A Keen Observation

And I believe the only time he sees C-3PO is in the Carbon Freezing Chamber in pieces on Chewbacca's back. Is that why he stopped Boba Fett from blasting Chewbacca in that scene? He also never went to Tatooine in ANH, instead sending a detachment down there to search for the droids. I think some things bring back to many memories that he trying to avoid.

 

So that's why Yoda allowed Luke to stay with Uncle Owen and his wife in order to hide him from Vader, despite their home being right next to Shmi's grave...

 

Very interesting point. He probably wouldn't have remembered Artoo even if he saw him. Nobody seems to remember Artoo...

Also, Artoo saw plenty of things he could've told Luke about to make his life a little easier. Artoo is a secretive little bastard.

 

I believe at the end of EP. III, Bail organa orders to erase the memory of the droids (R2 and 3PO of course).

 

I think he just ordered "the protocol droid's" mind wiped.

 

I'm not sure if Artoo could've made the connection between the things. I'm trying to remember where he was in the films and what info he'd be privy too, but wouldn't it be the case that he couldn't connect some things, like Darth Vader being Anakin? I don't think he witnessed any of those moments except perhaps the fight with Obi-Wan, at the end of which he might think he died.

I always took it too that Artoo was acting in an espionage role in the first film since, well, he actually was. That said, certain information might have been retained by him, but kept in a "only for certain eyes" classification that didn't include Luke nor Leia, if he could even piece together that they were Anakin's offspring. Bail Organa never ordered a wipe to his memory from what we saw, but he might have "secured" certain portions of his memory bank, or even selectively erased portions deemed dangerous.

Apologies, those thoughts are a bit rambling, but I hope you got what I meant.

 

I like your explanations. NOT everything need be spelled-out in the films. There is a capacity for fans to reason out the blanks.

 

Yes. It's mainly because the sand is coarse, irritating and gets everywhere inside the mechanical parts.

mmmmh... I don't think so.
Artoo is, at the beginning, by the times of TPM, a random nubian R2 unit. Later, Anakin will highly improve it during his times in the Jedi Temple. Further, in Episode 3, we are also given a scene in the Invisible Hand where Anakin, Palps and Obi are about to be made prisoners, where Anakin takes the defense of the little robot while Obi raises doubts about its capacity to help them....
I'm firmly convinced Artoo (R2D2, the one and unique) is - somewhere - a mechanical extension of Anakin. I'm sure every random blue R2 unit he meets may remember him his former little friend. And I'm ready to bet that if Vader could have met and had a close eye on the droïd, he would have easily recognized the numerous improvements Anakin gave to the machine...

 

In ANH, Luke can't understand R2D2, and in later films, he has a limited/ambiguous ability to understand.

Maybe R2 was yelling the truth at him all along.

That's probably an exaggeration, but my point is that there is no way to prove how much R2 did or didn't try to tell Luke.

 

I think that joke is becoming as old as the "Waaaaalt!" joke from "LOST" fans.


I wonder how Anakin managed to see C3P0, who was stapped across Chewbacca's back.

 

Believe me, he did.

 

Sure! it is soon 15 years old. But remember it is canon

 

The Threepio's robot model is very common, so I gather Vader probably isn't making the connection. It's also a bit of tragedy that Vader shoots his former best robot buddy during the trench run.

The big plot hole that bothers me to this day is how Owen doesn't recognize C3PO even when the name is announced to him. At least when Obi-Wan meets R2 in ANH, it can be passed off as Obi-Wan keeping the ruse up - until Luke says that R2 is looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

 

My brother and I were having the Uncle Owen/3PO discussion just the other day. It's not like they lived together for a few years or anything!

 

The sad thing is there was a very easy way to close this plot hole. Have 3PO be the personal droid of Padme. He gets shot during the escape from Naboo. Anakin on the ride to Coruscant fixes him. Boom. We see Anakin's mechanical abilities (admittedly redundant after maintaining a pod) and we still get a "meeting" between 3PO and R2.

 

One, Threepio had never introduced himself to Owen in "A New Hope". He had only introduced himself and Artoo to Luke. The latter never revealed the names of the droids to Owen and Beru. He only stated that they may have originally belonged to Obi-Wan after discovering a recorded message inside Artoo (whose name he never mentioned).

So . . . what plot hole are you talking about?

 

I believe he would have recognised Threepio but due to the stress of trying to keep Luke away from Obi-Wan, the heat of the planet and the many years since he last saw Threepio plus I think that it's shown in ANH that Owen only sees droids as tools and doesn't care about their names.

 

Well, here's my take on it.
This all takes place in a galaxy so... how big is that ?
In this galaxy there are billions and billions of droids, astromechs (what, at least 6 different models of them ?), protocol (many different models of them)... my point being, they're like toasters, microwave ovens, etc. They're common, everyday things albeit with complex programming.
Not everyone in the galaxy befriends droids they own or have to work with or around. Yes Luke and his father before him did.
Now,R2 in the trench run - concider that there were 30 rebel star fighters, each carrying an Astromech. When Vader sensed Luke, still not knowing it was him, R2 was just another droid to him.
As I recall, Obi Wan saw droids as impliements to be used.
Good catch on the Owen not being told names.