Providential Droids: Why Threepio and Artoo Matter

In George Lucas's 1977 classic Star Wars (now known as Episode IV- A New Hope), robots R2-D2 (the late Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) make a daring escape from a captured Rebel ship aboard an escape pod. While Threepio initially refuses to follow his companion, blaster fire from a Stormtrooper quickly changes his tune. "I'm going to regret this," the golden android whinges as he waddles his way into the pod.

Despite his grievances with Artoo's attitude upon arrival on wasteland planet Tatooine, Threepio just can't seem to stay too far away from the little trash can-shaped droid. Splitting up? Both of them find themselves in the ownership of the Jawa scavengers. A red droid being chosen by a young moisture farmer instead of R2? The red droid short-circuits and Artoo is reunited with his companion.

These scenes may seem like they're only there to push the plot along (and they are), but I see something deeper in all this. You see, the true protagonists of Star Wars aren't human. Heck, they're not even organic. Artoo and Threepio are the real heroes of the story, brought together by the will of the Force to guide both Anakin and Luke Skywalker.

And in this article, you're going to hear why.

THE PREQUELS- An Unexpected Partnership

You'd think that I'd start with the "original trilogy" (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi), but I feel as if the prequels provide a good deal of material to dissect and explore. I rewatched the prequels recently, and they were slightly better than I remembered. Foibles related to Jar Jar and acting aside, these movies are still a good deal of fun.

Beginning with The Phantom Menace, the droid duo don't show up until a third of the way into the film. Artoo first appears alongside a squad of droids attempting to repair Padmé's cruiser. Notably, he is the only one to succeed in repairing the cruiser (the other droids were gunned down). Speaking in a Doylist manner, he has to survive or the original trilogy couldn't happen. From a Watsonian perspective, however, his survival can be interpreted as the Force choosing to protect the young droid.

Threepio is introduced closer to the halfway point, portrayed as a skeletal figure made of ramshackle parts by young slave and mechanic Anakin Skywalker. His role within the movie is minimal, but his interactions with Artoo are (to paraphrase Casablanca) the start of a beautiful friendship. Conversely, Artoo plays a role within the film's climax, guiding young Anakin as he fumbles through destroying the Trade Federation command ship.

Lucas commonly referred to Star Wars as "like poetry", and The Phantom Menace has many parallels back to the 1977 original. A wise mentor being struck down by a black-clad villain (with the dead mentor here being the mentor to a young Obi-Wan Kenobi), the destruction of a spherical craft of doom by a hotshot pilot, and a farm boy from Tatooine taking up the Jedi ways. And while they don't play nearly as large a role as they did in the original film, TPM shows Artoo to be acting on his own accords- something he'd later be known to do.

Attack of the Clones pushes the droids to the background, although their roles aren't without merit. They aid a now-teenage Anakin and Padmé as they work through a Trade Federation factory (with Artoo displaying his rocket boosters and Threepio having his body swapped with that of a battle droid's) and are the sole witnesses to the young couple's wedding. Revenge of the Sith doesn't give them much to do either, although the ending has interesting ramifications for the remainder of the saga.

Following Padmé's heartbroken passing, the droids are handed over to Senator Bail Organa. Not wanting Anakin's children (specifically Leia, who Bail took in as his own) to know of his current identity, Organa requested that Threepio had his memories wiped. As a result, Artoo is the only character in Star Wars who knows the full history of the Skywalker family across the original six movies.

THE ORIGINALS- Bashful Servant Saviors

Had two observing Imperial officers shot down that escape pod I mentioned earlier, Star Wars would've been a very short film. But by the will of the Force, Artoo and Threepio's pod is left unharmed. I've already mentioned what led to the duo ending up in the hands of a farm boy, but I haven't mentioned who that boy was yet. That boy was Luke Skywalker...

... Anakin's son.

Unbeknownst to either Threepio or Luke, Artoo was a mech on a mission. Deliver Leia's message to Obi-Wan (now calling himself "Ben" and living as an elderly hermit) and deliver the Death Star plans to the rebellion. In Leia's own words, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

I believe hope is a powerful thing, but Star Wars often contrasts small heroes against insurmountable odds to emphasize the impact hope has on a hopeless world... or galaxy, in this case. A fleet of X-Wing starfighters and Y-Wing bombers are sent up against a gargantuan planet-destroying space station, with victory only being ensured by Luke's faith in the Force and Han's timely intervention. A humble farm boy rescues an important figure in the rebellion while clad in stolen Stormtrooper armor that he's too short for.

And through R2-D2 being used as the vessel to carry the Death Star plans and Leia's message, the series indirectly portrays the Force as nudging Luke towards his destiny as a Jedi like his father before him through a humble astromech droid. While the 1977 film came before the prequels, the prequels retroactively improve upon Luke's interactions with the droids. I can only imagine Artoo thinking to himself "let's hope this one turns out better than his old man."

Throughout the Death Star escape, the droids work to guide Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca through the inner workings of the space station. In fact, they're the only reason why our heroes survive the trash compactor's crushing walls. Despite taking heavy damage, Artoo helps carry his new master's X-Wing throughout the final battle.

The Empire Strikes Back continues to show the droids acting in support roles, with Artoo accompanying Luke to Dagobah on his first pilgrimage to Yoda's place of exile and Threepio getting himself into various scrapes (including being blown apart by a Stormtrooper). Notably, there was a cut scene in which Threepio tricked a band of Snowtroopers into entering a room full of captive wampas (those big furry yeti-like things). Probably would've been pushing the PG rating if it happened.

