What's the deal with R2-D2?

[SeerSGB]

Yeah, in Episode I Artoo was just another of several droids assigned to the Royal yacht. There's nothing to make him stand out from the other droids, till he saved the ship from being blasted by fixing the hypredrive. From that point from he's treated with a special status. Nothing in the films gives us an idea of when or were he was built. So he could be a much older droid than we currently think, or at least his memory core / memory files could be.

 

[Thrall]

But again, why hasn't he had such wipes? The question I'm asking is, what is the root cause of his difference from other droids? SeerSGB said that Anakin and Luke don't wipe his memory because of sentiment, but what about all his other owners, particularly in the lengthy period between trilogies (where, according to the Droids cartoon and Lucasfilm's rather indiscriminate approach to canon, he went through over a dozen different owners)?

Pure luck or chance. He must have had some really nice owners.

And most droids aren't sentient? That's news to me. A lot of them act like they are. Separatist droids act self-aware and emotional, albeit fairly stupid. And are you saying that C3PO isn't sentient? That's extremely hard to credit. He seemed sentient even before he had his gold skin put on.

They aren't. They mimic it but aren't themselves. Hence Obi-Wan saying "If droids could think they would be no use for us" or something like that.

 

[Smiley]

Since he's a droid, we can't chalk it up to genetic mutation. My best guess is that his special attributes come from a happy accident or two at the manufacturing plant that made him.

 

[Christopher]

I can't believe people are saying Threepio isn't sentient. Isn't anyone going to stand up for him? Where's the Threepio love, people?

Threepio certainly passes the Turing Test. He's demonstrated every major aspect of sentience or sapience. As far as is discernible, he's self-aware and has an ego-based identity structure: he constantly worries about how situations will affect or endanger him. He's capable of independent thought and initiative, as when he wandered off on his own in Cloud City and got shot. He possessess imagination and foresight: he constantly dreads what could go wrong in the future. He's capable of improvisational thought and action, as when he "played god" with the Ewoks and convinced them to let his friends go. He possesses the ability to identify and empathize with other beings; he couldn't function as a protocol droid if he couldn't recognize others' emotional states and respond appropriately. And he unquestionably has emotional responses, such as his general free-floating anxiety, his pride, his anger at Chewbacca's botched reassembly job in TESB, and his obvious affection for Artoo.

You can claim that all those are "mimicked," but what does that really mean? At what point does the similarity become so great that it's meaningless to claim there's a difference? By every observable parameter, C-3PO meets the definitions of sentient, sapient behavior. The only way to emulate all of those as well as he does is to have a neural net that functions equivalently to an organic mind. If the equivalence is that great, then isn't it merely biological chauvinism to dismiss it as mere imitation or illusion?

 

[Hyperspace05]

Because R2-D2 is a walking/rolling deus-ex-machina. (plot device)

He can do whatever the plot demands.

 

[Lindley]

Correction. The plot can do whatever R2D2 demands.

So he's more of a machina ex deus. Or George, if you prefer.

 

[Ol Scratch]

For a bit more serious answer, sentience (real or synthetic) may simply be an anomoly that most droids cannot handle. As a precaution, the vast majority of owners wipe their droids memories -- effectively rebooting them -- at the first sign of them acting odd for that very reason. R2-D2 may simply be one of the precious few droids who've been able to handle the emerging sentience.

So sure, I'm fine with R2 avoiding those types of wipes. He's proven time and again that he not only can handle sentience, but that he's a tough little hero in and of himself to boot. In fact, he's really the only true hero in the entire saga. Everyone else was either a whiney brat, a quitter, or a scumbag who was guilted into action. But not R2. He was always willing to do what had to be done for the greater good, even at risk to himself. The only other character who comes close was Leia.

However, the real question to ask is: Why wasn't his memory wiped when the Jawas captured him? If you're going to steal and re-sell droids, you'd think that'd be a standard operating procedure. Yet neither R2 nor C-3PO had their memories wiped.

That's the part I have trouble swallowing.

 

[Lindley]

Maybe the JawaWiper was broken that day. Everything else seemed to be.

