PT Did Lucas forget that Uncle Owen meets C3PO for the first time in ANH?

there are thousands and thousands of the exact same droid models walking around.

 

This is the bind writers are in all the time. Too much exposition and the audience claims that they want to be shown, not told. So the writer shows and doesn't tell, and the audience demands an explanation.

Of all the things in the Saga that need to be fanwanked (Leia remembering her mother, Obi-Wan thinking Vader could be redeemed once), this is just not one of them. In my admittedly limited experience, it's an obtuse nitpick by people who don't really like C3PO.

And that's fine, I don't like Chewie in the PT because I don't like Wookiees. But I don't say it's a continuity error to include him.

 

Great post but it highlights one of the underlying problems that a section of fans have for some reason. As you say they are constantly fighting the story based on the idea that because they know something that how do the characters not see it?

Makes no sense at all but they keep going back to it. Like the ludicrous. "Isn't everyone a fool for not knowing Palpatine is evil? I know he is evil why don't they?"

Except that this presumes that Owen was somehow so familiar and hanging out with 3PO like Luke was at some point. We know that 3PO was Shmi's droid. That he spent his time helping her or other than that was working on the plains is far more likely to be the case.

Owen's attitude to droids is clearly seen in ANH. All protocol droids do in fact virtually look, act and speak the same. That Owen had no reason to believe that this droid was 3PO anymore than all the others he had ever seen is far more than plausible.

 

They're not "our own" explanations. They're right there in the films. Did you see the films? Great! Then you saw the explanations.

 

Well to me the bigger problem is how C3PO is shoehorned into TPM by having Anakin build him.

Yes I know that Anakin is good with mechanical things. But the issue isn't so much the technical issue, it is that a nine year old won't know nearly enough to program a Protocol Droid fluent is six million forms of communication.
Plus there is another logic hole, why is he building him? He says to help his mother but unless Shmi often had foreign dignitaries visiting, a protocol droid isn't going to be very useful. His primary function is etiquette and protocol and he is an interpreter. Even Owen comments on how he has no use for a protocol droid and C3PO agrees.
He can do other stuff but why not build a droid that does that as their primary function?
Plus how is it that Anakin has time for this?
He is a slave and he races pods and has built a pod racer and a scanner and partially C3PO.
For a slave he sure has a lot of free time on his hands.

Bye for now.
The Guarding Dark

 

Watto is seen letting Anakin go home early after cleaning the racks, which suggests to me that he is lenient with Anakin's time at the shop.

I always just assumed that you can just get protocol droid kits, and assemble them pretty easily.

He seems like he would be perfect to help Shmi, with cooking or cleaning. It's basically what he does with Padme.

One thing I do find a bit weird is how Anakin and Padme take C-3PO with them to Geonosis. Wouldn't Cliegg and Owen need his help on the farm? I suppose he might be not that helpful, as Owen did say in ANH that he had little use for a protocol droid.

I like the idea of 3PO being at the farm though. In ANH he says that one of his first jobs was working on Moisture Vaporators. Just like the ones on the farm...

I like to think that it's a small part of 3PO's memory being triggered by the familiar location.

 

1. Communications software, downloadable from the Holonet! Uploadable into 3PO's data port!
2. We see 3PO loading dead Jawas into the bonfire. Manual labor FTW!
3. Watto had the parts to this particular droid lying around his junk shop.
4. Watto lets him go home early some days. Do you work 16 hours a day?
5. Here's where that "mechanical genius" thing comes in again.

 

Shoe-Horn: To Shoehorn is to put something into a space where it doesn't fit.

C3PO is in Star Wars ANH, TESB and ROTJ. Created by George Lucas

C3PO is in Star Wars TPM, AOTC and ROTS. Created by George Lucas.

I don't see the problem.

Now if Lucas had tried to place GORT from The Day The Earth Stood Still I could get that.

 

The thing is that in the PT, Threepio never brags about knowing six million forms of communication like he does in the OT. So it is entirely reasonable that when Threepio is taken to Coruscant to live and is given his bronze shell, that either adult Anakin or Padme has him programmed with the six million forms of communication. In TPM, he is shown to understand Basic (English) and the Astromech language. In AOTC, this has not changed. In ROTS, we see him working for Padme. In TCW and in "Rebels", Threepio is shown communicating with other alien lifeforms.

In ROTS, Threepio acts as a butler to Padme.



Protocol droids act as translators and in matters of etiquette. We also see TC-14 do this in TPM.



