Rogue One - Cassian & K-2SO Special 1 is a canon one-shot comic book created to show how Cassian Andor met the Imperial security droid K-2SO prior to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The issue was written by Duane Swierczynski, illustrated by Fernando Blanco, and published on August 9, 2017 by Marvel Comics. It was later collected in the trade paperback Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation.
The events of the comic were not adapted for "Who Are You?", the eighth episode of the second season of the television series Star Wars: Andor, which instead established that K-2SO was a security droid used in the Ghorman Massacre that Cassian salvaged after severely damaging it in his escape from the city of Palmo on Ghorman.[3] Series creator Tony Gilroy was aware of the comic, however chose not to adapt the events, instead choosing to write a new origin for K2.[4]
Publisher's summary
Cassian Andor is one of the top intelligence agents in the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, ably assisted by his reprogrammed Imperial security droid, K-2SO. But naturally, the two weren't always on the same side of the Galactic Civil War. Now, for the first time, read the story of the pair's first contentious meeting! It is very likely not to go well.
Plot summary
When Cassian was on a mission to extract Imperial security protocols with twin spies Kertas and Rismor, he attempted to reprogram a droid, although only 29.73 % of his memory had been erased and as a result, the droid planned to detain him or kill him if he resisted.
A few hours earlier, Cassian, Kertas, and Rismor arrived on Wecacoe, searching for the guts of a decommissioned Imperial cruiser, believing it to be their best chance to uncover Imperial security protocols. Although he wasn't expecting a large group of Imperials, consisting of stormtroopers and security droids, outside of the facility on a "nowhere planet", he didn't want to leave with nothing, so they still snuck inside of the facility and while Kertas and Rismor were still searching, Cassian set off an alarm, alerting the group of Imperials outside. In an attempt to get past them, Cassian made a noise that drew the attention of one of the security droids and pretended to surrender before vaulting over him and grabbing onto him. The droid revealed that his name was K-2SO and shook Cassian of him before he could find his kill switch. As Cassian was on the ground, Kertas and Rismor found K-2SO's kill switch. Then, Cassian started attempting to wipe his memory before the droid grabbed him by the throat before Kertas and Rismor activated his kill switch again. After K-2SO reactivated, Cassian gave him new orders that involved leading them to their ship and fighting anyone who tried to stop them, including other Imperials.
When Cassian returned to the docks where they left their ship, it was surrounded by Imperials and Rismor told him to bring K-2SO back to the Rebels, claiming that he had "all the intel" they needed before she ran away. Then, the ship was destroyed and K-2SO, who still had 8.3% of his memory, attempted to detain or terminate him before Cassian found and pressed his kill switch. After K-2SO reactivated for the third time, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do and Cassian told him that they needed to find a new ship and steal it and that he was to terminate any stormtroopers who got in their way. The two found a new ship that was shot at by stormtroopers before they made a jump into lightspeed. In space, Cassian revealed his name to K-2SO and planned to extract the Imperial programming out of him and learn their new security protocols once he returned to the base with him. Then, K-2SO told Cassian that he no longer had the urge to detain him. When Cassian thanked him, K-2SO claimed that he would always be there to help.
Development
In the direct edition, the printing credits mistakenly name the issue Star Wars: Rogue One - Cassian & K2-SO Special 1, with K-2SO misspelled.
Continuity
- "I was annoyed to find out somebody had written an origin story for K-2SO, and it's like, no, I'm not paying attention to that."
- ―Tony Gilroy
The events of the comic are superseded by the Star Wars: Andor Season 2 episode "Who Are You?", which premiered on Disney+ on May 6, 2025. In that episode, K-2SO was deployed by Imperial forces during the Ghorman Massacre and murdered several Ghormans including Ghorman Front member Enza Rylanz. He was incapacitated by Ghorman Front resistance member Samm, who used a hijacked Imperial armored speeder. Andor, who was present during the Ghorman Massacre, convinced Samm to let him take disabled KX-series security droid.[3] K-2SO was later rebuilt and reprogrammed in the follow-up episode "Welcome to the Rebellion".[5]
Gilroy confirmed he was aware of the story told in the Cassian & K-2SO Special but decided to ignore it when creating his own version of K-2SO's origins story for Andor Season 2. Gilroy's brother Dan Gilroy, a writer for the show, had contributed to a "horror movie episode" version of K-2SO's origins which was later scrapped for budgetary reasons. Gilroy purposefully waited until the later half of the second season to introduce K-2SO. Alan Tudyk, who played the character in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, reprised his role as K-2SO.[4]
In June 2025, Pablo Hidalgo stated on Bluesky that if anyone knew there would be an Andor TV show at the time, the comic would not have been approved.[6] He offered his own head canon, saying that some version of the comic's events happened a year after the massacre.[7]
Media
Editions
- UPC 759606087341; August 9, 2017; Marvel Comics[1]
- 00111; Cover A; Julian Totino Tedesco
- 00121; Cover B; Pepe Larraz
- 00141; Cover C; John Tyler Christopher
- 00151; Cover D; Leinil Francis Yu
Cover gallery
Collected in
Appearances
| Characters | Organisms | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
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Droid models
Events
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Locations
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Organizations and titles
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Sentient species
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Vehicles and vessels
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Weapons and technology
Miscellanea
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Sources
Cassian Meets K-2SO in Rogue One Prequel Comic - Exclusive! on StarWars.com (backup link)- Star Wars: Rebellious Origins on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
- "How Cassian Met K-2SO" — Star Wars Insider 175
- This Week! in Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi Returns, Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
- Cassian Andor's Most Important Moments on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Star Wars: Rogue One - Cassian & K-2SO Special (2017) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
- ↑ Rogue One - Cassian & K-2SO Special 1 takes place after the formation of the Rebel Alliance, but prior to the Battle of Scarif. Star Wars: Timelines dates the foundation of the Rebel Alliance to 2 BBY, and the Battle of Scarif to 1 BBY. Therefore Rogue One - Cassian & K-2SO Special 1 takes place some time between Between 2 and 1 BBY.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars: Andor — "Who Are You?"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tony Gilroy talks ANDOR, STAR WARS, BOURNE, MICHAEL CLAYTON I Happy Sad Confused on the Josh Horowitz YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Welcome to the Rebellion"
- ↑ Pablo Hidalgo (@infinata.bsky.social) on Bluesky (post): "Ask me about it in a month or so; long story short is, had anyone known there would be an Andor TV show at the time, that comic would never have happened." (backup link)
- ↑ Pablo Hidalgo (@infinata.bsky.social) on Bluesky (post): "Only that some version of the comics story happened in the year after the Ghorman massacre." (backup link)
