R2-D2 Is A Galactic Hero
The Unsung Hero
If you watch Star Wars Episodes I through VII, you will notice that many characters reoccur in the films. Luke is in a few. Leia keeps showing up. Darth Vader makes an appearance at the end of Ep. III. Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi is there in both a young and an old version of the character. But, the most consistent characters are C-3PO and R2-D2. Yeah, check it out for yourself. They are in all seven movies. If you just look at the roles played by the duo, it becomes clear that R2 is the hero of the story. That is, if you consider the whole of Star Wars as an account given from one character’s perspective, then it can only be from the perspective of either 3PO or R2. This theory is that the story of Star Wars is told by R2-D2, who is the true hero of the story. Of course, as they say, history is written by the victor. Look at the relationship between C-3PO and R2-D2. R2 is the perpetual savior. He constantly is responsible for speaking with the variety of computers that are encountered, and he always has the right connection. C-3PO, on the other hand, is generally depicted as annoying or foolish. If R2 is the one telling the story, he clearly doesn’t like C-3PO. At every turn he makes 3PO look awful. Example: Luke and Han are trying to rescue Leia and they end up in the trash smasher. R2 is the one who shuts it down and saves the day. 3PO, on the other hand, hears them rejoicing but thinks they are screaming in pain. R2 looks great, 3PO looks like an idiot.
Episode I
In this film, the heroics of R2-D2 are shown as soon as he hits the screen. There are a host of droids sent out to fix the shield generator on the queen’s ship. R2 succeeds where all the other droids fail. Not only that, but then he gets thanked, personally, by the queen. Talk about being full of yourself. Like the queen has nothing better to do than thank a machine for working. That’s essentially what this is. Have you ever made a cup of coffee before work and then stopped getting ready so you could thank the coffee maker for doing it’s job? Yeah, me neither. Later in the movie, Anakin is in a ship that, by way of auto-pilot, gets caught up in the most critical battle of the story. How is this auto-pilot disengaged? Well, naturally, R2 is there and he takes care of it. Once again, R2 tells the story in a way that makes him look good.
Episode II
This one just makes me laugh. Not only does R2 paint himself to be a hero, but he does it in classic style. At the point that the group is in that giant factory, there’s a scene where Padmé is in a giant crucible. Her imminent demise looms on the horizon as each chamber is filled with molten metal. Once again, R2-D2 saves the day by connecting with an alien computer. He topples the container and frees Padmé. The part that makes it so ridiculous? R2 gets the job done by flying! Chronologically, this was the fifth Star Wars movie I had ever seen, and I had never seen R2 fly before. I can just imagine R2 telling the story. As unbelievable as it all sounds, he builds to the climax and inserts flying into the story! It’s like a fisherman with the tale about the one that got away. Every time, the story evolves to be more incredible. “Beep Boop Beep.” Translation: “Oh, yeah. I can totally fly.”
Episode III
In the last installment of the prequels, the opening sequence has a space battle. During this battle, the ship that R2 is on, Anakin’s ship, is attacked by mechanized menaces called buzz droids. These things are like little robotic chop shops. They attack by cutting your ship to bits. When they encounter Anakin’s craft, the prowess of R2-D2 is too much for them. As far as the robot narrative is concerned, this is R2 telling us that compared to all other droids, he’s numero uno. Where other pilots ships are maintained by droids that falter in the clutch situation, Anakin will never fall victim to such a tragedy, for he has R2-D2 watching his back.
Episode IV
Here we see R2 in all his glory. In this film, R2 is chosen by the princess to carry the secret plans for the dreaded Death Star. Who is the recipient? Why it’s a Jedi, obviously. Despite being saddled with the companionship of his nemesis, 3PO, R2 manages to soldier on and carry out his mission with flying colors. Along the way, his path crosses with another Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Yeah, that could happen, this one little droid finding two Jedi on some distant desert planet. Sure…Further on in the story, R2 becomes the droid of choice for Luke Skywalker when he makes his run to destroy said Death Star.
Episode V
Now we come to The Empire Strikes Back. What a great movie. In no small part it’s due to R2 keeping the story moving along. R2 takes Luke from Hoth to Dagobah. He monitors Luke’s training with Yoda. Next, he gets Luke to Bespin. He (again) chats up a foreign computer, this time to learn about the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon. What has C-3PO done in this time? Most significantly, he discovered the Empire in Cloud City, and was promptly blasted to bits before he could tell anyone. R2 is playing 3PO for a fool again. Once the team is on the move, in the Falcon, R2 is the one to rescue them all by fixing the ships hyperdrive.
Episode VI
Once again, R2 has given himself a hero’s role. He and 3PO gain access to the palace of Jabba the Hutt. 3PO is a nervous mess, and R2 is a tough guy. He even talks back to the droid in charge of assigning jobs to them. None the less, when it matters most R2 is where he needs to be to deliver Luke his lightsaber. That’s right. This whole time, R2-D2 has just been strolling around with a weapon on him. It was in his secret compartment. Where did that come from? I don’t know. Hey, I still feel like I just found out about this whole “flying” thing he can do. I guess the hidden pocket is there because R2 needed it to be there for his story. As if that’s not enough, R2 is in the right place at the right time to free Princess Leia after she chokes out Jabba the Hutt. A hero’s work is never done.
Episode VII
So, here we are at The Force Awakens. Like 99% of this film goes by with no R2-D2. Instead we have BB-8 as our droid hero. But, I did say 99%. In the 1% of screen time R2 gets, he shows up to reveal that although the map BB-8 has is incomplete, he has the remaining portions of it. Thanks to R2-D2, the map to find Luke Skywalker is whole and the Resistance is able to locate him. Hip, hip, hooray! What would we do without R2?
Final Thoughts
This isn’t even all the information to support this theory. There’s tons more times that C-3PO gets the short end of the stick. More times that R2 is heroic bordering on insane, like the thing where he sets those super battle droids on fire. Oh, and how could I leave out that he’s at the wedding of Anakin and Padmé as, what I can only assume is, Anakin’s best man. This theory is fun because it starts off sounding ridiculous, but ends looking quite sane. All the archetypes are in place to make Star Wars just another version of Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero’s Journey. Upon viewing Episode IV, it makes sense that the hero in question is Luke Skywalker. However, upon viewing the entirety of Star Wars, a new hero is revealed. This is more than just a theory. The hero of Star Wars really is R2-D2. Now, what do you suppose R2’s job will be in Episode VIII? Maybe R2 is the last Jedi?! That’s for another theory… As for this one, please comment below to tell us if you enjoyed this idea.
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