C-3PO and R2-D2 Expanded

C-3PO and R2-D2 are the two characters are the galaxies witness within all six movies. They’ve carried secrets and been the comedy as well as the unexpected heroes of many adventures. But even droids have character growth, at least when they haven’t had a memory wipe. And their shared adventures go far beyond what is seen on the movie screen. They are often unsung heroes in their own right and have made a difference to both individuals and the galaxy.

Friends and Masters

The line between master and friend was often blurred. While Threepio longed for someone to tell him what to do, only some were worthy of their loyalty or lasted any length of time. So this may not be a complete list.

• Anakin Skywalker
• Padme Amidala Skywalker
• Bail Organa
• Luke Skywalker
• Leia Organa Solo
• Thall Joben and Jord Dusat
• Jann Tosh
• Mungo Baobob (of the Baobob Merchant Fleet)
• The Pitareeze Family
• Ambassador Zell
• Kirk Windjammer and Prince Jagoda

Enemies

Ultimately, anyone that threatened their friends and masters was an enemy. But on a very personal level, the danger of demolition, dismantling or mind wipes put anyone who would do such on the list. That might even include Bail Organa though he had the best of motives! Still they encountered many whose motives were not good at all!

• The Empire
• Admiral Screed
• The Great Heep (an extra galactic droid working for the Empire)
• The Fromm Gang
• Reddjack the pirate
• Boba Fett and BL-17 (one of his droids)
• Governor Koong
• Kybo Ren Cha
• The Red Terror (The Telti red guard droids)

Birth of C-3PO and R2-D2

C-3PO (See-Threepio)

C-3PO was built from the scrapped remains of a droid on Tatooine by Anakin Skywalker. The droid’s cognitive module is actually comprised of the salvaged parts of three brains. Anakin stripped out the working parts and combined them in a fashion that most professional engineers and mechanics would agree could not work. The eyes came from a droid in Watto’s shop which he secretly switched out, since the originals were beyond repair. Anakin was unable to complete him before leaving with the Jedi, so for many years his parts remained showing, until Shmi Skywalker covered him with plain metal plating. It wasn’t until he came into Padme’s household that he received the gold coverings.

R2-D2 (Artoo Detoo)

Artoo was built by Industrial Automaton and his first assignment was in the Royal House of Naboo who gave him various modifications. He served first under King Veruna in starfighter service, but went on to be assigned to the Royal Starship under Amidala. At this time he already had a reputation as a prankster, using his rockets in ways not intended and teaching the other droids to do the same. He distinguished himself first in repairing the shields under heavy fire, as they blasted away from the Naboo occupation.

Growth

C-3PO and R2-D2 being droids, aren’t some you would expect to ‘grow’ in the usual sense. But they surely did. R2 became bolder as his adventures with Anakin continued. His adventurous streak mirrored his master and never really wore off. But he did become wiser over time and a bit more cautious. He was headstrong but reluctant to be left alone – just witness his refusal to stay put on Dagobah. This may be a leftover affect of remembering what happened to the last Skywalker he had let out of his sight.

C-3PO meanwhile grew in other ways. Initially, the droid hated adventure and space travel. He had only just gotten the hang of flying when his memory was erased. This also had the side effect of making the talkative droid more arrogant. While before his belief that being programmed to understand people gave him authority, afterward he no longer remembered his humble beginnings. It would be some time before Threepio once more would help fly a ship (and then, not well.) The droid did not prefer adventure yet became truly heroic when his friends were in danger, even risking being scrapped.

Adventures

The Prequels

C-3PO and R2-D2 first met on Tatooine when Anakin met Padme. Artoo had already distinguished himself by repairing the Naboo ship’s shields while under heavy fire. Threepio however would remain behind when Anakin, along with Artoo, left on the Queen’s ship. It would be years before disaster brought Anakin back, at which time he was living a quiet life on the farm with the Lars. They gave Threepio back to Anakin upon his Mother’s death, which was rough for Threepio as his first encounter with the greater galaxy was the outbreak of the Clone Wars.

Anakin could have no possessions and had no real use for his droid friend, he gave him to his new wife, Padme. For some time C-3PO and R2-D2 were together in her household, sometimes sending messages between her and Anakin. This continued until Anakin was promoted to knight and received a new starfighter that could accommodate a larger astromech like Artoo. From then on the small droid battled heroically alongside Anakin, copiloting the fighter, hacking into enemy systems, and even taking down battle droids. R2-D2 and C-3PO were reunited when Anakin visited his wife, and both were privy to their secret marriage and communication.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck when Anakin, seduced by promise of power to save Padme from death, fell to the Dark Side and betrayed his friends. R2 was witness to events that confused him, seeing his master behave in ways unlike himself. When Padme was caught in the crossfire in Obi-Wan and Anakin turned Vader’s confrontation, C-3PO and R2-D2 got her onto her ship and went to Polis Massa hoping she could be healed. Sadly, the visions came true of her death, leaving the droids in the hands of Bail Organa.

C-3PO and R2-D2 would get a shock when Organa ordered Threepio’s memory erased lest his talkative nature spill the truth of the birth of the twins, one of which he was adopting. R2’s memory would be untouched but secured. He had long held military secrets and wasn’t as talkative in any case. In spite of C-3PO’s ignorance the two droids did remain together as counterparts, and at one point R2 managed to upset the baby Leia in an attempt to keep her well away from his former master, now Darth Vader.

