ST C-3PO and R2-D2 in Episode VII

I think BB-8 is a cool spin (pardon the pun) on the Artoo concept. To my mind it's exactly the kind of cute or funny sidekick you should introduce to a new trilogy of Star Wars films (with Jar Jar being probably the best example of what not to add). The new characters need a droid associated with them, as Artoo and Threepio are technically still Luke's (inherited from Uncle Owen - rip in peace), even though it appears they aren't necessarily with him in this film.

I'm personally hoping there's still plenty for the original two droids to do in the new trilogy. They are such a crucial ingredient for me in the classic films. They were hardly in the PT by comparison, which is one of the things that took away the Star Wars feeling for me. People forget that they were the first characters audiences were introduced to in the original film.

 

Well personally I don't think C-3PO and R2D2 should of been in the PT, they are part of the OT identity PT should of been striving for its own and is was of course already using character from the OT with Yoda Palpatine Obi and Anakin (and should of used Tarkin) and Organa but these were younger and in a different place as people and was about how they got to the OT, but everything around the core important characters in the PT era should of been its own thing, its a big galaxy after all. So I think its good that they are introducing a new droid for the new characters to have.

 

It might be a big galaxy but there are connecting threads.

Lucas has said from the very start that the droids are two (or one) of those connecting threads. I actually think they weren't in it enough.

Anyway, I do want a reason set out in canon for why Artoo never told Luke that he was Anakin's companion in the Clone Wars.

Also, I know he doesn't witness anything that went down on Mustafar, but what does he think has happened to Anakin? Am I right that the droids are not at the birth of the twins? Artoo may not have seen Luke at all, but is clever enough to figure out who Leia really is.

Lucas made a point to show that only Threepio gets his memory wiped, so clearly Artoo is left with his intact and Lucas wants us to look at the OT knowing that Artoo is keeping secrets. Why though?

 

You may know already know this, but in the Making of ROTS book Lucas states that Artoo relates the entire SW saga to a Keeper of the Whills 100 years after ROTJ. Now, obviously with the sale and all, I don't know if that still holds any bearing, but Lucas himself did say that.

 

I had forgot that.

Whether the new canon changes it or not, we'll have to wait for a trilogy that jumps 100 or so years ahead.

If I'm remember RotS correctly, the droids where outside the infirmary with Bail and the Jedi when they are told that Padmé is dying, but we don't see whether or not they witnessed he actual birth or whether they saw the twins at anytime on the journey to Alderaan. So they may think the babies died, just like everyone else. Then the droids are put into the service of Antilles.

However, I find it hard to believe that Artoo did at least guess as to the possibility of Leia's true identity. And he would have remember the the Lars homestead and known that Luke was his old master's son as soon as he heard the name.

Brian Daley radio play and the novelisation both contain a scene where Antilles (or Leia) give Artoo an order to protect all data concerning the mission, and I think, Princess Leia's involvement in it. It is a program that Artoo can't disable himself. I've read someone's theory before that this programming could be considered to be the reason Artoo nvers tells Luke anything about Anakin, Padmé and Leia - that the parameters of the orders were so broad the Artoo automatically sealed and protected all files relating to anything about Leia's identity including her true heritage. And the command was never lifted, so Artoo never spilled the beans.

I don't recall if the the order was also given to Threepio, but he did outright lie to Luke that he didn't know who Leia was because he does say earlier that "there'll be no escape for the Princess this time" and we now that Threepio and Artoo served Antilless for 20 years, so they would have meet Leia at least a few times.

 

That was really funny!

 

Why, beginning with the prequels, has C3-P0's voice changed so much? It isn't entirely different, but he is even more high-pitched and fussy than before. I happened to catch the episode of Rebels he was on and it was so high. Why is it so different now? Usually people's voices deepen with age, not get higher. Am I the only one who's noticed this? I may be in the minority but I have always loved Threepio and this change is incredibly annoying to me.​

 

Agreed. If I was writing the PT, I would have not included C3PO at all...Save him for the OT, since he's such a dominant presence in ANH especially, and his schtick always worked best when in opposition to Han or Leia anyway, which is why he was so boring in the PT. I would have introduced R2D2 in episode 2, though, but had him buddied up with a different talking droid--one that gets destroyed or sent off with Bail Organa to Alderaan in Episode 3.

