Andy Serkis breaks down his emotional arc on Star Wars: Andor

Andy Serkis debuted the character of Kino Loy, a prisoner in an Imperial jail who’s keeping his head down until release, in Episode 8 of Star Wars: Andor, “Narkina 5.” Then, in the latest episode, he turned in a stellar performance as Kino becomes one of the characters at the head of a daring prison break.

At first, Kino is reluctant to rattle his cage, However, Cassian Andor reasons with Kino and urges him to find his courage. “Cassian punches through, really,” Serkis told Decider. “Cassian reignites, I think, a version of himself. It’s like Kino’s looking into a mirror, finally. I think actually they’re kind of similar characters in many ways. And I think that Cassian is the one who literally puts the mirror up to Kino and, actually, Cassian’s sensitive enough to spot that Kino is the right man for the job. And he sees that obviously Kino can order people and that he has this ability to galvanize people.”

After the prisoners break into the command center, Cassian encourages Kino to hop on the intercom and inform the rest of the prison about the breakout and enlist their help. After some hesitation, Kino ends up giving a rousing speech, repeating some of the words Cassian said to him. “I think Kino using Cassian’s words is almost a thank you or a kind of acknowledgement to Cassian that Kino repeats his words back to him,” Serkis said. “It’s an offer of, ‘you see me and I see you and I thank you for reigniting my passion and my ability to be a human being who cares for others, not just himself.”

Will Andy Serkis return to Star Wars: Andor?

Cassian and Loy then make their way through the prison until they find a way out: they can drop into the ocean and swim away. As the other prisoners leap off the ledge to freedom, Kino hesitates and tells Cassian that he can’t swim. Cassian is then pushed off the ledge while Loy stands there knowing he can’t go any further.

“I had [showrunner Tony Gilroy] explain, talk me through that. He talked me through the whole arc of the character, and so obviously I knew when I was reading the script that it would arrive at that point,” Serkis said. “And so, really, throughout the third episode that I’m in, it is with this trepidation that he faces, and that’s the sacrifice. That was what was interesting to play – the drive to get these people off the ship, once it becomes a possibility. And then knowing that there is going to be no escape and no way out for himself.”

I think it’s kind of poetic that the man responsible for getting everybody out of the prison is unable to leave himself. It’s the kind of tragic sacrifice that characters made in Tony Gilroy’s movie Rogue One, and one that foreshadows Cassian Andor’s own fate at the end of that movie.

It is left ambiguous if Kino Loy survives, but I would be fine not seeing him again. I feel like his story has a nice conclusion and he made an impact on Cassian.

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