Reconsidering Star Wars IV

Now it all makes sense… I knew there was more to R2-D2 than met the eye.

If we accept all the Star Wars films as the same canon, then a lot that happens in the original films has to be reinterpreted in the light of the prequels. As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2…

8 thoughts on “Reconsidering Star Wars IV

  1. Personally I figured R2 knew a lot more than he lets on after watching Empire (E5) far too many times. Otherwise why would he make the obvious mistake of plugging in to a power outlet on Cloud City? I think he’s trying to wipe his memory of Yoda, Dagobah and anything else that Vader must not discover.

    I’ve also often wondered if R2 is actually Force sensitive. It would explain lots of strange things he does in all the films.

    Alternatively, Lucas is not as good an author as he (and we) think he is. :)

  2. God help me for knowing this. But Han Solo saved Chewies life when he freed him from slavery and thus Chewie owes Han a blood debt that pretty much turns him into Han’s life long side kick. They came to the falcon together, Lando knows Chewie but he never served with him as official Captain and First Officer.

    Also the Millenium Falcon is a highly modified version of a tramp freighter. There are thousands of Falcon look alikes all over the galaxy, mostly slow as molasses. That’s one of the things the Falcon has going for it. It looks like an easy target with no chance for escape but then it outruns everything.

    Surprisingly I was able to date girls in high school and college while knowing all this.

  3. Ah, just read the essay – interesting theory ;) Only hole I see is that Obi-wan did not see Anakin’s pod race in Ep. 1, but that doesn’t undermine his theory… (I just watched Ep. 4-6 and Ep.1 last night)

  4. Very, very nice. I think that’s a not-hole, Jeff, as Obi-wan was sure to hear about the pod race and see many direct points of evidence towards Anikin’s piloting and machine skills over the years.

    I hope to see an official patch for the Droid Inconsistency bug soon.

  5. God help me for commenting on this, but the start of the Rebel Alliance had nothing to do with Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi; those two simply headed into isolation so they could learn about the ability to come back from death and protect Anakin’s children. In short, they were just preserving the Jedi, not the Republic.

    In a scene that was cut from “Revenge of the Sith,” but is still in the graphics novel and novelization versions of the story, we discover who *really* started the Rebel Alliance: Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. The Jedi had nothing to do with it. In fact, while Organa did indeed help the Jedi escape–surely, he saw them as key to a re-established Republic–you can only infer that he told them about the Rebellion. That never actually happens in the movie or books.

    As for Obi-Wan not recognizing R2-D2, we all have theories, but R2 was never Obi-Wans droids, and there are presumably millions of R2 units around the galaxy that all look identical. There was probably more “old coot” to Obi-Wan after 25-30 years in the desert than we’re comfortable admitting to ourselves. Certainly, his greatly declining powers at the time–barely enough to out-duel the largely mechanical Darth Vader–are another indication that the years weren’t particularly kind to him.

    And we can see that Yoda has absolutely no connection to the outside world in Episode V (“Empire”). He’s pretty much batty as hell, too. That’s what isolation does to you. These guys weren’t out leading the charge against the Empire at all. In fact, it makes them seem somewhat selfish, a fact that is driven home by the Jedi’s behavior in Episodes II and III.

  6. The Jedi had nothing to do with it. In fact, while Organa did indeed help the Jedi escape–surely, he saw them as key to a re-established Republic–you can only infer that he told them about the Rebellion.