Did R2 know that Vader was Anakin?

Yes, Artoo knew. He was never wiped. Lucas has confirmed that he is the one who carries all the secrets throughout the Saga. And his comments about years after Luke's death, he tells the story of the Skywalkers to the Keeper of the Whills also show that this is true. Even into the Legacy comics, he still remembers everything.

 

LOL, Sinister, that is if you accept Alan Dean Foster's version of events, right?

 

Lucas did write the intro for ANH. That was as far as he got. He reused it again when the paperback version of "Shatterpoint" came out. The concept dates back to the second and third drafts of ANH.

 

Not killing Padme(she died of a broken heart). But he did show holo-vids of him Force Choking her.So he knew something was going on, & he had to have heard it as well.

I don't know why they didn't think of wiping his memory as well.

But I'm not sure if R2 was present for the raid on the Temple. Anakin didn't have him when he went to Palps' office. & I doubt he would have had time to swing by & pick him up on the way to get the 501st.
Unless R2 was already @ the Temple.

 

you know I am just teasing you after our debate in the other thread, where the canonicity of Foster ghostwriting for Lucas was questioned.

 

He seemed to suspect something was up after Anakin had left the Temple. I'm guessing (and the EU seems to suppor this) that he at least saw the confrontation between Padme and Anakin on Mustafar and the beginning of the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan. That would explain why he was at the ship when Obi-Wan returned.

Did he know that Anakin was Vader? That I'm not sure about. Maybe the little droid figured it out, but I don't know.

 

If we go by what's on screen only, he does when ROTJ rolls around and Luke is talking to Obi-wan.

 

Hmmmm I wonder if R2 was able to see OB1's Force Ghost?

 

Droids have no understanding of the Force. So, no, he didn't see or hear Obi-wan. Artoo couldn't understand the hows and whys, but just accepted that Luke wasn't talking to thin air.

 

R2 knew. Organa makes it clear to wipe the protocol droid, but says nothing about the astromech. R2 was loyal to his masters, and they knew he could keep a secret. One moment comes to mind, when R2 and 3PO stand in line with the Jawas in ANH, R2 swivels his dome and looks at Owen and Luke and studies them quietly, then turns away, seeming to realise that he must keep his mouth shut.

Yes, he knew.

Cheers_Cazza

 

Other than Skippy, the Jedi droid.

 

Indeed. Ive noticed this too. Also note when he meets 3PO after the temple massacre, he says something to him that warrants a "shh not so loud" and then "well he is under a lot of stress".

It hit me that R2 was probably saying "Anakins gone nuts!"

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the saga was 'as told' by the droids at some point after ROTJ, ala 3PO's incomplete version on the Endor moon to the Ewoks.

Notice too in that ROTJ scene how R2 is relatively silent -- in hindsight, with the PT now completed, the little guy knows the story runs much deeper and darker than 3PO 'remembers.' Fun topic.

 

^^^

I think many answers to this question can be gleaned by watching this scene .... I'm gonna do it tonite.

 

As was mentioned a few posts above, the droids are the "narrators" of the story. Even without Lucas' admission, it seems clear to me that R2 does know everything, and 3PO's main function is to interpret R2's insightful bleeps for the audience. R2's timely comments in each film are akin to Shakespearean "Asides" that give valuable hints to the audience that the cast members "don't hear". While R2 was not physically present at the Temple Massacre, it stands to reason that due to his uh, "inquisitive" nature, he acquired evidence of the event from somewhere.

In response to someone further up the tree that doubts R2's discretionary abilities, I posit this: R2 found the Death Star plans in AOTC, yet "said" nothing about them until the "transmission" was recovered by the Alliance halfway through ANH, some thirty (not sure of the timing, exactly) years later. It's been conclusively proven both in AOTC and ESB (R2 knew that Vader was on Bespin before he revealed himself) that R2 had knowledge of upcoming events that he didn't share with the group.

 

R2 found the Death Star plans in AOTC??
I don't know why people keep saying "Anakin killed Padme" either.
I'm a little puzzled as to how much R2 knew. When Anakin went to save Palpatine from Windu, R2 wasn't with him, or the ship he was using. So how do we know what he saw? On the other hand, that would mean he was somewhere at the Jedi Temple already.
As to Mustafar, he could very well have seen a lot of the confrontation there, but i really don't see how he could know Anakin was Vader. That name is never used during the Mustafar confrontation, and he certainly didn't see Anakin put in the suit later, back on Coruscant.
He certainly did know about Anakin and Padme though. It's just too bad so much EU was written without knowledge of the prequels. It's pretty unbelievable that 30 years would go by before Luke and Leia found out who there mother was.

 

And also, since Artoo and Threepio were always together, and in III, I mean, it's not like Threepio didn't know what was happening toward the end.... Artoo would have figured it out. Certainly he knew.

 

I'm sure people could go through and find specific moments where it is impossible that R2 knew the WHOLE saga. However, as a strytelling device, it's fun to have a character that has seen everything and can't talk. At least, not in a language the audience can understand. Great topic!

 

Yeah, R2D2 was one of Lucas' favorites - he once said the droid knew everything. But based simply on the movie, I don't know how he would know that Vader was Anakin, there was really no opportunity for him to know. After Mustafar, he gives a sad little whine when Obi-Wan comes out alone as if he believed Obi-Wan had killed Anakin. So I would say the R2 unit was clueless until GL filled him in. .

Now it is possible that once R2 saw Vader with his own eyes he saw through the outer wrappings of the Vader suit to the man he knew was Anakin and then put everything together. And didn't Luke say right in front of him "why didn't you tell me Vader was my father?" If so, R2 would know because he knew Anakin was Luke's dad, so he'd be in the know from that point onward.

 

Thanks for the info, I did not know about that.

 

We don't know conclusively that R2 could access the Ultimate Weapon plans just from plugging in to a terminal in the droid factory.

And as far as R2 knowing that Vader was on Bespin, all we have to go on is this:

Which isn't translated.

 

I always assumed Artoo knew everything but that he just didn't get involved in humans' personal lives. Telling Luke about Vader would have been overstepping his boundaries, so to speak. He's there to help with technical stuff, not their interactions.

EDIT: Also, it is very possible that Artoo overheard conversation between Yoda, Obi Wan and Bail. The humans often talked as if Artoo wasn't there. So who knows what information he was privy to?