CT Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, pretty laid back after seeing the droids, again.

By an mental raise of hands how many people have an Apple device with Siri on it? Or how many people have a Windows device with Cortana on it? Or a GPS? Even if Owen recognized 3PO's voice he might have thought that it was a default voice for Protocol Driods or that a prissy male voiced Protocol Droids that sounded similar were a dime a dozen.

 

Many of the Battle Droids and Super Battle Droids did have similar voices to each other, with changes as the droids were upgraded. It's unclear if this extends to other droids, though it does seem likely. It all depends on the manufacturer of said droids.

 

Smoking they certainly were!

 

I'm guess Owen doesn't meet many protocol and etiquette droids in an environment such as this.

So it is odd that he would dismiss a droid that he recognises because he's worked with one like it on the farm before, as being unsuitable to work on that farm.

Remember that Beru reminds Luke to remind Owen to ask about the translator droid's bocce. Did Owen forget that protocol droids are translators when he recognised the type of droid 3PO was but dismissed him before even asking about his translation capabilities?

 

Two things.

1. Threepio has yet to start bragging about how he's fluent in over six million forms of communication. Owen isn't expecting Threepio to know how to speak Bocce, so he has no need for a droid that would only be programmed to speak alien languages. That's why he is dismissive of him. It is only when Threepio is asked about binary languages and Bocce, is Owen actually interested in taking him on. Such language programming in Protocol droids is probably very rare.

2. Here is what was said in the final film.


OWEN: "I suppose you're programmed for etiquette and protocol."

THREEPIO: "Protocol? Why, it's my primary function, sir. I am well-versed in all the customs..."

OWEN: "I have no need for a Protocol droid."

THREEPIO: 'Of course you haven't, sir. Not in an environment such as this. That is why I have been programmed..."

OWEN: "What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators."

THREEPIO: "Vaporators? Sir, my first job was programming binary load lifters, very similar to your vaporators in most respects."

OWEN: "Can you speak Bocce?"

THREEPIO: "Of course I can, sir. It's like a second language to me..."

OWEN: "Yeah, all right. Shut up. I'll take this one."


This is what was in the shooting script, dated January 15th, 1976.


OWEN: "I have no need for a protocol droid."

THREEPIO: "Sir -- not in an environment such as this -- that's why I've also been programmed for over thirty secondary functions that..."

And then the rest is the same. Note that Threepio originally tries to tell Owen that he had over thirty secondary functions that he was programmed with. This would then follow on with the idea that operating binary load lifters would be a secondary program function. One that was at least unique to him.

 

Owen would be aware that he's a translator since he's aware that he's programmed for protocol and etiquette. And since he's been tasked to acquire a translator it's even weirder that he dismisses 3PO for that reason alone, never mind assuming that a protocol droid like one he's worked with before could be of use on his farm. The fact that he has worked with a protocol droid on a farm before means he should be aware that it has secondary functions without 3PO reminding him. Particularly that it might have secondary functions that are useful on that particular farm.

It's interesting that 3PO exclaims "Vaporators!" rather than emphasising the binary language. It's like a proustian memory has been triggered by the word "Vaporators" which 3POis familiar enough to compare them to load lifters.

 

Another important thing to address relating to this topic is how much Artoo remembered about the Lars farm and Tatooine, though he only caught a glimpse of it twenty-two years earlier.

It's hard to tell if Threepio was telling the truth about about his first job and if not, why he'd need to lie to Owen. I doubt Artoo knew where Luke was hidden or was immediately aware of his background upon meeting him.
Maybe Owen didn't like using protocol droids on the farm, it really belonged to his father Cleigg at the time that Threepio worked there. We don't know for sure. And maybe he didn't know at that time that Threepio was more than a translator, until Threepio explained further.

 

Just because Threepio is a translator, doesn't mean that he understands Bocce. All those six million forms of communication are programmed into his system. The odds of his being programmed to understand Bocce are pretty big. That's why he overlooks him at first until he asks if he can speak Bocce. That's what sells him on Threepio. Remember, Threepio even considers the Ewok language to be a primitive form of dialect and he's not 100% certain he's understanding them correctly.

