Saga How come Obi Wan Kenobi and Owen Lars don't remember R2D2 and C3PO?

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Owen didn't know that this was Artoo and Threepio right off. It isn't until Luke says that he came across Leia's recorded message to Obi-wan, that Owen and Beru realized who the droids were. That's why he wanted Luke to take them to Anchorhead and have their memories wiped. As to Obi-wan, he didn't know that was Artoo right off until Luke said his real name. He then realized it was Artoo and when he saw Threepio, he recognized him as well. Not to mention that Luke said their names. And as it has been discussed, Obi-wan never owned a droid.

BTW, there are a few R2 units that look the same as Artoo, in TPM. So it's not uncommon for their to be similar looking Astromech droids.

 

This is perfect. I always knew Obi-Wan was able to figure out R2 and 3PO, but I never thought about Owen figuring it out and that's why he wanted them wiped. It makes perfect sense, though.

 

How would they know? There were plenty of protocol droids and astromech droids in the Star Wars universe that resembled them. And I don't recall Threepio introducing his name to Owen Lars? As for Obi-Wan, perhaps you're right in that he pretended not to know them. Although, I don't see why he would bother, considering that he was willing to reveal Anakin's past as a Jedi Knight to Luke.

 

That's a good point, but if we go with the theory that Ben recognized them then he probably didn't want to say as much to Luke for fear that Luke would start pressing the droids for more detail and so learn the truth.

 

How come Vader doesn't recognize R2-D2 and C-3PO, especially when he built 3PO?

How come R2 and Yoda don't recognize each other when they meet on Dagobah?

How come Vader can't sense that Leia is his daughter?

 

Vader never sees Artoo. And as to Threepio, that was covered in an issue of Star Wars Tales that came out after TPM was released.

Artoo did recognize Yoda, but thought that he had gone mad. Yoda wasn't friends with Artoo like Anakin and Luke.

Because she's not using the Force and he doesn't sense anything within her to link them together.

 

I can buy the idea that R2 and 3P0 are very common household appliances and Ben doesn't recognize them at first, but it would have been cool to imply a moment of recognition and have Ben put 2+2 together when he's watching Leia's hologram. The way Lucas uses raw footage to imply stuff that it wasn't intended for is perfect for this, and the scene almost plays that way as it is. A subtle push-in on Alec Guinness (which they can do artificially now very well) and then repeat on R2 when Alec looks at him, would do the trick I bet. (especially if it happened immediately before Ben leans back to ponder the situation and tells Luke it's time to learn the force.)