PT R2 and Anakin on Mustafar

No, no one said R2 is "stupid", but he is after all restricted by his programming. That "staying away" is what I've been wondering about. In ANH droids on Tatooine had a restraining bolt to keep them from running away. I don't know if that's a local Tatooine thing or general practice for droids. But even without that bolt, aren't droids generally required to obey their owners? So running away from Anakin wouldn't really have an option.

 

Are you being for real? So unless R2 is in EVERY scene or witness to EVERY scene of the saga than it isn't his story that he is telling? Huh?

 

No I'm just saying that it isn't R2's story.

 

Lucas once said the entire franchise was told from the POV of R2 and C-3PO.

 

Looks like my opinion is different from everyone here. I don't think R2 ever saw Anakin as his master. He belonged to Padme, didn't he? I think he only served Anakin under the premise that they were husband and wife. So after Anakin chokes Padme (3PO probably saw that in the ship and told R2 about it), all ties with Anakin were cut.

The situation with 3PO is the opposite. His master was Anakin, but he spent most of his time serving Padme, because that's what Anakin told him to do. However, 3PO's personality is different from R2. He's not loyal, he just does his duty on serving whoever his current master is. We see this in ANH, he immediately sees Luke as his new master after Luke buys him, and he doesn't seem to ever think about his old master.
When Obi-Wan comes back alone after fighting Anakin, I'm not sure if 3PO immediately figured that Anakin most likely got killed. If not, maybe he just didn't think that much. All he saw was an unconscious Padme in front of him who needed immediate medical help, so that was the only thing on his mind, and he didn't have a clue what was going on with Anakin. If he did think Anakin died, well dead master is old master. His new master would probably be Padme by default, and after she dies, it would be whoever is willing to take him and give him electricity. Personally, I'm leaning towards the first possibility (3PO doesn't seem that smart, he's often confused about what's going on), but even if he did think that Anakin was dead or dying, it wouldn't make a difference.

 

C3PO's Master (actually, mistress) was Padme. Anakin clearly makes a gift of him to her, and assuming droids are bound by such things, that makes him hers - after said gifting he doesn't interact with Anakin very much at all, or at least not just the two of them. As said above, once Luke buys him then he is now the new master. Threepio's pretty old-fashioned and traditional like that, probably more so than some (maybe even most?) droids.

Artoo on the other hand has a different personality, he has more independence and individuality than most astromechs of his time (probably thanks to tinkering from Anakin) and sees his ''masters'' as more of friends or partners (in a similar way to cop partnerships if you like.) Anakin is his friend, he'll work with him (not necessarily for him - he disobeys him a few times) but if he has an opinion on the events on Mustafar then he's probably drawing a line right there.

 

I don't think Anakin ever officially transferred ownership of 3PO to Padme, but rather just instructed him to serve his wife. 3PO addresses Padme as "my lady," and Anakin as "Master Anakin" (we see this when Padme sees smoke coming out of the Jedi Temple and 3PO tells her, "The chancellor's office indicated Master Anakin returned to the Jedi Temple"). I think the situation is similar to ESB where 3PO is separated from Luke. He serves Han and Leia knowing that they are Luke's friends, but never calls them Master. I imagine that if they were separated for a longer time, or there were news/rumors that Luke died, or if say Leia demanded he forget about Luke, then he would see Leia or Han as his new master, but as it is, Luke is still his master.

I agree that R2 has a mind of his own, but I think he still sees his masters as masters. In ANH he seems pretty adamant that Obi Wan is his master (I guess he decided after Padme's death that Obi Wan is the most trustworthy and closest person to him alive?). So he's independent and loyal at the same time. If he did see Anakin as his master, it is possible that he would leave Anakin if he strongly opposes his actions. But personally I still believe that he saw Padme as his master.

