Andor Season 2 Episode 8's Biggest Death Could Have Been Completely Different

This post contains major spoilers for "Andor" season 2.

"Andor" season 2 had been a bit of a slow burn through its first six episodes, but the back half of the season picked up in a big, bad way, particularly with the release of episode 8, titled "Who Are You?" It's one of the show's most intense episodes to date, right up there with the season 1 favorite "One Way Out." This specific episode saw death and destruction reign down upon the people of Ghorman at the hands of the Empire — with one of the most loyal cogs in the Imperial machine meeting his demise.

Kyle Soller's Syril Karn, who loves space cereal and maintaining order and has been hunting Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) since the earliest days of the series, dies in a showdown with the Rebellion hero towards the end of the episode. Cassian's final words to Syril as he's at the wrong end of a blaster? "Who are you?" It's a pretty devastating moment for Syril, who suddenly realized the obsession of his wasn't even aware he existed.

In an interview with Variety, Soller discussed Syril's death in detail. More specifically, he revealed there were other iterations of the character's death scene in consideration before the final version was settled on:

"There were three or four different things Cassian was going to say, and they finally ended up on 'Who are you?' which I think was perfect because that breaks Syril in that moment. 'Oh, my God. My obsession doesn't even know who I am.' How gutting is that?"

Gutting indeed. As for what other variations of the line were considered? There were a couple of other options but, as Soller explained, none of them carried the same weight as what the show ultimately landed on:

"It was a short list: 'You' and 'It's you' and 'Who are you?' It just completely cuts him in that moment. If Cassian had said, 'It's you,' would Syril have had more resolve to do something, or would he still have lowered his gun? I don't know, but in terms of Syril's arc, it just perfectly completes the journey being used by powers that are bigger than you in this huge machine and mayhem of life. You think you've made a difference, but you haven't."

Brutal though it may have been, it was a very fitting death for Syril Karn. "Andor" has been all about giving us a gritty, on-the-ground look at how the Rebellion formed in the face of the tyrannical rule of the Empire. It's not all black and white. Syril believed in the Empire without question; only in his final moments did he realize he probably should have asked some questions. To that end, there was a lot of debate regarding how the scene should play out.

"There was a big question of whether, when the explosion happens, is Syril still on his feet or he's maybe dead or something that loops into the end beat between the two of them," Soller explained. "This fight is unexpectedly equal; on any other day, Cassian would beat the s*** out of Syril, no question. But Syril has this superpower released by everything that's happened to him."

The Ghorman Massacre will go down in "Star Wars" history, no doubt, with Syril's experience at the center of it all. His horrible realization that his partner Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) has betrayed him is only inflamed by his long-awaited confrontation with Cassian, who was there to kill Dedra. The whole thing makes for an impressive arrangement of pieces on the chess board. Speaking further, Soller dove into his thoughts about Syril's death, believing it to be a perfect end for his character:

"I thought it was a perfect ending for him. It felt like just before something else could happen to Syril, it's taken away. So much had been taken away from him within the last 10 minutes of his life, all these revelations and betrayals coming to light, the veil being lifted from all the truths he held to be right about the Empire and the choices in his life completely crumbling. Instead of having a redemption story, I think it was much stronger and much more real to life."

"For all of Syril's vanity, romanticism, and delusions of grandeur about himself, he's just another cog in the wheel. He's just another casualty of war," Soller concluded.

"Andor" is streaming now on Disney+.