Second, those thirty other programs are what Threepio was programmed with. That doesn't mean all Protocol droids are programmed with them, much less the same number of secondary programs and we don't know what he was programmed with when he was there before. He might not have had additional programs twenty three years ago. These secondary programs are the like apps that you download for your computer and tablet. They're added after the fact and not at the time of manufacture.

No, it means that he is aware of how vaporators use the same type of programming that load lifters do. That doesn't mean that his programming for operating vaporators was retained. It could have been erased. He's hopeful because it means that he might be taken in, since he can operate a binary program device and can speak Bocce, the two things that Owen needs. If he could have found another droid that spoke Bocce and could operate a vaporator, he would have purchased that droid over Threepio, since he had no use for a Protocol droid. He just found a use for this one due to his programming having met the requirements that he needed.

He was on Padme's ship, but he was there overnight. Long enough to recognize that structure, since he would look out of the viewport, waiting for Anakin's return. He might not be certain if Owen and Beru were the same people that he saw when he was there. We do know that he is aware of where Obi-wan was, since he immediately set off for the Jundland Wastes, which is where he was living.

That's likely.

Technically, Threepio belonged to Shmi.

 

Technically, Threepio belonged to Shmi.[/quote]

Exactly, so Owen may not see the use for a protocol droid on his farm. Back when Shmi owned Threepio, Owen wasn't yet in charge, so he may have had to live with his father and stepmother's decision to use Threepio on the farm.

 

darth-sinister

Owen is in the market for a translator but dismisses the first one he sees before asking if it can speak bocce.

Owen already points out the binary language of the equipment without 3PO needing to be aware of it. 3PO does not reply "Binary?!" but "Vaporators!?" instead.

The question is why is why is Owen so dismissive?

 

Because he has no need for a Protocol droid. He just needs a translator droid and there is more than just one type of translator droid in the GFFA. He dismisses him because of that. Even Luke says that it appears that this time around, the Jawa's pickings are mighty slim.

Consider this: The only reason we see him working in the field, is because Shmi is missing and Cliegg is hoverchair bound. It is possible that the only reason he was put to work on the vaporator when Anakin and Padme arrive, is because of that. Instead, he had been confined to the farm's interior, helping out from time to time.

 

Se he dismisses a protocol droid that he knows is a translator of a type that he's worked with before and knows and could have secondary functions that are useful on that particular farm pr that reason because he knows there are other types of translators? Tha doesn't at allexplain why he's dismissive of 3PO. If he was looking for a specific translator that did not have protocol functions as well (which would be unlkely, why programme a cyborg to only to translate laguages and not to understand the protocols that accompany them?).

Has Luke worked with a 3PO droid on that farm before? Almost certainly not. But Owen has. I would excuse Luke for being presumptuous. But not Owen.

I have considered it. But it's irrelevant. Shmi or nor Shmi, Cliegg or no Cliegg 3PO wouldn't be working in the field unless he was of some use and was capable of it.. Owen would know this unless he's forgotten or the whole 3PO on Tatooine from the beginning was a late 1990's retcon.

 

I'm sure Threepio being on Tatooine with the Larses was a retcon, or Lucas would have hinted at previous history in ANH. In universe, Owen probably didn't care much about Threepio or was just focused on the upcoming harvest.

 

He's dismissive of a droid that he has no use for. We don't know how good of a job Threepio did when he was working for the Lars. He might have been piss poor at it, but being short handed, had no choice but to rely on him. It's possible that he wanted a droid that was more suitable to working with vaporators than a Protocol droid. Maybe Threepio annoyed the hell out of him. The point of why doesn't matter, regardless of having a past experience with a droid of that type. The point is that he wanted something else and only went with him because of Bocce and binary load lifters. Technically, he wouldn't even need an Astromech droid, since they repair ships and the Lars don't have a ship. But they are capable of repairing something else and so that's why he wanted R5 and then took Artoo.

A droid that might have been practically useless. Or broke down too often because he was not suited for working on Tatooine.

