Random Star Wars prequels question

[Halfshell]

I've just watched all three of them, so admit my brain's a bit zapped and as such might be missing something obvious...

But what's the point of C3PO being in them?

At all?

R2 plays an actual active role, and we know from the original film that he's the property of Obi-Wan, so that makes sense.

But other than provide an "ah, Anakin built him... and none of the Skywalkers know!" bit of limp irony, along with some not-actually-funny attempted comic relief... what's he for?

I seriously don't get why he's in it. Especially as his presence facilitates Senator Organa having to wipe his mind at the end of Sith, for no apparent reason other than "uhm, we have to explain why he doesn't know about all this stuff in the originals".

... am I missing something here? Beyond fanboy-placating.

Admittedly you can say similar to this about a lot of the other characters who crop up (Chewie, for example). But most of them are limited to about one scene in one film. Threepio's in all of them.

I... just don't get it.

Oh, and can somebody please at least lie and tell me that Palpatine's spiel about Darth Whatever being able to manipulate the midichlorians to create life was a half-handed way of explaining Anakin's immaculate conception. Please?

[CounterPunch]

My view was purely because they wouldnt dare using R2D2 on his own

[Jetfire]

Of all prequel questions you ask "Why jar Jar?" Isn't it? It's the eternal question

At least Threepio serves to translate and explain R2 to the people viewing the film. And Threepio was a least rather funny in the last 3rd of "Attack of the Clones".

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by Jetfire
Of all prequel questions you ask "Why jar Jar?" Isn't it? It's the eternal question

Jar Jar serves a narrative purpose. He's a link to the underwater folks on Naboo, who provide the army for the fight later in the film.

He's also fairly integral to Ep II, as his eagerness to please allows Palpatine to manipulate him into voting in Padmé's stead.

At least Threepio serves to translate and explain R2 to the people viewing the film.

That'll do. Translation for R2. I can work with that.

[inflatable dalek]

Couldn't any translator droid have done that? Hell, all of R2's bits could have been done by other astro droids as well. 3P0's only there because Lucas had been saying for years the droids would be in all six (or nine depending on what the plan was that week), it's just when he came to do it he didn't hava anything for the character to do, so we wind up with what's nearly the last ever Star Wars moment being the mental rape of two of the most beloved characters being played for laughs.

One question I have- Is the fact Anakin and Darth are the same person supposed to be a big secret that no one knows? That would be the only way the proper films would make sense considering Luke is living on a planet where everyone knows his Dad and then is in a Rebel Alliance where vadar is a well know foe- But on the other hand Anakin takes the name before his accident and there's no real reason for the truth to be kept quiet and Palpatine could easily use it to his advantage with getting public support (Look what those Jedi did to the only one of their number to stay loyal to me!).

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
Couldn't any translator droid have done that?

Well yes. But by the same token you could argue that one isn't even needed.

I was after clarification on what he does... because it seemed he was only there to be there.

Hell, all of R2's bits could have been done by other astro droids as well.

The fact it's R2 works, because all through the first bit of Ep IV he's claiming to be the property of Kenobe.

so we wind up with what's nearly the last ever Star Wars moment being the mental rape of two of the most beloved characters being played for laughs.

One of them. Organa only orders Threepio's memory to be blanked. R2 presumably knows what's going on.

One question I have- Is the fact Anakin and Darth are the same person supposed to be a big secret that no one knows? That would be the only way the proper films would make sense considering Luke is living on a planet where everyone knows his Dad and then is in a Rebel Alliance where vadar is a well know foe- But on the other hand Anakin takes the name before his accident and there's no real reason for the truth to be kept quiet and Palpatine could easily use it to his advantage with getting public support (Look what those Jedi did to the only one of their number to stay loyal to me!).

Palpatine's beyond PR stunts by that point. He's in charge. He doesn't need public support. The only direct opposition is the rebel alliance, led by Organa - who saw the Clone Troopers killing a Jedi kid. Why bother demonising the Jedi to the general public when there are only two left and they're in hiding?

The Jedi were wiped out. Sidious acquired a new apprentice called Vader. Very few people would have reason to know it's Anakin. And even those who did are hardly going to go off to a remote desert rock like Tattooine shouting it.

