During Andor season 1's phenomenal Narkina 5 arc, Cassian Andor found himself incarcerated by the Empire and unknowingly building parts for the Death Star he'll one day help to destroy.
While there, Cassian met Andy Serkis' Kino Loy, the gruff day shift floor manager who eventually came around to his way of thinking and helped lead a prison breakout. Unfortunately, when freedom beckoned, Kino made a heartbreaking admission about why he can't jump into the water below: "I can't swim."
The expectation was that Serkis might reprise the role in season 2, but he was ultimately nowhere to be seen. Talking to Collider, the actor finally broke his silence on leaving Kino's fate open-ended.
"I ultimately think it's best for the character. It was such a great arc, and it had a very, very definite and heroic conclusion," he explained. "I think, in many ways, to go back would be difficult because it has left a mark. I was so surprised at how emotionally effective that character was, actually, and so I think it's way, way better that we leave him in Narkina 5, on his own."
Discussing the character's surprisingly large impact on the Star Wars franchise, Serkis added, "This year, I've actually done a bunch of conventions, and everyone wants to talk about Andor. It's remarkable how much it's affected people, which is great."
"It's such a beautiful piece of writing, such a beautiful conceit. Tony Gilroy and all the directors who worked on those episodes just cut something brilliant," he concluded.
As fun as it might have been to learn that Kino had somehow survived and joined the Rebel Alliance, chances are he was executed by the Empire for his role in the breakout. If you'd rather look on the bright side, then perhaps he was eventually freed when Emperor Palpatine's reign ended.
Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has also addressed Kino's absence from season 2. "Andy dropped the mic, man. What am I going to do that’s going to be better than what we did?" he said. "All it does is minimize that moment [where Loy reveals 'I can’t swim' after breaking out of the island prison]."
"I knew a lot of people were talking about whether we had a way of [bringing him back," Gilroy continued, "but I didn’t want to have that sort of coincidental environment."
Andor seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+.