 

Yeah, I noticed it, too. He definitely doesn't sound the way he did in the original films, and it is a bit distracting. I first really noticed the change in Attack Of The Clones, but at least then it still sounded close enough. But in that Rebels episode, it was WAY off, to the point where I at first thought it was recorded at the wrong speed, making it sound higher pitched than it should have. I hope he sounds better in TFA.

 

The worst is that 3PO, R2 AND Anakin end up at Owen and Beru's remote home in the PT, only to return to that exact same spot in ANH.

Owen and Beru don't have any memory of the droids in ANH, and Luke is "hidden" in a place that Anakin might easily think to look, as it's the place where his mother and cousins lived...

I like imagining this decision being made by Yoda. "Hide Luke at Vader's mother's and cousin's house, we will."

Absolutely silly world-shrinking stuff. And people talk about Abrams as a nostalgia slave? The PT was full of misplaced nostalgia.

 

Not overly enthused about R2's and 3P0's reduced roles in the movie. Certainly not R2's. Hopefully they will have bigger roles in the other 2 episodes in the trilogy. That said, I hope R2 and BB-8 have a scene together.

 

I agree. The PT should've had two brand new droids. I would've developed Ben's R4 astro droid into a worthy PT character rather than trash him early in III like a pile of scrap. The 2nd droid would've been female. I probably would've had her start off with either Padme or Bail.

Also, C-3P0 and R2D2 shouldn't have been sparringly used. In the OT, they played more significant supporting roles. I missed that in the PT.

 

BB-8 its so McQuarrie, I think iam going to love him (or her).

 

A scene between Artoo and BB is a must! They'll be great together! Sort of like Artoo and Chopper in that one episode of Rebels.

 

We already know that they will at least be together at the end of the film (collectively, BB-8, R2 and 3PO solve some sort of puzzle that reveals Luke's location). I'm hoping that R2 treats BB-8 as a little brother. He helps him along, but sometimes gets annoyed with him.

 

I think neither 3PO nor R2 should be retired or have minimal roles almost cameo like in VIII-IX, if Rey has BB-8 as her personal droid than R2 should go with either Finn or Poe and since it seems like our new 3 might use the Falcon then they might as well have room for Golden Rod as they might have need of a translator on their future adventures. I just love the idea of R2/3PO knowingly or unknowingly being present in all the major events in the Skywalker Saga, which is also what Lucas said back in the day that the droids would be the only ones to appear in all 9 movies .

 

R2 is back with Kenobi.
James Arnold Taylor ‏@JATactor 3h3 hours ago
Hangin' with R2! Getting ready for BOTH @SW_Celebration and #SWW2015

 

Darn it, James Gunn, what the heck are you doing? Get back to work on Guardians of the Galaxy 2

 

Agreed. They can all serve very important purposes in these films.

 

Anthony Daniels ‏@ADaniels3PO 3h3 hours ago
First the excitement of the approaching CELEBRATION! And now I have just been VERIFIED by Twitter. I shall have to rest before I fall apart.

 

Someone give that protocol droid an oil bath stat!

 

Last time Owen & Beru saw 3PO, he wasn't golden. 3PO is just a slightly fancy home appliance amongst many in the world of Star Wars, anyway. I probably don't have to remind you that his memory was erased, as well.

Vader has no reason to go looking for a son he thinks is dead, and anyone could easily assume Luke is the offspring of a Shmi Skywalker relative. It makes sense for Luke to be raised by the closest thing he has to family, so that they'd be invested in his well-being.

It wasn't nostalgia on Lucas' part, it was intentionally making parallels and things coming full circle, and it does have an internal logic to it, too. And personally, I find Star Wars to be more fun when you don't bring cynicism into it. It's a fairytale, after all.