R2-D2 Never Asked for Glory, But Here's Proof That He Deserves It More Than Anyone
As anyone who's seen the Star Wars saga knows, things can pretty much be boiled down to two sides - "Light vs. Dark." There are heroes, and there are villains. And while there are a number of clearly defined heroes whose bravery you can't help but notice, there's one who chooses to go about his hero business quietly.
This hero is more reliable than any other. This hero is always clutch under pressure. This hero saves the lives of literally every other hero at one point or another. His name? R2-D2.
Chronologically speaking, this is the "first" time R2 (or "Artoo" to be cinematically correct) saves the day. But it most certainly isn't the last. We know it, he knows it - everyone knows it.
After the Trade Federation invaded Naboo, Padme - or Queen Amidala - and company, are forced to flee. During their escape, their ship is struck by a Trade battleship, shutting down its shield generator. After three other "astromech droids" are blasted off the ship's hull, R2 calmly repairs the shield, giving his droid version of a wink, and saving not just Padme, but Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan too - who oh, by the way, goes on to defeat the movie's key bad guy, Darth Maul.
Later on in Episode I, during the battle for Naboo's liberation, our young "hero" Anakin, is told to wait in the cockpit of an N-1 Starfighter by Qui Gon Jinn. But after accidentally powering on the ship's auto-pilot command, Anakin finds himself in a bit of a pickle.
But R2 knows better than to panic. After deciding it would be a cool notch on his belt to save the lives of all four of the galaxy's most promising heroes, he nonchalantly disengages the auto-pilot, allowing Annie to destroy the Droid Control Ship and win the battle for Naboo.
After an assassination attempt on Padme's life, Anakin is assigned to protect her. Fortunately for both of them, R2-D2 comes along for the ride.
After Obi Wan is captured by Count Dooku on Geonosis, the three travel there to rescue him. But while unwisely navigating through a giant droid factory, they run into trouble. At one point, Padme falls into a giant forging pot, and Anakin gets pinned down by an assembly machine, rendering him useless. As per usual, R2 floats cooly to the control panel and shuts down the assembly process seconds before Padme is coated in molten lava. No big deal.
In the opening scene, Obi Wan and Anakin are amidst heavy combat with the Trade Federation, in pursuit of General Grievous.
After about two minutes of tacky, father-son-like badinage between the two, they both find themselves hampered by buzz droids. And since doing maneuvers to shake them off is out of the question - because ya know, that would be too easy - R2 is forced to put on his cape yet again. And in typical R2 fashion, he casually zaps the final buzz droid before it tears Anakin's ship apart.
If you're a true Star Wars fan, this was the first time you had the honor of gazing upon R2's greatness. It wasn't an extravagant showing, but then again, when is it ever? A real hero doesn't feel the need to tout his importance.
In any case, R2 promptly delivers Princess Leia's distress message to Obi Wan and Luke (along with later doing the same with the plans for the Death Star), eventually leading to her rescuing from Empire captivity.
Later on, after infiltrating the Death Star, Luke, Han, and Leia found themselves in a firefight with a battalion of Storm Troopers. After a litany of missed shots between the two sides, and some sexually repressed bickering between Han and Leia, the three enter a garbage shoot for safety.
While there, the Storm Troopers activate the trash compactor, marking slow and certain death for the three. But not to worry, R2 is on their side. After listening to Luke moan and whine for minutes on end, R2 graciously deactivates the trash compactor just in time.
When it comes to the Millennium Falcon, things rarely go according to plan. Such was the case when Han, Leia, and Lando Calrissian were attempting to escape Darth Vader's pursuit after being followed to Hoth.
When Han attempted to kick the Falcon into lightspeed, the old girl wouldn't give. Low and behold, the hyperdrive, which Lando claimed to have "fixed," was indeed not fixed. After Han lands the ship on an asteroid to stall, and C-3PO annoyingly expresses his doubt in R2's abilities, our undaunted hero calmly fixes the drive, allowing the ungrateful bastards to escape unscathed, yet again.
After boarding Jaba the Hutt's sail barge in costume, Leia attempts to bargain with Jaba for Han Solo, who sits as his favorite decoration, frozen in carbonite. After Jaba refuses her negotiations, Leia is forced to free Han herself. But then, unsurprisingly, she's caught in the act, and made Jaba's raunchy bikini slave.
Later though, after being forced to lay with the chronically obese man-worm for several hours, R2 zaps Leia's bonds while Jaba's asleep, which would allow her to later strangle him with her chains.
While Anakin may have been "The Chosen One" and Luke may have been the, well, the second Chosen One, and Obi Wan may have saved Padme's life long enough for her to birth Luke and Leia, and Han's impeccable flying may have gotten them all out of a number of jams, it isn't any one of them we should be praising. Not one of them should adulate as "hero."
It is, in fact, the quiet guardian - the galaxy's humble rescuer, and perhaps the most unsung hero of all time: R2-D2. Because he doesn't save lives for nobility, or honor, or even praise. He saves lives for the sake of saving lives - for the sake of protecting the galaxy from certain destruction. Because he's not the hero the Rebel forces deserve...he's the hero they need.