed out to Gilroy, but there is still a bit of fun with how Cassian and K-2 interact with each other. And Gilroy shared that that dynamic and that shift in Cassian’s mood showed Gilroy different sides of these characters.
“The thing that Ihadn’trealized, which was really cool, and I wish I could take credit for, is that in Episode 9, when Bix leaves, you come back a year later and the house has turned into a frat house, and it’s like, ‘Oh, of course, this is naturally exactly what would happen. Of course, he’s got a new friend. Who’s his new roommate?’ Melshi’s there and K-2’s there, andit’s a big, stinky frat house now that she’s gone. That was just like, ‘Of course. This is perfect.’ It helps us blend intoRoguein a really sneaky way. It wouldn’t have if we introduced him a year earlier, for example. I don’t know what he would have done. He’s so hard to plot.”
K-2SO Is Still Strong, For Better or Worse
K-2 shows up, throws people around, and is a large and imposing figure. We know fromRogue Onethat he’s quick on his feet and will slap Cassian across the face if he has to. But even being such a large force to be reckoned with comes with a price. Weintraub pointed out how strong K-2SO is to Gilroy and asked why the Empire doesn’t then use these droids more often. “I know, but they also tip over and stuff. Man, you’re asking me a question I don’t know. I don’t know why stormtroopers wear everything that they wear,” Gilroy said. “I’m the wrong person to ask for that.But I mean, if you look at them, they look vulnerable. They have those long legs, and they look like they’re easy to tip over. But man, they do kick ass, don’t they?”
To end the chat about K-2, Weintraub did get to be a bit of an “uber nerd” to ask about technology and the droids. He asked about the construction of them and whether there is some sort of technology that’s hard to get to with the units. Gilroy explained a bit of technical terminology they made forRogue One.“InRogue, we called it the data rape, where K-2 goes to that other droid and, like, gives it a spinal tap in Scarif and sucks out the instructions of the patients. I remember proposing that. I was like, ‘The data rape.’ I think I knew a lot more about their abilities and inabilities at that point.”
You can see K-2 and Cassian back in action onAndor. Look for more from our exclusive interview with Tony Gilroy soon.
Prequel series to Star Wars’ ‘Rogue One’. In an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue, Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a Rebel hero.