Let me put it another way, which would you rather have; a droid built for working on a farm or a Protocol droid that can barely do that job? Technically, he was only working on a vaporator. And we don't even know what he was doing specifically. He might have been just checking to see if it was working properly, because he was ordered to. Again, follow the dialogue in the film. He wants a droid capable of speaking binary language. It's an assumption that all Protocol droids were capable of this. It is also an assumption that Threepio was good at his job.

We don't know what all of the requirements of working with vaporators are. There might have been limitations that Threepio couldn't work around, due to the manufacturing design of Protocol droids. But a translator droid that could speak Bocce and is designed to work on a farm, would be more desirable. It's like with doctors, you want a doctor that has skills in one particular area over a general practitioner.

 

Now you're making stuff up about how well 3PO worked for Lars. So Lars needs to ask what type of droid he is but remembers that 3PO did a bad job. The conversation would not have started if that were the case. Or it would have started by asking if Bocce was part of his no doubt extensive translator programming.

You are wandering far, far away from the point of Owen seemingly having had a memory wipe like 3PO's at some point (unless you want to invent things that Owen is remembering internally before wasting his time enquiring about a droid he has no use for. )

 

I didn't say that Owen asked what type of droid that he was. Where the hell do you get that from in what I said? I said that he wanted a droid that was not a Protocol droid. One that was far better suited for working on a farm than a Protocol droid. The conversation started because he didn't want a Protocol droid. Just because there was one there twenty years ago, doesn't mean diddly squat. If you can get a better droid instead of settling, wouldn't you want the better droid?

 

But Owen did ask him. And once confirmed that 3PO was one, you've invented the claim that Owen remembers what a poor job a protocol droid did before on the farm, and dismisses him.

Owen starts a conversation with a droid in order to tell it he has no use for it?

Owen immediately settles on 3PO the moment the answers to his two requirements are provided. Both of which he should reasonably have anticipated the answers two BEFORE he told 3PO he had no use for him. And he doesn't bother to find out if a non-protocol droid that is more suited to working on his farm is for sale after speaking to 3PO. The droids he looks at before 3PO he dismisses without even speaking to

Why would Owen strike up conversations with droids he already presumes he has no use for? (Because this scene was written as a sales pitch/haggle between a used car salesman type 3PO and Owen. That's why.)

 

No, he didn't. He said that he "had no need for a Protocol droid." He didn't say, "You're a Protocol droid, aren't you?" I postulated a theory that he didn't want another Protocol droid because they're not suitable to work on a farm, but Cliegg couldn't afford extra help and had to rely on him. It might not have even been his decision.

He wasn't intending to start a conversation. He was talking to himself, which people have a tendency to do. Threepio just started rattling off as he always does since by his own admission, he doesn't understand human behavior.

How is he supposed to know or anticipate that Threepio knows how to operate binary load lifters and can speak Bocce? Is this something that's common among all Protocol droids? I thought all Protocol droids were just for protocol and etiquette, not working on farms?

None of the droids are suitable for what he wants, other than the two Astromechs. That's why Luke says that it doesn't look too good. The type of droid that Owen was hoping for wasn't there. And if not for Bocce and load lifters, Threepio would have been sent back on board the Sandcrawler.

 

Taking to himself?

 

Yes, people talk to themselves. Haven't you ever done that? He could be doing that. He could also be talking to Jawa that's standing next to him, that was describing to him the droid in front of him.

 

People do lots of things.

When you walk up to a person or a droid and address them thus "You. I suppose you're programmed for etiquette and protocol?" While you are about the business of acquiring a droid, there can be no question that you are talking to the droid. Unless you are some deranged, dissociated individual who speaks rhetorically at all timse or simply an ultra-casual attitude towards pronouns and body language when it comes to communicating. Being a protocol, human-cyborg relations droid, the chances of 3PO mistaking the nature of Owen's query are even shorter.

In short. Maybe in bizarro-world.

It will be safer to assume that from now on, at least, the person talking to themselves in this thread will be yourself.