Plus, in the old EU, Threepio was often used as a butler for the Solos and even helped out as a nanny for the children.

The same way he has time to secretly build a Pod on his own, that Watto doesn't know about.

 

There is no need for any explanation. It´s absolutely obvious why Owen doesn´t recognize 3PO.

 

"I´ll miss working on you, you have been a great pal."

 

Another reason to use a protocol droid is probably because there aren't many servant droids, or compatible parts on Tatooine.





It's not very likely you'll find droids like that on Tatooine, as oppose to protocol droids. And even EVE-9D9 had different ideas about servant droids.

 

If it were a matter of Owen not recognising just another protocol droid then it wouldn't be an issue. The problem is we assume Owen & 3PO lived together for years. However long Shmi was with the Lars, which again we assume is years. Maybe 2, 4, even 6 or 8 years. That's a hell of a long time to spend around one particular droid. Esp one with such a distinct personality. So of course Owen should've had some recognition of 3PO as soon as he spoke in his extremely distinctive way.

 

In his younger days he was probably too busy hanging with Beru to care about his stepmom's stupid robot. They weren't married yet during AOTC, were they? Beru was probably cruising Anchorhead every night, keeping her options open. Owen had bigger things to worry about.

 

Ha, maybe. Still Owen lived there with his father & Shmi & 3PO did too. 3PO has a very distinctive & annoying personality. If you'd lived with him for years is there any chance in hell you'd forget him?? I don't think so.

Anyway I think a better question is why little Anakin would build his Mother an etiquette & protocol droid!? If you were considering droids that would help her, 3PO would surely be at the very bottom of the list. She didn't need help with etiquette or protocol & she already spoke Huttese. Makes no sense. 3PO is for translation & diplomacy. Just a lazy way of introducing the character IMO. Would've been far more sensible if 3PO had been an aide of Padme or Bail Organa.

 

I very much agree.

C3PO has both a distinct VOICE and a personality.
How many here can know a person just by voice alone?
That if someone you knows calls you and they don't have to give their name, you already know it from their voice alone.
I would think quite a few.

RE: the logic issue of building a Protocol droid to do house chores.
You can dig a hole with an axe, you can knock down a nail with a rifle and you can move furniture with a sports car. But all those are decidedly less practical than using a shovel, hammer and moving van respectively.

So why build a droid whose PRIMARY function is of no use?
Well either there are NO other types of droids in existence in the SW galaxy. That they don't have droids for cooking, cleaning, washing the dishes, doing laundry or other domestic work.
This seems rather unlikely.
So the other alternative is then that a protocol droid was the ONLY type of droid that Watto had lying around. Again bit of a stretch.
And besides, if Anakin is this tech wiz, why not build a vacuum cleaner, a dishwasher, washing machine or some other household appliance that would help his mother?
It would be like building a car just so that you can use the car stereo and listen to music.
It works but seems very impractical.

RE: the issue of shoehorning things in.
C3PO has no narrative function in TPM. Imagine the film and remove him from it. Does the story or plot change in any way? No.
Same with AotC, C3PO doesn't move the plot forward in any way, he mostly spews out bad puns.
This makes his presence shoehorned in. It exists for two reasons.
1) A "Hey look, it's C3PO!"
2) A "Hey look, this is how R2 and C3PO met for the first time."
Both are winking to the audience that have seen the OT.

Cute but rather redundant.

C3PO presence as part of Padme's court would make more logical sense.

Bye for now.
The Guarding Dark

 

Except as we've seen, Protocol droids speak and behave the same way. Some with similar voices to each other. E-3PO sounds similar to C-3PO. TC-14 has the same oblivious attitude that Threepio does and speaks in a similar manner. And given that these droids are manufactured by the dozens and Owen never hears his serial designation, it is easy for him to not make the connection until Luke talks about what he Artoo said about belonging to Obi-wan Kenobi.

Again, Protocol droids can be used as servant droids. We've seen two such droids serving drinks. Not servant droids, but Protocol droids.

The only other droids of suitable use that Watto had were Pit Droids. We see one droid in the junkyard, but assuming it is Watto's and not someone else's droid sent to collect parts, Anakin can't exactly just use that droid.



The only other droid Watto had was R5-X2, which again, Anakin cannot confiscate. Any functional, bi-pedal droid that hasn't been claimed by the Hutts or the other junk dealers, would probably not be very useful. Protocol droids are rather diverse, which is why they've been used for things beyond their programming. Like Owen choosing to purchase Threepio simply because the droid said that it could work with moisture vaporators and had operated binary load lifters. Not the exact function of a Protocol droid, but there you go. I don't see anyone complaining about that.