 

I prefer the way the ROTS novel had it:

"I'm not giving him to you," he'd told her. "He's not even really mine to give; when I built him, I was a slave, and everything I did belonged to Watto. Cliegg Lars bought him along with my mother; Owen gave him back to me, but I'm a Jedi. I have renounced possessions. I guess that means he's free now. What I'm really doing is asking you to look after him for me."
"Look after him?"
"Yes. Maybe even give him a job. He's a little fussy," he'd admitted, "and maybe I shouldn't have given him quite so much self-consciousness—he's a worrier—but he's very smart, and he might be a real help to a big-time diplomat ... like, say, a Senator from Naboo?"

The novel's version:

And there had come another day, two years later, a day that had meant nearly as much to him as the day they had wed: the day he had finally passed his trials.
The day he had become a Jedi Knight.
As soon as circumstances allowed he had slipped away, on his own now, no Master over his shoulder, no one to monitor his comings and his goings and so he could take himself to the vast Coruscant complex at 500 Republica where Naboo's senior Senator kept her spacious apartments.
And he had then, finally, two years late, a devotion-gift for her.
He had then one thing that he truly owned, that he had earned, that he was not required to renounce. One gift he could give her to celebrate their love.
The culmination of the Ceremony of Jedi Knighthood is the severing of the new Jedi Knight's Padawan braid. And it was this that he laid into Padme's trembling hand.
One long, thin braid of his glossy hair: such a little thing, of no value at all.
Such a little thing, that meant the galaxy to him.
And she had kissed him then, and laid her soft cheek against his jaw, and she had whispered in his ear that she had something for him as well.
Out from her closet had whirred R2-D2.
Of course Anakin knew him; he had known him for years— the little droid was a decorated war hero himself, having saved Padme's life back when she had been Queen of Naboo, not to mention helping the nine-year-old Anakin destroy the Trade Federation's Droid Control Ship, breaking the blockade and saving the planet. The Royal Engineers of Naboo's aftermarket wizardry made their modified R-units the most sought after in the galaxy; he'd tried to protest, but she had silenced him with a soft finger against his lips and a gentle smile and a whisper of "After all what does a politician need with an astromech?"
"But I'm a Jedi— "
"That's why I'm not giving him to you," she'd said with a smile. "I'm asking you to look after him. He's not really a gift. He's a friend."

 

Aww that's so sweet, they love their droids and they love each other.

I completely forgot about the whole Jedi can't have possessions thing. But in the movie 3PO does address Anakin as master... I guess a droid can still identify themself with a master even if they're not the legal property of that person.

 

Threepio did see himself as Anakin's property as much as he was Padme's. That's why he called them master and mistress, respectively. Same with their kids, though with Leia he also alternates with her royal title.

Artoo displaying emotions? Have you ever listened to the droid? He does it all the time. And yes, he was capable of understanding acts of good and evil. That's why he tries to tell Threepio what's going on before going to Mustafar and why he has the worried tone when he's told to stay with the ship.

The point of a restraining bolt is to keep the droids from running away. It's not confined to Tatooine and the Outer Rim in general. It's usually done if there has been a history of droids attempting to run away.

 

Did 3PO ever call Padme mistress? I don't remember hearing that. I know after Anakin leaves for Mustafar, 3PO says to Padme, "Oh, my lady, is there anything I might do?"

 

I think he’s only ever called her ‘My lady’ or ‘Miss Amidala.’

 

Re: the "Master"stuff... I think "Master" is simply used as an antiquated form of "mister." Sio Bibble refers to Anakin as "Master Jedi." The same happens in "Lord of the Rings": Master Dwarf, Master Gamgee, etc. "Mistress" (3PO calls Leia "Mistress Leia" in ESB) is simply the female version of that. I think.

 

I think it gets confusing when there's multiple meanings of the same word. "Master" can refer to a high rank (as is the case with Jedi Master being above Jedi Padawan), or teacher (when Anakin calls Obi Wan master), or owner. I believe 3PO calling Anakin master is the owner meaning. I think the only people he ever addresses as "master" are Anakin, Owen (in AOTC), and Luke. He calls Han by "Sir" (ANH and ESB) or "General Solo" (ROTJ).
The word "mistress" seems to have even more meanings than "master," so I'm not sure which meaning 3PO is referring to when he calls her mistress. But the fact that he alternates between "mistress" and "Princess Leia" suggests to me that it is a less specific meaning.