How Cassian Andor Met K-2SO
Image Source: The Illuminerdy
When Andor premieres on September 21, one character will be notably absent from the 12 episodes that comprise the first season: K-2SO. When Kathleen Kennedy announced the series in April 2019, she told the audience that both Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk would reprise their roles from Rogue One.
Then in January 2021, Tudyk told Collider that Andor's loyal and honest to-the-bone droid won't be seen in the first season of Andor but would show up in subsequent seasons if there were ones. When Vanity Fair did its piece on the upcoming series in May of this year, Andor's showrunner Tony Gilroy confirmed that Tudyk won't be part of the show while adding, "Not yet, anyway."
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So, those who have hoped to find out how the rebel spy and the Imperial security droid first met will have to wait a little longer until the second and last season of Andor.
Well, not really, as this story has already been told, a few years ago. In August 2017, Marvel Comics released Rogue One: Cassian & K-2SO Special 1. Although the title suggests otherwise, this was a one-shot that never received a follow-up issue.
Taking place at a point in time between two and zero years before the Battle of Yavin, the story begins with Cassian Andor being sent to the backwater planet of Wecacoe by General Draven to retrieve some Imperial security protocols. He was accompanied by Kertas and Rismor, two female alien twins who communicated with one another by just scent (although it later turned out that they could not only understand Basic but also speak it).
While Andor expected little Imperial presence on Wecacoe, he and the twins soon found out that the location where they were told to pick up the protocols was buzzing with stormtroopers and KX droids. Sneaking in through the sewers, they discovered a giant hall with an abandoned Star Destroyer. While the twins searched for the security protocols, Andor started looking for a way out of the base. Unintentionally trickling an alarm, he raised the attention of K-2SO.
Image Source: Marvel Comics
Based on his primary programming, the droid tried to detain Andor and "terminate him if necessary," as he continuously explained. Andor tricked K-2SO and attempted to deactivate him but couldn't find the kill switch until Kertas and Rismor came to the rescue.
Image Source: Marvel Comics
Andor's attempt to erase K-2's memory didn't work out, and before the droid could make another attempt on Andor's life, he got deactivated again, followed by another incomplete memory wipe.
Kertas convinced Andor that K-2 held all the information the Rebel Alliance needed and while she and her sister created a diversion, Andor and the droid, who was still unsure if he should help or kill the rebel, made a run for their ship. After it got blown up by the Imperials, the duo stole another vessel, thus escaping Wecacoe so that K-2SO's intel could be extracted and he could be reprogrammed to serve the Rebel Alliance.
Duane Swierczynski, who wrote this comic presented an exciting and at the right moments also funny story while capturing the chemistry between Andor, the no-nonsense spy, and the disarmingly honest K-2SO quite well.
Image Source: Marvel Comics
With Alan Tudyk and Tony Gilroy both more or less confirming that K-2SO will be present in season two of Andor, this begs the question if fans will get to see their first meeting in the series and if it will be like in the comic. Gilroy has said several times that his job is to tell stories that take place in the Star Wars universe, not necessarily to tell Star Wars stories and provide fan service. He also confessed to having no deep knowledge about the saga and no interest in just providing fan service. So he is likely both unaware of and not caring about the comic.
On the other hand, there is still Lucasfilm's story group, acting as a kind of canon police and probably providing all the necessary context so that the TV series doesn't completely contradict the comic, which technically has the same level of cannon. But even if Gilroy doesn't want to reproduce Rogue One: Cassian & K-2SO for the small screen, there are still ways to incorporate the major beats of the comic into Andor.
After all, the first meeting of the rebel spy and the Imperial security droid is a too pivotal moment to not have it included in season 2 of Andor.
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