Why doesn't Owen recognize 3P0?

I've always wondered this after watching AOTC. In ANH, when Owen bought 3P0, why didn't he recognize him as the droid who had once been on his farm. Once 3P0 says his name, Owen surely would have remebered.

Either this will be fixed somehow in the DVD, or Lucas will somehow have Owen hit his head in Ep III and forget ever owning 3P0.

 

Very very interesting.

Well much like R2-D2 there are many different R2 units, and so is the case for C3-PO. But your right they C3 is kinda like a model number and the PO means a single droid.

 

I had a pet dog 20 years ago...... I remember his name but if he turned up tomorrow I wouldn't recognise him.

 

It always seemed to me that protocol droids were made to help their owners and kind of "blend in" and that C-3PO was supposed to be espacially annoying.

"I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations" - how do you forget that???

 

Well think of it this way. You have a Vacuum cleaner for 5 years and then you lose it. 10 years later it shows up again, but since most Vacuum cleaners look the same. You don't notice it's the one you owned.

Also Owen's droid was a rusty grey and this droid is gold. Protocol droids come in a variety of colors. Who'd notice it's the same droid? Unless you had a romantic relationship with this droid, which as far as we know, Owen didn't.

 

Besides, he seemed to recognise the model.
"You. I suppose you're programmed for ettiquette and protocol?"
"Protocol? Why it's my primary funct-"
"I have no need of a protocol droid" (possibly remembering his last one??

Master Mishima

 

3PO will have golden coverings, and 3PO is a droid, a common one. Would you remember your first toaster if someone took it, put new covers on it, and returned it to you 20 years later?

 

Good point - you have won me over...

 

Maybe Owen did remember 3p0 and just didn't think much of it.

 

who says he doesnt recognize him? Why do you think he acted so rash and wanted their memories erased immediately?

 

Once 3P0 says his name, Owen surely would have remebered.

Yes, he might have. However, 3PO never says his name to Owen.

And besides, he looks completely different. My parents owned a red Mercury a long time ago. If they saw a blue Mercury on the street, I guarantee they wouldn't think it's the same car.

 

who says he doesnt recognize him? Why do you think he acted so rash and wanted their memories erased immediately?

I find that doubtful. It's clear that Owen wants to shelter Luke from any possible knowledge of the outside world regarding his father and the past. If he knew it was 3PO right from the very beginning, he would have either had it's memory erased before Luke could spend time with it, or would never have bought him.

Also, Owen didn't suggest wiping the droids' memories until Luke mentioned Obi-Wan, so it was afterthought on the part of Owen anyway.

 

This really shouldnt be much of a question.

#1- There are millions of protical droids in the galaxy.

#2- 3P0 is now a different color.

#3- Owen not once hears the name C3P0 or any form of it(3P0).

and last but not least

#4- Most people wouldn't recall someTHING over twenty years later that they knew (owned) for at most a few years. Think about it...why not call up an old friend, I bet they look and sound a lot different that what you remember.

 

Would you recognize a toaster you once owned 20 years ago if you saw it today?

 

"Why doesn't Owen recognize 3P0?"

One word:


PLOTHOLES.


It's $ consistent M.O!

 

a toaster doesnt exactly walk around and talk to you and have memories and interact in conversations.

 

My thoughts on this matter:
http://boards.theforce.net/Star_Wars_Community/b10012/14622081



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

^

Yup. Nothing but plotholes. In this particular case, Owen should have remembered C-3PO. Yeah, there's plenty of protocol droids out there, but such a unique droid would have been easily remembered.

 

Yep, such a unique droid.

OMG! They're all C-3PO!

Anyone who calls this a plothole is just looking for a reason to complain. There is exactly zero reason that Owen would think that this and this are the same droid, especially when their differentiating feature is the only one of all droids of their type.

 

Sorry for the double post, but my edit time ran out and I just figured out a way to answer this that doesn't involve toasters, cars, or any other analogies. It's a question that no one has been able to give an answer to.

In this particular case, Owen should have remembered C-3PO.

And the question is: Why would Owen think they are the same droid?

That's not just a rhetorical question. For anyone who thinks this is a plothole, see if you can answer that. QueenLeia, PhantomMenace, this one's for you.

 

Why do we have two threads about it on the same day?

If my calculations were correct, this one was started earlier

Continue the discussion there
until I find the one from last week.