Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Andor episode 6Andor episode 6 features a slew of tragic deaths, but one, in particular, is a subtle callback to K-2SO’s demise in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In Andor season 1, episode 6, "The Eye," while Cassian thrusts his freighter with what remains of his Rebel friends, Nemick is pinned between two large pallets of Imperial credits. Vel gives him a med-spike in order to keep him lucid, and he is hauled up to the cockpit in order to assist Cassian with navigating Aldhani’s stunning celestial event known as "the Eye.” As Nemick fades due to his internal injuries, he yells for Cassian to “climb,” sending the freighter up into the chaos. Nemick says it is the only safe path to get the freighter through the shower.
Nemick's final moments directly parallel K-2SO’s death in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In the movie, as Cassian and Jyn secure the plans for the Death Star, K-2SO is hammered with blaster fire from the base’s guards. The droid shouts for Cassian and Jyn over comlink to climb up the tower and transmit the plans to the Rebel fleet above Scarif. Both Nemick and K-2SO gave their lives for the Rebellion and for Cassian, despite never living long enough to see the fruits of their labor.
Why K-2SO Isn't In Andor (Will He Be In Season 2)
When it revealed why K-2SO is missing in Andor, the show received some criticism from fans of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story who were eager to see the comical and beloved droid return. But despite K-2SO’s absence, Nemick’s death and final moments call back and honor the Rebel droid, even though Nemick's passing happened years before the droid’s death. Had K-2SO been on the Aldhani mission, he would have been mere baggage to haul along with the credits. There is still a possibility of K-2SO’s return in Andor season 2, since it would be a waste not to explore how the Rebels rescued and reprogrammed the Imperial security droid.
With Nemick’s heartfelt callback to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Andor gives new meaning to Cassian’s final mission in the 2016 movie. K-2SO’s original death played out differently until it was changed to the sacrifice he makes in Rogue One. As it turned out, and looking at the death in retrospect, when K-2SO shouts for Cassian and Jyn to climb, there is no doubt that Cassian’s mind went to his first Rebel mission on Aldhani. Both of his friends give their lives to further the Rebellion and to save him. With no time to think or grieve for his dying allies, he’s forced to carry on with their memories in order to complete his missions.
How Andor Makes Cassian's Rogue One Story Better
Before Nemick dies in Andor episode 6, he tells Vel that the manifesto he wrote is to be given to Cassian, whom he’d always liked. Now in Cassian’s possession, Nemick’s manifesto could become a crucial turning point in the former's character development. A combination of events and decisions in the show will answer who Cassian Andor is and what led him to become the fully-fledged Rebel seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Nemick’s sacrifice is one of them. It’s certain that Nemick’s death in Andor came back to haunt Cassian when K-2SO shouted the same phrase, and it’s possible he realized then on Scarif that his time as a Rebel had come full circle.
New episodes of Andor release on Wednesdays on Disney+.
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