Return of the Jedi puts the droids in their biggest roles apart from the original film, with the movie starting with their failed bargain with Jabba. When Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie find themselves in compromising positions, Artoo ends up being the key to their escape. By launching a lightsaber from his dome, he allows for the necessary distraction to give Leia the opening to off Jabba and for the guys to find a way to battle against their captors.

Upon arrival on Endor, the droids find themselves in a unique position. Threepio is mistaken for a goldenrod god by the Ewoks, and Artoo works to open up the door to the shield generator protecting the second Death Star. These aren't as massive of roles as they played in prior (and future) movies, but they're still important ones.

Across the original six movies, R2-D2 and C-3PO are present in some form and play some role in the plot. Whether it's something as minor as helping deal with enemy troops and helping navigate starfighters or something as major as getting our heroes out of a jam, they were always there. Unfortunately, the movies intended to follow the originals (in chronological order) failed to use them.

THE SEQUELS- Pray I Don't Downplay Them Further

... I have strong feelings about the sequel trilogy. Between poor execution of new concepts and mangling of older ones, this felt less like Star Wars and more like a janky fanfiction that needed some reworking. Now, I'm not an old "Extended Universe"/Legends purist, but I recall that things were better-handled, even if there were stretches that seemed too strenuous.

Unfortunately, the mangling of older concepts applied to the droids. Even with me considering them the best-handled original trilogy characters who appeared in the sequels, they're still not at their apex. Heck, they're barely in the trilogy! The Force Awakens and its treatment of them is semi-forgivable, though- BB-8 was a suitable successor for the duo, but I miss the OG duo.

Threepio gained a red arm out of nowhere, and Artoo was offline due to grief over Luke's exile. Aww. The Last Jedi exacerbated their lack of presence by having Artoo reduced to a forced morality pet in order to convince a jaded Luke to train Rey and Threepio was reduced to a walking box of questions. Fans weren't happy about this, and neither was Anthony Daniels, who spoke to director JJ Abrams about his dissatisfaction with how Threepio was treated.

And for all of its narrative faults, The Rise of Skywalker put the droids in a position that made them matter again. Threepio was a major player, although I wish his memory wipe was a tad more permanent (and we could've had Artoo restoring his prequel-era memories). Artoo stayed at a dying Leia's side and later accompanied hotshot pilot-turned-general Poe Dameron on the final strike against Palpatine's fleets. It's not much, but by the standards of the sequel trilogy, it's remarkably high.

Artoo and Threepio's treatment within the sequels is a frustrating enigma. After spending 6 movies establishing their time with the Skywalker clan as guardian angels (well, mainly Artoo), the sequels undermined them and pushed Artoo into the background. It's rather frustrating when you consider that the comics that ran alongside the trilogy gave him a speech to BB-8 that best showcased how much he mattered to the original six films.

(translated from his beeping) "I know it can be hard to talk about, but war stories are important. I sometimes think it's my destiny—to see things, to be present, to witness the galaxy moving, evolving. It happens to me over and over again—but even so, I can't see everything. And so, I like hearing the stories. Recording them."

I found this speech through doing some fact-checking for the original six movies, and I was impressed by how well it summarizes Artoo's character. Again, he's the only character who knows the whole history of the Skywalker family across the original six movies, and in a sense, that makes him the archivist telling the story of Star Wars. In fact, this is canon. Let me explain.

George Lucas considers the original six Star Wars films to be Artoo recounting the Skywalker saga to an author. This fictitious author would go on to write the "Journey of the Whills"- in reality, a title inspired by one of Lucas's early drafts. I believe that the reason why the sequels have so many questionable plot points is because Artoo and Threepio simply weren't there for most of it.

Comparatively, the droids are present for a majority of the saga, with Artoo taking a more active role than his fussbudget of a companion. Ergo, the account of the first six movies is an eyewitness account from the droids' perspectives, while the sequels are more scattershot due to their lack of presence within their narrative. Some theorize that Threepio and Artoo were downplayed so that Disney could avoid paying Lucas for his characters, and that theory sounds like it has some merit. However, I'm not here to speculate on why the droids were so downplayed. I'm just here to say why I think they're important.

CONCLUSION

From a certain point of view, Star Wars is about an odd couple of droids developing a friendship that persevered through betrayal, memory wipes, wounds, and war while watching over the Skywalker family. It's not a view everyone will share, but it's one that resonates with me. As a Christian, I believe that God works through many things... and in Star Wars, the Force is the closest thing we have to God.

Now, the Force and God cannot be directly compared (God is incapable of evil/sin), but the point I'm trying to make is that the Force was able to use two droids- two polar opposite, bickering droids- to watch over some of the most important people in the galaxy.

Had Artoo been shot off Padmé's cruiser like his compatriots were, the cruiser would've been a lost cause.

Had the escape pod been shot, the rebellion would've been destroyed.

Had Artoo not been where he was with the resistance, Luke would've never been found and Rey would've never been trained.

Had Threepio been damaged prior to translating the information on that Sith dagger, Rey would've never found the moon which housed the second Death Star's ruins.

As much as people praise Anakin/Vader's fall and redemption or Yoda's sagacity, I believe that Artoo and Threepio best exemplify the Christian parallels within Star Wars. Upon first glance, they don't look all that special. And that's what makes them so effective. The Force was able to will them into positions that would help them serve the more equipped Skywalker and their allies. They're the Aarons to the Skywalker family's Moseses, in a sense. While it's true that Anakin and Luke were more than capable of handling certain situation, there were times that they needed help from the droids.

At their best, the droids were humble servants working toward something far greater than themselves.

And isn't that what we as Christians were and still are called to be?