# The Great Droid Amnesia & Other Questions SITH Must Answer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369 "2005-05-18T06:59:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@The\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hook)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/61 "2005-05-18T20:52:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But this also makes it a bit more puzzling that Owen doesn’t recognize Threepio. Yeah, he had plenty of droids (we see at least half a dozen in the background, working), but most of them would be out in the fields, and only come back to the house when they needed maintenance. Threepio, though, would have been working closely with the humans, in the house. And he probably had sentimental value to Shmi, which would probably translate to sentimental value to the rest of the family after she died. I can see Owen forgetting about Harvest Droid #47, but it’s a bit tougher to forget Mom’s Favorite Droid who Helped Out with the Chores. Which is exactly why they let him go with Anakin without as much as an inquiry? 😉 Now that I think about it, that would have made a very good scene. Owen (or whoever) comes to Anakin, completely devastated by his mother’s death: Owen: Wait… Anakin, that’s our droid. Mom really liked it and so did we. He’s helpful around the house. Where are you taking– Anakin: _turns on lightsaber_ Owen: Oh, okay. You can have him. T’was but a droid, anyway. I would like that. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/62 "2005-05-18T21:05:55Z")
> [@The Hook](#): > > Which is exactly why they let him go with Anakin without as much as an inquiry? 😉 Now that I think about it, that would have made a very good scene. Owen (or whoever) comes to Anakin, completely devastated by his mother’s death: > > Owen: Wait… Anakin, that’s our droid. Mom really liked it and so did we. He’s helpful around the house. Where are you taking– > Anakin: _turns on lightsaber_ > Owen: Oh, okay. You can have him. T’was but a droid, anyway. > > I would like that. Hijacking a bit, but I thought it would have made more sense if Owen had been Luke’s half-brother as opposed to stepbrother, the son of Cliegg and Shmi born very soon after Annakin left Tatooine. That would have explained his willingness to take Luke a bit better. (Supposedly ROTS will explain why of all people Ben chooses Owen [whom he’s never met]). A scene that I thought should have been in _Clones_ was the Sandpeople. You see Anakin find his mom, she dies (having been beaten and presumably raped [why would they have kidnapped some farmer’s wife just to beat her?]) and Ani gets mad and whacks a couple of Sandpeople and there it ends. Personally I think it’s the odd movie scene that needed _more_ violence and gore: the audience should have _seen_ him hacking Sandmen, Sandwomen and Sandchildren, completely giving into rage (or at very least seeing him hack up several Sandadults and then pause when he came to the children, and later in his tearful bratty tell-all to Padme admit he killed the children too). It’s the pivotal moment in his development. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/63 "2005-05-18T21:07:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I thought it would have made more sense if Owen had been Luke’s half-brother as opposed to stepbrother Should have read > [@Sampiro](#): > > I thought it would have made more sense if Owen had been Anakin’s half-brother as opposed to stepbrother ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/64 "2005-05-18T21:42:21Z")
Probably because I scrubbed _AotC_ from my own memory banks so successfully, I’m hearing a little homunculus in my head shouting “Owen Lars Clieg Lars’s son from a previous relationship! He’s not Shmi Skywalker-Lars’s offspring! Owen has no consanguineous relationship to Anakin, Luke, and Leia!” Probably because when we first meet Owen and his girlfriend Beru, he appears to be _about the same age_ as Anakin, rather than ten or eleven years younger (not that it signifies anything, but Joel Edgerton is about seven years older than Hayden Christensen). Can somebody check me on that point, please, so I can get the homunculus to shut up? ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/65 "2005-05-18T22:03:16Z")
Ok - so I wasted time at the bookstore reading the “novelization” - my continuity questions for you fanboys: 1. If Darth Vader’s so smart and strong in the force, how come he doesn’t get a strange vibe when he’s on a ship with his own daughter in that first movie? 2. Why is Luke’s biological father more important to him than his adopted father? If you ask me, Luke’s real father is the one who changed the diapers, tucked him into bed at night, helped out with droids mechanics shop class homework, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/66 "2005-05-18T22:26:57Z")