 

[Christopher]

^^Lends credence to the "hidden backup memory core" idea. But it doesn't explain Threepio keeping his memory too. Maybe the Jawas didn't care. After all, did they really steal Threepio and Artoo? From their perspective, these were two unattached droids wandering through the desert with no owners in sight. One could argue that it was salvage rather than theft.

 

[C.E. Evans]

However, the real question to ask is: Why wasn't his memory wiped when the Jawas captured him? If you're going to steal and re-sell droids, you'd think that'd be a standard operating procedure. Yet neither R2 nor C-3PO had their memories wiped.

That's the part I have trouble swallowing.

Jawas sell things in "As Is" condition. You wanna wipe a droid's memory? Do it yerself. Heck, the Jawas can't even be bothered to clean the outside of droids they sell...

Besides, the Jawas originally tried to pass off a R5 astomech with a faulty motivator unit. Poor thing barely rolled a few feet before it literally blew its top.

Makes me think that the Jawas aren't exactly members of the Better Business Bureau...buyers beware.

 

[Ol Scratch]

Wiping their memories would be less a "public service" for the new owners so much as a "covering our asses so no one knows we stole them" service for themselves.

 

[C.E. Evans]

These are Jawas we're talking about...

Everybody on Tatooine knows half the stuff they sell is stolen with the other half just stuff they picked up while wandering the wastelands...

 

[P0sitr0nic]

Just think, if Padme and Qui Gon had chosen another ship, R2-D2 might still be sitting in a Nubian crusier on the small distant planet of Naboo.

 

[Rarewolf]

Besides, the Jawas originally tried to pass off a R5 astomech with a faulty motivator unit. Poor thing barely rolled a few feet before it literally blew its top.

I always used to think R2 sabotaged the R5 so the restrainer signal overloaded it. But I was very little...

Yeah, in Episode I Artoo was just another of several droids assigned to the Royal yacht. There's nothing to make him stand out from the other droids, till he saved the ship from being blasted by fixing the hypredrive..

Last droid standing... and surely its' Jar Jars fault - had he not bumped in to R2 he'd of been up sooner and shot off...

 

[SeerSGB]

Besides, the Jawas originally tried to pass off a R5 astomech with a faulty motivator unit. Poor thing barely rolled a few feet before it literally blew its top.

I always used to think R2 sabotaged the R5 so the restrainer signal overloaded it. But I was very little...

Yeah, in Episode I Artoo was just another of several droids assigned to the Royal yacht. There's nothing to make him stand out from the other droids, till he saved the ship from being blasted by fixing the hypredrive..

Last droid standing... and surely its' Jar Jars fault - had he not bumped in to R2 he'd of been up sooner and shot off...

I think there's a cut scene along those lines: R2 tinkers with Red right before he blows a motivator.

According to Wookieepedia, I'm right:

• There is a continuity error in Episode IV, involving R5-D4. Just after the red droid's motivator has blown, C-3PO puts a good word in for R2. For a second, we are shown R2, with R5 inexplicably replaced beside him. The next shot shows the Jawas running over to retrieve the droid from where he stands (correctly) next to Luke and Threepio.

The explanation for this is that the act of sabotage by R2 was edited out of later versions of the film, the 'continuity error clip' was shown seconds before the act as R2 looks around to see if anyone is watching him. This scene was in versions of the film shown at UK cannon cinemas (Sheffield) in 1978

 

[Trekker4747]

"So. what's the deal with R2-D2? Is he an R or is he a D? And why does he need two of them?"

 

[Christopher]

I think there's a cut scene along those lines: R2 tinkers with Red right before he blows a motivator.

According to Wookieepedia, I'm right:

• There is a continuity error in Episode IV, involving R5-D4. Just after the red droid's motivator has blown, C-3PO puts a good word in for R2. For a second, we are shown R2, with R5 inexplicably replaced beside him. The next shot shows the Jawas running over to retrieve the droid from where he stands (correctly) next to Luke and Threepio.

The explanation for this is that the act of sabotage by R2 was edited out of later versions of the film, the 'continuity error clip' was shown seconds before the act as R2 looks around to see if anyone is watching him. This scene was in versions of the film shown at UK cannon cinemas (Sheffield) in 1978

That's what I always thought, and I mentioned that in the last SW thread I participated in here, but someone came along and argued vehemently that I was mistaken, and nobody else chimed in to support my interpretation. So I'm a bit surprised, though gratified, to see two posts supporting the "R2 sabotaged R5" idea.

