Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Andor season 2, episodes 7-9.

Star Wars canon with all-new origins for K-2SO, and it's hard to deny they're not better. Revealed in Andor season 2 episodes 7-9, Cassian Andor finally gets his hands on the fan-favorite Imperial KX-series model. However, their first meeting is now very different from what was revealed in previously canonical comics, as well as the original explanation for how Kaytoo ed the Rebellion.

Andor and K-2SO's first meeting has been a known story since 2017's Cassian and K-2SO Special #1, a canonical issue published a year after the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, that story has effectively been retconned in its entirety following Andor season 2, episodes 7-9, something that was largely expected given the inevitability of K-2SO's appearance in this new Star Wars series. Here are K-2SO's new origins in the Star Wars timeline (and why they're an improvement on the original).

K-2SO's Origin In Andor Explained

Taken By Cassian During The Ghorman Massacre

Thanks to Andor season 2 episodes 7-9, K-2SO was revealed to be part of an entire squad of KX-series droids deployed by the Empire on the planet Ghorman in 2 BBY. Slaughtering protesters left and right, the Empire set up the entire event to make it look as though the peacefully protesting Ghormans were in open (and violent) rebellion. This justified their true endgame: removing the Ghorman people by any means necessary, thereby allowing them to destabilize the entire planet while mining for rare kalkite deposits needed for the highly classified Death Star project.

For his part, Cassian was there to take out ISB Supervisor Dedra Meero for Luthen Rael, a mission he failed once the Empire began killing protesters. While Cassian was nearly killed himself by an incoming KX-droid, the lethal droid was instead heavily damaged by an incoming speeder. This motivated Andor to take the droid's remains back to Yavin 4 for repair by a team of slicers, hoping to gain key Imperial intel and access codes. This particular droid is none other than K-2SO, a key asset who becomes Cassian's partner in Rogue One. However, there are also some notable changes regarding his Rebel "reprogramming".

Why Has Star Wars Retconned K-2SO's Origin?

It's Better For Andor's Plot, And Arguably More Dynamic

In 2017's Cassian and K-2SO, the iconic Rogue One duo first meet on the planet Wecacoe, not Ghorman. Seeking Imperial security intel for the Rebellion, Cassian runs into and quickly reprograms K-2SO himself, wiping the droid's memory in stages until Andor successfully turns Kaytoo's more violent base protocols toward the Empire. A short, single-issue story, the idea that Cassian successfully reprogrammed K-2SO by himself, and so quickly in the field, was more than a little contrived. However, it was still part of the established Star Wars canon for 8 years...until now, thanks to Andor season 2.

K-2SO's first meeting with Cassian in Andor season 2 has a lot more depth. It's now connected to one of the worst Imperial atrocities and, conversely, one of the most defining moments for the Rebellion in its aftermath. After all, the result of the Ghorman Massacre was Senator Mon Mothma publicly speaking out against Emperor Palpatine and the Empire before fleeing Coruscant. She then started leading the Alliance outright, rallying more Rebel cells to the cause. Likewise, it was after Mothma's extraction that K-2SO was ready to be reactivated on Yavin.

Andor's K-2SO Retcon Makes Perfect Sense

Impulse Suppression over Reprogramming

In Rogue One, K-2SO was described as having been reprogrammed, and the aforementioned tie-in comics established that he was reprogrammed by Cassian himself - though that's no longer the case. Instead, a team of Rebel engineers and slicers was required to swap Kaytoo's entire cortex in Andor season 2. One of the slicers even tells Cassian that while he may hear some nonsense about "reprogramming", it's more about impulse suppression of the droid's base protocols.

This does feel like a better explanation for Kaytoo's unique personality, while also making more sense across the board. After all, Cassian can't be proficient in everything, and reprogramming droids doesn't really seem to be his skill set. Reprogramming Imperial droids - especially powerful ones like a KX-series model - would surely be quite difficult, requiring a specific team of slicers. It also fits well with Rise of Skywalker's plot involving the need to slice into Threepio, bying his own protocols, which had blocked Sith translations.

New episodes of Andor season 2 release weekly on Tuesdays at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST on Disney+.