Knock knock… Who’s there? Shmi. Shmi who? ‘Shmi an’ I’m pished again. Op’n th’ fuggen door! ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/67 "2005-05-18T22:27:10Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > No, his last name is Beru. Beru is his wife’s first name. Recall the original Star Wars, when Luke rushed back to the farmstead in a panic after discovering the slaughtered Jawas. He looked around, calling “Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?” only to find their charred corpses. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/68 "2005-05-18T22:51:01Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > Binary load-lifters. \ They’re the kind that say “I’ve only got two hands, you know.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/69 "2005-05-18T22:59:54Z")
> [@well he's back](#): > > 1. Why is Luke’s biological father more important to him than his adopted father? If you ask me, Luke’s real father is the one who changed the diapers, tucked him into bed at night, helped out with droids mechanics shop class homework, etc. etc. “etc. etc.” apparently including “discouraged him from calling him ‘Dad,’ or thinking of the pair of them as his parents.” Seriously, I’m not quite getting your drift here. Is there any behavior of Luke’s that supports the notion that he ever subordinated his relationship with Owen and Beru to his relationship wth Anakin (keep in mind that the timelines of those relationships – in the context of Luke being aware of them – were non-overlapping)? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/70 "2005-05-18T23:15:53Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > I am pretty sure that is the case. He did slave in a junk yard after all. Not to mention Watto says something about his ability to fix things. Gotta be careful about kids like that. One day they’re living in a shed fixing things and the next they grab a slingblade cut your head off. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/71 "2005-05-18T23:19:03Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > 1. When does Darth Vader grow about a foot taller? “We can rebuild him. We can make him better. The Cost: 6 million dollars” ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/72 "2005-05-18T23:26:15Z")
{Quote:=adam yax] I am pretty sure that is the case. He did slave in a junk yard after all. Not to mention Watto says something about his ability to fix things. [/quote] > [@HPL](#): > > Gotta be careful about kids like that. One day they’re living in a shed fixing things and the next they grab a slingblade cut your head off. Most folks call it a sling blade, but I call it a Kaiser blade. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/73 "2005-05-18T23:47:45Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Yes, here’s something that drives me crazy: robots & automation. > > When there are nothing but robots onscreen, why do they need to talk to each other? Shouldn’t they be able to communicate through, I dunno, radio waves or something? Electronic communication??? 😕 We tried that. Then we found out that the robots were plotting againest us. That’s why they have to speak common/english, even if we’re not around. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/74 "2005-05-19T00:36:43Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > Beru is his wife’s first name. :smack: You’re right. Last name is Lars, still not Skywalker, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@The\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hook)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/75 "2005-05-19T01:16:52Z")
> [@well he's back](#): > > 1. If Darth Vader’s so smart and strong in the force, how come he doesn’t get a strange vibe when he’s on a ship with his own daughter in that first movie? Vader’s in clear denial. He looks at her and is reminded of Padme, a feeling he is quick to shun away, so his concentration is lacking there. Whenever he feels something from here, he either chokes somebody or brings the gigantic, hypodermic bowling ball to torture people. The man has issues, ok? > [@](#): > > 1. Why is Luke’s biological father more important to him than his adopted father? If you ask me, Luke’s real father is the one who changed the diapers, tucked him into bed at night, helped out with droids mechanics shop class homework, etc. etc. No, he isn’t. First of all, he knows that’s his uncle. Second, he’s been living with tales of his father being a legend. Great Jedi, fought in the Clone Wars, was one heck of a pilot: things that Luke likes as well. Three years after his uncle’s death he finds out his dad is a cyborg who also happens to be an Imperial leader who froze one of his friends and tried to kill his sister. The boy has issues, ok? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/76 "2005-05-19T01:18:16Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > They’re the kind that say “I’ve only got two hands, you know.” Oddly enough, those are called analog lifters. Binary lifters can only pick up zeroes and ones. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/77 "2005-05-19T01:39:27Z")