 

Not buying this one Sinister. Firstly there's no reason to think that Owen, a Tatooine farmer would've ever encountered another 3PO series protocol droid apart from C3PO. If he had it surely would've been only 1 or 2 ever. We never (or rarely) see them on Tatooine in the background in any of the films. So it's likely that 3PO is the only one he's ever had dealings with, which greatly increases the likelihood that he'd react to meeting him again. Not only that, Owen lived with C3PO in a very small home for years. How many times would young Owen have told 3PO to shut up over breakfast, or outside the homestead? As if his rambling alongside the Jawas in ANH wouldn't jog that memory. Finally, even if there are some similarities in manner & voice with other protocol droids C3PO still has a very distinct, annoying & therefore memorable personality. I think you'd have to be a protocol droid dealer to've encountered so many that C3PO would not be memorable. A farmer in the wasteland...not so much.

Obviously this doesn't matter. It's just a silly nitpick. But let's not pretend that in real life any person with their mental facilitates intact could ever fail to recognise C3PO's personality had they lived with him for years. If I did want to come up with a reason for Owen's lack of reaction the best I could say is that he did recognise him but just didn't care. A bit of a stretch though since he knew 3PO left with Anakin & Padme. He'd surely be curious about what went on during all those years or more likely he wouldn't want to buy 3PO at all in case he told Luke a bunch of sensitive info about his father. All in all I consider this is a minor plothole.

So you're saying that Anakin built a sophisticated droid who's primary & specialist functions (etiquette, protocol & translation) are useless to his mother...but he's handy bcs he serves drinks around the house? Come on, surely some kind of laborer droid was a possibility to build for the wunderkind? I'd like to watch the scene where Anakin gives 3PO to his mother.

Anakin: "Meet your new droid Mom! He's slow, not very durable, freezes up when sand gets in his joints, complains all the time, is generally as annoying as hell...but he'll really improve your etiquette & can serve you tea in the morning!"
Shmi: "Umm...well, thanks Annie. For now why don't we turn him off & leave him in your bedroom "

 

Sigh...

This is such a small matter in the film, this is nitpicking beyond nitpicks.

 

It's also a case of him working with what he could find - he found most of 3PO in Watto's junk piles - and did the rest himself.

 

Anakin built c3po to help his mother reach orgasm. I thought that was obvious from the start but does it matter? The point is that Uncle Owen would've remembered this very talented droid from the years when he was shared around the whole family.

 

^ Didn't realise that was one of 3PO's skills. Gives the name "goldenrod" a whole new spin.

He did? Is that in the novel? Are you saying 3PO mostly existed as a droid before TPM?

 

The novel refers to 3PO as "The protocol droid he was reconstructing" - so - as a droid, he predated TPM, and Anakin is rebuilding him.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/C-3PO

Components of what would become C-3PO were originally manufactured on the world of Affa over a century before the Invasion of Naboo.[15] In an early incarnation, C-3PO served as a protocol droid to the chief negotiator for the Manakron system.[16]Additionally, he later claimed that his first job was programing binary loadlifters, which he said were very similar to moisture vaporators in most respects.[7] At some point, however, C-3PO fell into disrepair, and his vital components ended up in a junk pile on Tatooine. Anakin Skywalker, a slave boy from the Tatooinian city of Mos Espa, collected scrap parts and started rebuilding C-3PO so the droid would help his mother.[17] Although protocol droids were normally designed for light duty in luxurious environments, Skywalker specially modified C-3PO so he could withstand Tatooine's sand and heat.[18] C-3PO served Anakin and his mother Shmi by performing household chores. During his time with Skywalker and Shmi, C-3PO's wiring was left exposed since Skywalker was unable to outfit him with an outer covering.[3]

 

Yep....which is,of course, not problematic in itself... at all

Because...yeah, C3-PO is just like a toaster.....not like he's actually a character in the movies or anything... (and this is a response also to any of the 'lesser' versions of this argument)

 

That's a good point and one that actually supports the idea that Owen had no reason to recoginze C3PO.

After all, if Owen had no other basis for comparison then he had no reason not to accept that all 3PO units had the same type of voice and personality traits programmed in.

And since C3PO did not identify himself and clearly showed no signs of recognizing Owen - obviously because of the mindwipe of which Owen had no knowledge - then he had no known reason to think this golden 3PO droid was the same rusty old one his family had owned 20 years previously.