8 Things Everybody Missed In Star Wars: The Force Awakens

2. Why R2-D2 Woke Up

One of the most confusing parts of The Force Awakens was R2-D2's essential-yet-undernourished role in the plot; he's got part of the map to Luke somehow, but shut down when his master left and has been comatose in a corner of the Resistance base ever since. Then, as if by the magic of narrative convenience, he suddenly woke up just in time to give Rey the info she needed. How does this work? What woke him up? It's the happiest coincidence in a movie that was built around happy coincidences, surely? Well, not quite. There is actually a pretty clear answer to all this that most people have missed; Rey. Artoo shut down when Luke left and reboots when Rey arrives, and that's no coincidence. If it was Luke's absence that affected the astromech, the arrival of a strong Force user (so much so that some would like to call her a Mary Sue, even if few actually understand what that term means) who all signs point to being the new generation's Luke parallel (maybe even his daughter) is the logical explanation for his awakening. After all, the only thing that's changed at the Resistance base between when BB-8 first tried to wake him and the end is the arrival of Rey.