> [@The Hook](#): > > Vader’s in clear denial. He looks at her and is reminded of Padme, a feeling he is quick to shun away, so his concentration is lacking there. Whenever he feels something from here, he either chokes somebody or brings the gigantic, hypodermic bowling ball to torture people. The man has issues, ok? > > No, he isn’t. First of all, he knows that’s his uncle. Second, he’s been living with tales of his father being a legend. Great Jedi, fought in the Clone Wars, was one heck of a pilot: things that Luke likes as well. Three years after his uncle’s death he finds out his dad is a cyborg who also happens to be an Imperial leader who froze one of his friends and tried to kill his sister. The boy has issues, ok? 😃 No, Luke grew up being told his father was a run-of-the-mill freighter pilot. Owen Lars & Beru didn’t want him to know who his father was, that would bring attention from the Bad Mofo and they certainly didn’t want any of that! When they’d met him 22 years ago, he killed a whole tribe of Sand People (Tuscan raiders), an action that had probably wrought lasting consequences. He also left with their protocol droid, who, (although annoying) was very handy to have around. [paraphrase]Ben Kenobi tells Luke that his father was a great Jedi knight who fought along side him in the Clone Wars. Luke says “really? I heard he was a freighter pilot”. "Oh, no, your father was the best _Fighter_ pilot I ever knew, and a good friend and confidant until he was killed by the Eeeevil Darth Vader, a rival Jedi who’d been seduced by the dark side of the Force.[/paraphrase] ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/78 "2005-05-19T01:49:59Z")
> [@The Hook](#): > > Vader’s in clear denial. He looks at her and is reminded of Padme, a feeling he is quick to shun away, so his concentration is lacking there. Whenever he feels something from here, he either chokes somebody or brings the gigantic, hypodermic bowling ball to torture people. The man has issues, ok? Heh. The 1978 NPR radio series expands on Leia’s torture session. After the floaty bowling ball shoots her full of Sopethal (or whatever the heck it’s called in Basic) and Leia’s snugly in a hypnotic state, he gets the information about the Yavin base out of her by suggesting that he’s her father. “Tell me, Leia… \ Tell your father… \” ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/79 "2005-05-19T04:06:36Z")
Well, I saw RotS last night, and a lot of these questions are answered, specifically: Anakin never knows they’re twins…no one does until right before they are born. C-3PO and R2 DO get a memory wipe at the end of the film (they’re taken back by Bail Organa and given a ‘Mind Wipe.’) Luke is brought back to Tatooine (with Obi-Wan in tow, to protect him from afar) because that’s where his family is. Leia is given to the Organa’s because Bail and his wife have been looking to adopt a baby girl. The reason Leia remembers her mother is not addressed…I have to assume that Leia’s memory is simply based on her adoptive mother, who must die a few years after the end of RotS. If Leia, at the time, didn’t know about the adoption, she would always assume she was an Organa, until Luke tells her otherwise 3 minutes later. Other things of note: The duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty sweet. I’d say it’s the best lightsaber duel of the 6 films. Loved the film…it’s truly a return to Star Wars form. Stands up with the OT and puts the other two prequels to shame. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369/80 "2005-05-19T04:10:40Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > Well, I saw RotS last night, and a lot of these questions are answered, specifically: > > Anakin never knows they’re twins…no one does until right before they are born. > C-3PO and R2 DO get a memory wipe at the end of the film (they’re taken back by Bail Organa and given a ‘Mind Wipe.’) > Luke is brought back to Tatooine (with Obi-Wan in tow, to protect him from afar) because that’s where his family is. Leia is given to the Organa’s because Bail and his wife have been looking to adopt a baby girl. > The reason Leia remembers her mother is not addressed…I have to assume that Leia’s memory is simply based on her adoptive mother, who must die a few years after the end of RotS. If Leia, at the time, didn’t know about the adoption, she would always assume she was an Organa, until Luke tells her otherwise 3 minutes later. > > Other things of note: The duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty sweet. I’d say it’s the best lightsaber duel of the 6 films. > > Loved the film…it’s truly a return to Star Wars form. Stands up with the OT and puts the other two prequels to shame. Did you recognize Lucas? How is Christensen’s acting? Does Yoda fight in this one? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-droid-amnesia-other-questions-sith-must-answer/304369.md?page=5)