Now that the prequel trilogy is complete I can now emphatically say that there was no freakin’ point in having R2D2 and C3PO at all! I get the sentiment of “Oh wouldn’t it be nice to have some characters that continue through the entire six movie epic” but they were just jammed in like a square peg into a round hole.
At least they used R2, but C3PO was simply there. He was not involved in the story at all. Really, he served no purpose and including him only meant that a lame half-assed last minute “Have the Protocol Droid’s memory wiped” line would have to be pasted onto the third installment.
R2 was used as a significant character but he doesn’t really need to be R2. If a droid was needed a new one could have been created for the prequel trilogy and we could be left to meet R2 in EpIV (so it would make sense that Obi-wan meets him in EpIV). This would free us from having to accept that “R2 can’t do all that cool action-hero shit any more because he had fallen into disrepair over the 20 years between EpIII and EpIV.”
Does anyone have any justification at all for the inclusion of R2D2 and C3PO in Eps I through III???
C3PO (is it ‘oh’ or zero?) is symbolic of the link between Anakin and his past life as a slave on Tatooine, o.k. I got nothing but at least I had a go at it
I wholeheartedly agree.
In fact this was one of the first things I didn’t like about the Phantom Menace.
How the heck is a small boy going to build a standard protocol-droid all by himself?
Which looks exactly like the protocol droids used everywhere?
Now somebody said he probably built it from parts from defective droids.
Why didn’t they say this?
Instead you are led to believe that this little kid (jippie) built one all from scratch.
The force is strong in this one, indeed.
It was a conceit that he painted himself into a corner with. He tried his best to do it naturally, but like so many other things in the prequels, he kind of failed in his attempt.
Personally, the idea of having the same droid duo throughout the whole series really appeals to me, but you’re right in that they were kind of forced in there. it’s especially annoying when you can see there’d be much better ways to handle it.
A) Threepio could’ve been Padme’s personal protocol droid - as a Queen she’d naturally have a need for one.
B) Artoo could’ve been repaired (not built) by Anakin and been his own personal droid. As someone who is good at fixing things, a mechanic droid makes perfect sense.
C) He could’ve introduced Bail Organa earlier and more naturally and had the droids as a duo and part of his entourage instead, and he offers to loan them to the Jedi Knights for some reason or other.
Anakin and Obi-Wan continue through both trilogies, so they didn’t even need them for that. Even if you consider Anakin and Vader to be different characters, Obi-Wan still fits the bill.
So no, there’s absolutely no reason to have C3P0 or R2D2 in the prequels.
You fail to realize the scope and genius of George Lucases plan
There is no dark side of the force ability to sense other jedi, the future etc.
When Little Anakin built C3PO he put a hyperspace transponder in it, from that point on Anakin/Vader could hear and see everything C3PO hears and sees. Even the memory wipe doesn’t touch the transponder. C3PO was an agent for Anakin/Vader from the start, bwa ha ha ha.
“Artoo Detoo” and “See Theepio” are these characters’ “alternate” names. Who came up with these and why, I have no idea; I think these look ridiculous in print. But it does clear up your question. (That is, “3” is the only number in “C3PO.”)
R2’s actually one of my favorite characters in the saga, so I was happy to see him in the prequels, until he started flying around. That was nuts. R2D2 is a trash can that rolls around. He does not require CGI!!! And with 3PO’s horrible puns in AotC, they really shouldn’t have been in the prequels. Sure, they were comic relief in the originals, but it was a bit subtle. This time, I feel like Lucas took one of 3PO’s detached limbs and started pounding me in the head with it, yelling, “LAUGH! Laugh, god dammit, laugh!”
Now, let’s be fair to C3PO . . . he was almost useless, but not quite. Remember, he did inadvertently save the good guys from being roasted and eaten by the Ewoks in ROTJ. Sure, he had no idea they would mistake him for some kind of god, and technically Luke did all the work, but the fact is if 3PO hadn’t been there at all, Wicket and company probably would have dined on Han-kabobs and Luke-fajitas that evening.
I read something somewhere from back when Lucas was still thinking about doing nine episodes where he said the droids were going to be the only characters in all nine movies.
Artoo is a character sufficiently versatile that he can be fitted into any of the movies without a problem.
Threepeo, on the other hand, has always presented a problem for the writers. His primary skills involve verbage, which doesn’t work in a movie that requires slam-bang action as the Star Wars stuff do. The only time he was used to good effect was for fast-talking Uncle Owen into buying himself and Artoo in ANH; otherwise he’s just an albatross around the story’s neck.
THat’s what I was thinking. R2 was useful at time’s but I can’t remember C3P0 ever doing anything but annoying everyone. It’s basically lucas’s Homage to Kurosawa.
And hey, let’s not forget that on Cloud City he did go around removing the “Danger! Do Not Enter!” signs in ESB, of course Lucas later cut those scenes out for the “Especial Editions.” :rolleyes:
I think that GuanoLad’s nailed the best way for Lucas to have worked them into the prequels.
But if he built it from scratch, why does it have a model number, and closely resemble the silver 3PO droid wandering around Bespin in Empire? And if he did build it out of scrap parts, just how many junked protocol droids are there lying around on a frontier hell-hole like Tatooine? Neither explanation makes any sense, so why have Anakin build him in the first place?
Considering that Anakin was (a) living in a city with a spaceport, and (b) might have been building C-3PO for years, this isn’t that hard to believe.
Some schmucks land at Tattoine for a layover, the dust makes their creaky 3PO unit fall apart, Watto picks it up for salvage, Anakin picks a few parts, lather, rince, repeat.
Why do they need to *do * anything? They were just there for entertainment.
Really. Many, many directors try to put comic relief in otherwise serious stories. Whether they were actually funny or not is up to the viewer, but that was their purpose. 3PO’s was to be a bumbling idiot, and R2D2 to be an amiable sidekick.
