R2-D2

R2-D2, pronounced Artoo-Deetoo and often called R2 or Artoo, was an R2-series astromech droid built by Industrial Automaton with masculine programming. Because he was never given a full memory wipe and never received new programming, he developed an adventurous and independent attitude unusual for a droid of his class. Over a career that spanned the fall of the Galactic Republic, the rise of the Galactic Empire, and the long war that followed, he served Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo, the Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Senator Bail Organa, and the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. He was frequently partnered with the protocol droid C-3PO.

Service to Naboo and the Jedi#

R2-D2 was built by or during 32 BBY and began his service in the employ of Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo. He later passed into the service of the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker during the final years of the Republic. Throughout the Clone Wars he accompanied Skywalker on campaigns across the galaxy, frequently alongside C-3PO. At the defense of Christophsis he helped expose the clone traitor Slick by monitoring his transmissions, and during the campaign against the Separatist warship Malevolence he shut down a rail jet hovertrain and reunited with C-3PO before the vessel was destroyed.

Across the war R2 served at the Liberation of Ryloth, where he helped repair starfighters and piloted a damaged Star Destroyer into the Separatist flagship with Skywalker before escaping by pod. He defeated the Separatist spy droid R3-S6 aboard Skytop Station, helped destroy the LaserWeb defense station Drol above Iego, and survived numerous missions to Mandalore, Carlac, and beyond. He also served in his own reprogrammed battle droid squadron and later in the clandestine D-Squad. When Yoda was summoned through the Force by the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, R2-D2 escorted the Grand Master to Dagobah and on to the ancient Sith world of Moraband.

The fall of the Republic#

After the deaths of Padmé Amidala and the rise of the Empire, R2-D2 and C-3PO passed into the service of Bail Organa of the Royal House of Alderaan. While C-3PO underwent a memory wipe, R2-D2 was allowed to keep his memories, a decision that preserved his knowledge of the secret marriage between Skywalker and Amidala and of their children. Because he retained his past, he was later able to recognize the former Padawan Ahsoka Tano when she encountered him aboard one of Organa's ships, and he quietly helped her arrange a meeting with the Senator.

Hero of the Rebellion#

R2-D2's most celebrated act came when Princess Leia Organa uploaded the stolen plans for the Empire's Death Star, along with a holographic message for Obi-Wan Kenobi, into his memory banks aboard the blockade runner Tantive IV. When the ship was boarded by Darth Vader's forces, R2-D2 and C-3PO fled in an escape pod to Tatooine. There R2 was bought, after a contrived ruse involving R5-D4, by the moisture farmer Owen Lars, bringing him into contact with Luke Skywalker. The readouts he carried revealed the flaw that allowed the Rebel Alliance to destroy the battle station.

He went on to serve Luke through the rest of the Galactic Civil War, accompanying Red Squadron, surviving a confrontation with Doctor Aphra's droids 0-0-0 and BT-1 at Vrogas Vas, and staging a solo rescue of C-3PO from an Imperial Star Destroyer. On Nar Shaddaa he helped break Luke out of the Hutt Grakkus's palace, recovering several lightsabers and the journal of Ben Kenobi.

Hoth, Endor, and the New Jedi Order#

R2-D2 followed the Alliance to its base on the ice world of Hoth and was present for the Imperial assault that drove the Rebels off the planet. He accompanied Luke to the Cloud City of Bespin, where he reconnected with C-3PO, Leia, and Chewbacca and helped them escape aboard the Millennium Falcon. At Endor he took part in the strike that helped bring down the second Death Star.

In the decades that followed, R2 remained at Luke's side as the Jedi worked to rebuild the Order. He joined Luke and Lando Calrissian on their search for Exegol and accompanied Luke as he trained a new generation of apprentices. When Luke's nephew Ben Solo turned against the Order and destroyed the new temple, that dream was undone.

Low power and reawakening#

Following Luke's disappearance, R2-D2 entered a self-imposed low-power mode, and newer droid models began to out-compute the aging astromech. His celebrated service spared him the recycling that claimed many old droids, and he passed into a semi-retirement with the Resistance. When BB-8 carried part of a star map pointing to Luke's refuge, it was R2-D2 who held the remainder of the map in his memory. He reawakened after the Battle of Starkiller Base and accompanied the scavenger Rey to Ahch-To, where he was reunited with his old master. He continued to aid the Resistance through the war against the First Order, serving as copilot to General Poe Dameron during the decisive Battle of Exegol.