The Interim

At one point C-3PO and R2-D2 found themselves separated from their the Organa family, a fact which may have caused some angst on it’s discovery. As unlikely as it might’ve seemed, it would be potential disaster for Vader to recognize the droids and backtrack their path looking for information on his late wife. Fortunately, nothing so tragic happened. The droids had many adventures with various masters, some of whom were friends.

For a time C-3PO and R2-D2 were with pirates (who were responsible for their accidental ejection in an escape pod from the Alderaanian ship), but for the most part they found themselves with good people. They helped take down the Fromm gang and their Trigon One weapon to help the racing team of Thall Joben, Jord Dursan, and Kea Moll the rebel. They aided Jann Tosh in restoring Mon Julpa to the throne of Tamuuzan, defeating the pirate Kybo Ren Cha. They were great help to Mungo Baobob in kicking the Empire off Biitu and stopping the Great Heep from feeding off astromechs while stealing the people’s water for mining, leaving them starving.

They also helped the Pitareeze family of Kalarba, aided Unit Zed of Hosk station security and even led to stopping the likes of Olag Grek, and defeating the Star Runners who were poaching exotic animals. Oddly enough one of the things they were called on to do was babysit. Ambassador Zell’s son, Nak Pitareeze, Coby, as well as a young prince all were thrown at them leading to unexpected adventure. This experience would later stand them in good stead.

During this time C-3PO and R2-D2 had a great deal of freedom. When they felt they were hindering rather than serving a Master they moved on. Artoo was usually the more adventurous of the two, but Threepio’s incredible loyalty also drove him to take heroic risks for his friends.

The Original Trilogy

C-3PO and R2-D2 finally made their way back to the Organa’s, only to be chosen for a job that, had things gone to plan, may well have gotten both their memories wiped or worse. They were faking repairs to the Tantive IV as Operation Skyhook went down, as Princess Leia received the transmission of the Death Star plans. Ejecting in an escape pod, R2-D2 would set out on the quest to deliver the plans to Kenobi. Along the way he encountered jawas which took him back to the Lars farm with Luke Skywalker. Being mind wiped, Threepio of course had no memory of the place.

It was C-3PO and R2-D2 therefore, that set Luke Skywalker’s destiny in motion. As R2 tricked him into removing a restraining bolt, Luke found himself forced to chase the small droid right to Kenobi. On discovering the death of his guardians, Luke would then join the quest to deliver the plans. R2 wasn’t done yet though. When they were sucked into the Death Star, R2 searched the computers and found where they were hiding Leia, Luke’s secret sister. As the organics went to rescue her, the droids waited. Threepio improvised an excuse to leave when the Empire found them and keeping in touch with Luke and the others, aided their escape from the detention block.

R2-D2 would go on to ally with Luke, flying his fighter as he once flew with Anakin and added a death star kill to all those battle droids he’d taken on in the Clone Wars. He got shot by Vader in the process so it was hard earned. Things were a bit rough after that. They were sent on scouting missions and not all the places they went were conducive to droids. Undercover missions to spy on the Empire, find new bases, locate lost Rebels, they did it all. It got messy at times, when Threepio got shot apart by the Empire on finding out about their Bespin trap. Artoo meanwhile was nearly eaten by a swamp slug.

C-3PO’s moment to shine really came during the Endor mission. The droid was mistaken for a deity by the ewoks, and he translated the highlights of the war with the Empire, complete with sound effects. This led to them joining the Alliance, helping them find a back door in and providing a diversion when the Empire sprang their trap. Threepio and Artoo both aided in this, as it was Threepio who shouted to the Empire, drew them into the woods, so the Ewoks could strike. R2 fared the worse in this, taking a blaster bolt and nearly frying all his circuits as he tried to slice the door.

New Republic

C-3PO and R2-D2 wouldn’t get to rest entirely just yet. The Emperor was dead but the remnants of the Empire fought on. Their missions would be hazardous to life and limb of droid or organic.

C-3PO and R2-D2 would often be separated as Luke would take Artoo and Leia had Threepio. Artoo carried the world devastator plans and master shutdown code, helping the New Republic save the Mon Calamari from the Empire. Threepio would often be called on as babysitter for the Solo children. Both were enlisted to seek out Jedi candidates by going through computer records. When C-3PO was on the Eye of Palpatine he had to care for his injured master while dodging jawas. R2 on Belsavis was mind controlled by an enemy who had learned to use his power to control organics. His friends had to short him out after he nearly killed them.

It was C-3PO and R2-D2 who set out to warn the Republic about Leia’s kidnapping on a mission near Nam Chorios and the Death Seed plague. They had no idea who to trust and all the rest of the fleet was dead. When Artoo discovered detonators in rebuilt X-Wings right after the Senate was bombed, he was shot. Soon after he and 3PO found the new droids in the Senate the detonators. As no one was available who could take action, C-3PO and R2-D2 went to the Telti moon source of the computers and droids, where they risked memory wipe or destruction to foil Brakiss and Kueller from murdering millions.

Fate of C-3PO and R2-D2

It is unknown what became of C-3PO in the long run. But R2-D2 was still with the Jedi generations later. It is possible Threepio was as well, and simply went unmentioned. If so, and they haven’t been reprogrammed, the droids are both history and witnesses of it many times over. Their heroic exploits go unreported and underrated but many individual lives have been altered for the better by their presence in galactic affairs.