Spoilers Subtle observations on rewatch

[WarpFactorZ]

Just came back from a third viewing. A few minor things I saw that would have been missed the first time around:

1. When Admiral Holdo tells Leia that "... someone needs to stay behind and pilot the ship...", C3PO reacts, and can be seen backing up slowly into the ship, as if trying to avoid being nominated.
   
   
2. There is another BB-9E visible on the Resistance ship when Admiral Holdo is introduced.
   
   
3. Force Skype Luke (FSL) leaves no footprints in the salt on Not-Hoth.
   
   
4. Leia mentions to FSL that she "changed her hair" since they last saw each other. Aside from being a nod to TFA and her interaction with Han, it's also relevant because FSL looks exactly the same as when he ran off to Ahch-To (a hint to the audience).

What else did you see?

 

[Set Harth]

Thanks a lot, 3PO. You got Laura Dern killed just because the previous franchise owner once said you would be in all the movies.

 

[USS Firefly]

Thanks a lot, 3PO. You got Laura Dern killed just because the previous franchise owner once said you would be in all the movies.

Wouldn't It be great if 3PO volunteer for that mission?

 

[David cgc]

There is another BB-9E visible on the Resistance ship when Admiral Holdo is introduced.

I didn't see them in the movie, but the Art Of book had a section on new background BB-units, with about a half-dozen Resistance models. They talked about how just changing the color wasn't quite distinctive enough, so they made a bunch of different heads, so BB-8's silhouette would be unique.

 

[Set Harth]

Wouldn't It be great if 3PO volunteer for that mission?

Yeah, this is actually bothering me now that I've realized it. If the Resistance is in such dire straits and is down to so few people you'd think they would want to hold on to their few remaining leaders. That suicide run could easily have been handled by a droid ( if not an autopilot ). And a heroic sacrificial "death" would have been a great send-off for 3PO who these days is otherwise pretty much useless. Oh well.

 

[Prax]

Luke was dying his hair prior to running off? My father in law does that. His beard, too(I think).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Would 3PO have been qualified to pilot the Raddus? We've never seen him do anything like that. In fact I'm not aware of 3PO ever wielding machinery, weapons, or equipment of any kind - the only thing he ever does is translate.

 

[David cgc]

Would 3PO have been qualified to pilot the Raddus? We've never seen him do anything like that. In fact I'm not aware of 3PO ever wielding machinery, weapons, or equipment of any kind - the only thing he ever does is translate.

I wish I didn't remember 3PO wielding weaponry.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Well, technically that wasn't 3PO, only his head.

 

[Prax]

He drove Luke around in the orange speeder.

 

[Set Harth]

Would 3PO have been qualified to pilot the Raddus?

He piloted Padme's ship away from Mustafar in ROTS.

 

[JD]

This thread reminds me of my one biggest disappointments with the sequel trilogy, the limited screen time we've gotten for C-3PO and R2-D2. They are one of my favorite parts of the other two trilogies, so I was really hoping they'd have been given similar roles in the new movies.

 

[Ceridwen]

Yeah, this is actually bothering me now that I've realized it. If the Resistance is in such dire straits and is down to so few people you'd think they would want to hold on to their few remaining leaders. That suicide run could easily have been handled by a droid ( if not an autopilot ). And a heroic sacrificial "death" would have been a great send-off for 3PO who these days is otherwise pretty much useless. Oh well.

My reasoning is that everything about that ship is designed to prevent that scenario from happening. Hyperdrive safeties can be overridden (as seen in The Force Awakens and Rogue One) but can a droid do it? K-2SO couldn't, even with Cassian right there ordering him to, and he's a pretty independent machine. An autopilot definitely couldn't do it, as the autopilot's job is to stop you from crashing into things.

No, you need a person at the helm to do something that crazy.

 

[Prax]

That ship must have hundreds of droids on it already, operating it, because there didn't seem to be many people on it.

 

[Tuskin38]

That ship must have hundreds of droids on it already, operating it, because there didn't seem to be many people on it.

According to the lore, it was heavily automated because the Resistance didn't have enough people to fully crew it.