8 Star Wars Questions That Always Confused You

3. Why Didn't Obi-Wan Remember R2-D2?

Star Wars A New Hope Obi-Wan Kenobi R2-D2
Lucasfilm

This one is VERY cheeky, given everyone knows that the real answer is "because George Lucas didn't know he'd include R2-D2 and C-3PO in the Star Wars prequels he hadn't thought of yet", but it is worth mentioning. People have considered Obi-Wan's apparent lack of familiarity with his former Padawan's astromech a plot hole since Episode I released in 1999, but what they may not know is that Lucasfilm have taken steps to amend it in expanded material.

So, the real answer as to why Obi-Wan doesn't remember R2 in A New Hope? He does. (No, seriously - he does.) And, to get a slightly pedantic point out of the way as well, you should remember that Obi-Wan never says he doesn't remember R2 - just that he didn't remember "owning a droid".

Either way, in the new, canonical novelisation of A New Hope (titled The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy), author Alexandra Bracken includes a paragraph that confirms Kenobi recognised R2, and that the little astromech knew him too.

"Han was about to turn back to lock up the circuit panel when he saw the fossil wave the droid over. Luke had a look of intense concentration on his face as he pivoted around and around in a circle, lifting his lightsaber this way, that way, clearly lost in his own world.

The R2 unit moved to Ben’s side as if it were his faithful pet — an image that was further reinforced by the old man’s stroking a hand over its domed head.

“It’s good to fly with you again, my old friend,” the old man said, so softly Han wasn’t sure he had heard him right."

Now if anyone needs me, I'll be having a big cry.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.