<em>Andor</em> Just Brought Back K-2SO, a Fan-Favorite <em>Rogue One</em> Character

One of the greatest Star Wars characters just resurfaced in Andor. No, I'm not talking about a Jedi or Sith. It's someone more powerful than both (if we're talking raw strength!) and frankly, way cooler. It's K-2SO, the reprogrammed Imperial security droid from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

At the end of the most recent episode of Andor—"Welcome to the Rebellion" (season 2, episode 9)—the banged-up KX droid that nearly killed Cassian (Diego Luna) is given to Rebel engineers. Cassian never said it out loud, but after the droid was cut in half and "died" (or rather, went offline) you can see on Cassian's face the gears turning in his head. This might be useful to us, he seems to quietly say to himself.

Fast-forward to the closing moments of "Welcome to the Rebellion," and Rebel techs have rebuilt and reprogrammed the droid. There's mention of "impulse suppression" and other vague sci-fi jargon, but in the end, all that matters is that the droid is rebuilt. It's just up to fate as to what kind of droid will come online. After a terrifying moment reminiscent of Frankenstein, the KX comes online—and despite the fact it doesn't have a mouth, it absolutely has a mouth.

"Hello," K-2SO says, greeting Cassian, who is pointing a rifle at him. "If I've offended you, I apologize. If not, I'd appreciate you pointing that elsewhere."

If your memory of Rogue One is foggy, or if you're a freak who is trying to watch this stuff in chronological order and thus haven't seen Rogue One, here's all you need to know about the wry ex-Imperial droid.

In case no one has clued you in yet, Andor is a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which released in 2016. The movie chronicles the group of rebels who steal the plans to the Death Star, which contains intelligence that gives the rebels an edge over the Empire in the original Star Wars from 1977. Basically, without these characters and without Cassian Andor, Luke Skywalker never knows where to aim during the Trench Run.

A fan favorite in the Rogue One ensemble was K-2SO, a towering onyx black Imperial droid voiced and performed in motion capture by Alan Tudyk. (By the way: If you've not seen Tudyk in Resident Alien, binge it now.) Little about K-2SO's story was known in Rogue One, only that he was built by the Imperials but was now allied with the Rebel Alliance.

While K-2SO looks intimidating (and Andor does an excellent job reinforcing how terrifying KX units are), he appears in Rogue One with a droll personality, a creative decision made to contrast the deadly serious tone of the movie, and Cassian as a character most of all. In a December 2016 interview with Vulture, Tudyk said that he was given room to improvise his lines. "There were moments when I said, 'Can I suggest something here? This is kinda dead. I’d rather say this,' Tudyk said. "I think it adds to K2, keeps him alive, because he’s close to me. Obviously, if it came out of my brain, it’s a place where K2 and my brain met. And it took off with a little life that hadn’t been there before."

Andor, which sets the stage for Rogue One, found the opportunity to give K-2SO a mini-origin story by introducing KX units in the previous episode, "Who Are You?" and now revealing in "Welcome to the Rebellion" that one of them was K-2SO. No one asked for an origin story to K-2SO, but it's impressive how well Andor told one anyway.