Follow That Droid

OK, TPM confession time.  There were two things that got some eye-rolling with me when I saw TPM in 1999.  First, I thought the whole "immaculate" Anakin thing was a little much.  It felt forced. Since then I've come to appreciate it.  The other was this idea that Anakin built Threepio.

Really?

For Real?

I remember thinking: does everything have to connect back to the OT? [somewhere some TFA-haters are chuckling and nodding their heads]

Then as the PT marched on, I started to wonder if this was intentional.  What if there was some subliminal, symbolic reason why Anakin is responsible for C-3PO's existence.  Then the light bulb turned on. Eureka! I have it all figured out.  I'm going to "take what they give me..."

Let's play FOLLOW THAT DROID!

At any time during Episodes 1-7 if you want to know how Anakin is doing, mentally and spiritually, just look at Threepio. No, seriously.  LOOK AT HIM. His appearance mostly, not so much his chatty-chatterbox routine, but his physical makeup...OK, and maybe a little characterization here and there. So let's follow Threepio through all seven films.

Episode I
Anakin is young, a slave and not a jedi yet.  He has not yet realized his full potential or his true power.

Threepio is freshly built and missing his outer shell.  He has not yet been given opportunity to show his stuff as a protocol droid.

Episode II
Anakin is a strong, yet tad reckless jedi padawan.  He's good, but has a long way to go in solidifying his jedi identity.

Threepio has progressed to the next stage.  He's attained his outer shell, but it's lacking its final golden finish. Oh yeah, and for part of the film his head is mixed up with a battle droid head.  He's certainly not all together there. [SYMBOLISM!!!]

Episode III
Anakin is a full-fledged jedi knight, a legend and thisclose to being a jedi master.  Oh yeah, and he is powerful and turns to the dark side.  Anakin "dies" and Darth Vader is born.

Threepio is in his full shiny golden glory and a useful droid for the Skywalkers. Loyal, dutiful and knowledgeable, Threepio has come a long way from Tatooine. However, once Palpatine and Vader begin Order 66, Padme dies, the twins will be hidden and Frankenstein's monster Vader is put in the black suit, Threepio has his memory wiped! [This is not exactly an outward appearance reference but, golly, it parallels the Anakin/Vader thing perfectly!]

Episode IV
Darth Vader is "more machine that man." He's, inwardly, a broken man who seems to be just going through the motions as Palpatine and Tarkin's lackey, er, enforcer.  He goes around reminding everyone how powerful he is because of his knowledge of the Force.

Threepio is a beat up protocol droid who gets dinged around and has no knowledge of his old life. He is constantly complaining and fearing the worst.  Can you imagine what R2 must think of him having to listen to this all these years?

Episode V
Darth Vader realizes his son is alive, well and strong in the force.  Deep down he is "being torn apart" by his duty to the Empire and his need to enlist Luke and start a new fight.  Perhaps, this is when the "conflict within him" becomes palpable. By the way, I should mention Vader lops Luke's right hand off.

Threepio is blasted into pieces after making a wrong turn at Albuquerque, er, thinking he hears an R2 unit, accidentally walks in on some hiding stormtroopers.  Chewbacca starts to put him together, but can only get the head (backwards) and an arm (the right) on and carries him around in a bag.  By the way, in the carbon freeze chamber, when Boba Fett raises his blaster to shoot Chewbacca, Vader pushes his arm down.  Why?  Not because Vader's got a soft spot for Wookiees.  Not because he does't want to start a battle in the middle of this frozen dinner factory.  It's because Boba Fett would've shot his droid, bro.

Episode VI
Luke is able to bring the Anakin back and destroy Vader.  He becomes a creepy happy force ghost. And everyone lives happily ever after...Well, at least for the next 15 minutes...

Threepio is in his full golden glory.  He has finally amounted to something special.  He's an Ewok god and has become a fine storyteller. [Man, remember back in the day when Threepio said he wasn't much good at telling stories? Joseph Campbell would be proud of your journey, Threepio.]

Episode VII
New movie, so I've gotta come up with something so I will.  The red arm.  Why does Threepio have a random red arm?  Because something is missing.  Even though Anakin was redeemed in ROTJ, something is missing. Anakin is somehow still incomplete. Is it Luke's failure at rebooting the jedi?  Is it Anakin's force ghost who, allegedly, glitches back and forth between Anakin and Darth Vader? I dunno.  What I do know is that Threepio is whole again by the end of the movie.  You know why? Two words: Rey Skywalker.  "The circle is now complete." Rey will complete what Anakin started as The Chosen One.  She will bring true balance to the force.

Sometimes you can't make this stuff up...