"Everybody knows his dad" is stretching it a bit. "You know Owen Lars? Well his stepmum's kid who was a slave and then freed and went off ended up being a Jedi" would be the talk. Flying bug man who used to own him didn't recognise Anakin upon his return in Ep II. The Jedi are wiped out. Obiwan likely told Owen that Anakin had died. Only Sidious, Yoda, Obiwan and Nute Gunray are shown to know that Anakin is now Vader. Anybody from that point on who meets the guy in the suit would only know his previous identity if it was pointed out. And there'd be no burning reason to do that.

In the twenty odd years between III and IV, the name he used to go by is going to fall into the file marked "inconsequential".

So Luke's got the name Skywalker? Doesn't necessarily follow that it's Anakin's kid.

"Hey, you know Vader used to be a Jedi?"
"Yeah? I thought they all died. Which one was he?"
"... I dunno. I wasn't there."
"So you've got no actual proof, then?"
"It's what I heard."

Feh.

[inflatable dalek]

Originally posted by Halfshell
The fact it's R2 works, because all through the first bit of Ep IV he's claiming to be the property of Kenobe.



One of them. Organa only orders Threepio's memory to be blanked. R2 presumably knows what's going on.

It's both of them that gets mind wiped isn't it? I was under the impression R2's only claiming to be owned by kenobi in IV because of his mission to deliver the plans, not because he remembers anything. Not zapping both of them would be hugely stupid on Organa's part unless he's assuming anyone after information wouldn't got to the effort of just using a translator droid to understand what he's saying.

"You know Owen Lars? Well his stepmum's kid who was a slave and then freed and went off ended up being a Jedi" would be the talk.

Yup, so even without knowing he's vadar it's a bit odd that none of the Lars friends and neighbours ever once mentioned it to Luke (Who's parentage never seems to have been a secret unlike Leia).

[Hound]

Originally posted by Halfshell
"Hey, you know Vader used to be a Jedi?"
"Yeah? I thought they all died. Which one was he?"
"... I dunno. I wasn't there."
"So you've got no actual proof, then?"
"It's what I heard."

Feh.

Well wouldn't he have to be? I kind of figured that any Sith apprentice was bound to have been a Jedi that's been turned.

I don't know if anyone else came to this conclusion but isn't Palpatine the Master Sifidius(sp?) Jedi that orders the clones from the water planet people? I figured that was him, that "Palpatine" was an alias he'd created to disguise the fact that he was a former Jedi Master that had faked his death and truned to the dark side.

I'm probably completely off base here and it's probably all been spelled out in the novels but my knowledge of Star Wars lore is limited to the movies and that trilogy that Timothy Zahn wrote.

[Clay]

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
It's both of them that gets mind wiped isn't it?

Nope, just the C3P0. I remember distinctly because it was one of the points of the film that I liked: R2 being a smug little ass who knows exactly what's going on for the remainder of the films but won't tell anyone because he's a smug little ass. I was amused by that.

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by Hound
Well wouldn't he have to be? I kind of figured that any Sith apprentice was bound to have been a Jedi that's been turned.

Pretty much, yeah.

I don't know if anyone else came to this conclusion but isn't Palpatine the Master Sifidius(sp?) Jedi that orders the clones from the water planet people? I figured that was him, that "Palpatine" was an alias he'd created to disguise the fact that he was a former Jedi Master that had faked his death and truned to the dark side.

Hrm. Based off the films alone, I guess it's plausible. He would have needed to have changed his looks considerably to pass himself of as a senator, having previously served on the Jedi Council.

It's possible that blokey who ordered the Clones was the alternate identity of Sidious' master.

Or that they just used the name of that Jedi when placing the order. "Hi, I'm such and such." They're not gonna know different, are they?

Anyway, why's it called Attack of the Clones, anyway? Surely it should be called "Delivery of the Clones" or something. There wasn't much Sith Revenge going on in episode III either. More a "final stage of the Sith's plan" thing. Ho hum.

[Getaway]

As someone who is up to date with Star Wars canon I can tell you that no the galaxy does not know that Vader is the great hero Anakin Skywalker, they therefore do not know that Luke is his son until Luke himself announces it about 6-7 years after Endor.

