5 Reasons Why It Doesn't Matter How C-3PO Got His Red Arm In Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Wait, what about his silver leg?

C-3PO Arm Leg.jpg
Lucasfilm

What sucks most about there being a two year wait between The Force Awakens and Star Wars Episode VIII is that it's going to be an agonising wait full of speculation and confusion before we get answers to some of the biggest unanswered questions J.J. Abrams left us. And make no mistake, he really did leave a lot unsaid; there's more mysteries set up in his excellent Episode VII than a whole season of Lost.

Thankfully, not everything has been left for Rian Johnson to deal with; books, comics, video games and more have been providing answers to some of these since the film first hit. And we've just got a whopper.

No, not who Rey's parents are. And no, not what Snoke's really up to. Nah, not why Luke's hiding in the ocean either. Not why R2 passed out. Nor how Poe survived. And if you want to know the deal with Lor San Tekka, you're flat out luck. The same goes for how Maz got Luke's lightsaber.

I'm talking about how C-3PO got his red arm.

Oh, you didn't care? Me neither, yet this "mystery" has inexplicably been a talking point for months, with tie-in novels combed for clues and everyone now treating the full answer, revealed in a one-shot comic, like it's a major thing we all need to talk about.

So how did it happen? Well, while on a mission with a bunch of droids, his arm was ripped off by some alien monster and replaced after another robot who sacrificed himself to save golden rod. It's an odd little story (droid ghosts are introduced to the Star Wars canon), made all the odder because it only exists to tell a story that, as we'll see, doesn't really matter.

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Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.