Despite his ending seeming pretty final in Andor Season 1, there were hopes that Andy Serkis’ character Kino Loy would make some kind of return for the second season of the hit show. After leading the prison rebellion on Narkina 5, Loy’s arc comes to an abrupt end as he cannot escape with Cassian and the other prisoners.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Andor creator Tony Gilroy revealed why Loy was left behind for Season 2. “Andy dropped the mic, man,” he said. “What am I going to do that’s going to be better than what we did? All it does is minimize that moment. I knew a lot of people were talking about whether we had a way of [bringing him back]. But I didn’t want to have that sort of coincidental environment.”
The moment where Loy realises that in order to escape, he’s going to have to swim, only to then reveal he can’t, remains a particularly memorable scene in a series of memorable scenes. Andor doesn’t play by the rules established in other Star Wars movies and shows. Not everyone needs to return, nor does everyone get a clear, satisfying ending. Perhaps Loy was supported by other prisoners and made it to shore. Perhaps he drowned, or was imprisoned again. We’ll never know, and there’s an intrigue in that alone.