R2-D2 was not memory wiped so was able to show Luke and leia video footage of their father killing their mother..nice. Artoo in fact is the only character who knows everything that has happened or at least he was.

Sifo-Dyas was not Palpatine, but was a non council member Jedi master who was Dooku's best mate and had the same reservations and concerns as Dooku about the Republic and the jedi. Sifo-Dyas did contact the Kaminoans regarding clones, but was not under the influence of Palpatine. Dooku murdered Sifo-Dyas and then claimed his identity in order to place the order at Kamino.

[secretcode]

Originally posted by Halfshell
Anyway, why's it called Attack of the Clones, anyway? Surely it should be called "Delivery of the Clones" or something. There wasn't much Sith Revenge going on in episode III either. More a "final stage of the Sith's plan" thing. Ho hum.

I'm still trying to figure out who the "Phantom Menace" was? Was it Vader, the Emperor, The Trade Federation or Jar Jar?

Screw It... It's Jar Jar.

[Sociopathic Autobot]

Originally posted by Maju Garzett
I'm still trying to figure out who the "Phantom Menace" was? Was it Vader, the Emperor, The Trade Federation or Jar Jar?

Screw It... It's Jar Jar.

Either this is a really bad joke or you really are an idiot.

Actually either way you're an idiot.

[Zisteau]

Originally posted by Halfshell
I've just watched all three of them, so admit my brain's a bit zapped and as such might be missing something obvious...

But what's the point of C3PO being in them?

Erm, because Lucas is a terrible writer and was recycling as much original trilogy material and characters as he could in an attempt to cover it up. Look at how boring all the new trilogy characters are.

Originally posted by Maju Garzett
I'm still trying to figure out who the "Phantom Menace" was? Was it Vader, the Emperor, The Trade Federation or Jar Jar?

Screw It... It's Jar Jar.

Gee, it couldn't have been that phantom-y guy Sidious on the phantom-y hologram thing manipulating things from both sides to create a war to benefit himself could it? Or the fact that the dispute he engineered was completed fabricated.

[Halfshell]

Must say that I do think it hilarious that the front for the villains in Episode I is basically a glorified trade union.

... and did I mis-hear, or were the bankers on the committee in Ep II?

Reckon Lucas has some issues?

[Jetfire]

Gee, it couldn't have been that phantom-y guy Sidious on the phantom-y hologram thing manipulating things from both sides to create a war to benefit himself could it? Or the fact that the dispute he engineered was completed fabricated.

Wasn't it Darth Maul? Because he wasn't the real threat and at the end the Jedi are still not in the know.

[inflatable dalek]

The whole idea of R2 not getting memory wiped for the sake of a crap joke is officially the biggest load of hairy old bollocks in the entire Star Wars universe. And that's speaking as someone who likes the two most recent films more than Return of the Jedi...

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
The whole idea of R2 not getting memory wiped for the sake of a crap joke is officially the biggest load of hairy old bollocks in the entire Star Wars universe.

Stop talking rubbish.

R2 isn't not-wiped for the sake of a crap joke. Threepio's mind is wiped for no reason other than to negate the continuity problems introduced by his completely unnecessary presence.

The fact Clay finds R2's omniscience amusing is neither here nor there.

[inflatable dalek]

R2's foreknowledge is just as much of a problem as 3P0's despite him being more relevant to the plot of the Prequels. The whole thing seems to be based on the assumption he won't tell anyone because he can't speak English. Which is a crap joke.

[Warcry]

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
R2's foreknowledge is just as much of a problem as 3P0's despite him being more relevant to the plot of the Prequels. The whole thing seems to be based on the assumption he won't tell anyone because he can't speak English. Which is a crap joke.

Nah, it's based on the assumption that they can trust him to keep their secrets because, unlike C-3P0, R2 isn't a blathering idiot and he knows when to keep his proverbial mouth shut.

It might not make perfect sense (I'm sure some of the things he knew about from the prequels would have helped out the Rebels a lot...at the very least, knowing that Vader's son had joined the Alliance could have been parlayed into a massive propaganda victory), but knowing all about the prequels and not telling anyone does fit with R2's previously established personality.