 

[Thrall]

I can't believe people are saying Threepio isn't sentient. Isn't anyone going to stand up for him? Where's the Threepio love, people?

Threepio certainly passes the Turing Test. He's demonstrated every major aspect of sentience or sapience. As far as is discernible, he's self-aware and has an ego-based identity structure: he constantly worries about how situations will affect or endanger him. He's capable of independent thought and initiative, as when he wandered off on his own in Cloud City and got shot. He possessess imagination and foresight: he constantly dreads what could go wrong in the future. He's capable of improvisational thought and action, as when he "played god" with the Ewoks and convinced them to let his friends go. He possesses the ability to identify and empathize with other beings; he couldn't function as a protocol droid if he couldn't recognize others' emotional states and respond appropriately. And he unquestionably has emotional responses, such as his general free-floating anxiety, his pride, his anger at Chewbacca's botched reassembly job in TESB, and his obvious affection for Artoo.

You can claim that all those are "mimicked," but what does that really mean? At what point does the similarity become so great that it's meaningless to claim there's a difference? By every observable parameter, C-3PO meets the definitions of sentient, sapient behavior. The only way to emulate all of those as well as he does is to have a neural net that functions equivalently to an organic mind. If the equivalence is that great, then isn't it merely biological chauvinism to dismiss it as mere imitation or illusion?

Because he's not in touch with The Force like all other living beings are, even some droids. That's pretty much the number one prerequisite for being considered to be "alive" in that universe. He may have a personality. He may be self-aware to some extent. But he's not self-aware to the point of sentience quite yet. He's probably close. He still views Luke as his Master. R2 views Luke as his boss and friend. R2 will go against Luke's wishes and do his own thing when ever he wants to. 3P0 only does things when he has no choice or is ordered to.

 

[Meredith]

He's got the brain of a human tucked away in there somewhere, some old Jedi Master Had his brain put in a droid for safekeeping.

 

[Corran Horn]

I just rented the Clone Wars movie, and I got to wondering: what is it about R2-D2 that makes him so different from other astromech droids, or droids in general? Why is he so smart, brave, active, impetuous, independent, cocky, or whatever you want to call it that he keeps getting embroiled in matters of cosmic significance, pulling off all these heroic feats, surviving when other droids get blown up, etc.? (I guess what stuck out was a scene where Artoo used those prequel-era thruster jets to disembark from Anakin's landed fighter just before it got blown up in an attack. How did he know? Why did he have the initiative to get out instead of sitting and waiting for orders?) I've checked entries on Wikipedia, Wookieepedia, and Starwars.com's database, and there's nothing saying that his origins or mental capabilities are anything exceptional for droids. But somehow he's the droid equivalent of Scotty, MacGyver, and Batman all rolled into one. No other droid has been shown to have his initiative, heroism, luck, insight, etc. And for some reason he didn't get his memory wiped in Episode III when Threepio did.

So what makes Artoo so special? Is the Force with him? Was the factory where he was built infested by midichlorians? Did he get struck by lightning and gain a soul? Is he much, much older than we think and gained all this specialness through sheer experience? Is he the Droid Messiah? What?

There are enough gaps in the record where anything could have happened. The "no mind-wipe since Episode I" being just one of them. Watch Episode I again...what does Artoo do that's any different than what any other stock astromech would have done? A bunch of astromechs went out to fix the Naboo Royal Starship after it left Naboo...that only Artoo survived that is more a matter of lucky than anything else.

The 'mindwipe' thing is a popular theory in the EU particularly since it's somewhat backed up by things Lucas has said about how he directed Jimmy Smits to give the line about Threepio's mindwipe in Episode III. Smits said, "Should I care about doing this to you?" and even Anthiny Daniels said, "No, to you I'm nothing more than a toaster." To me, that means your run of the mill astromech or protocol droid gets mind-wiped pretty frequently.

Artoo doesn't do any of the 'exceptional' stuff you're talking about until he's been with Padme or Anakin at least for a number of years.