Via Starwars.com:

THEY CARRY STOLEN PLANS, STOP TRASH COMPACTORS, AND DELIVER SECRET MAPS. HERE’S WHY DROIDS ARE ESSENTIAL TO STAR WARS.

“We don’t serve their kind here.”

Whether they’re being denied entry to a sleazy cantina or serving as punching bags for irritable Imperial officers, one terrible fact has rung far too true throughout the growing history of Star Wars stories: It ain’t easy being a droid. Commonly treated as though they’re worth even less than the tools they were built to be, the often complex and highly advanced droids that feature in many of our favorite stories have been, time and time again, tossed to the sidelines in some form or another. While emotions and other elements like friendship, heartbreak, and even bloodlust are seen as natural or expected of sentient life forms, droids are often denied that sort of agency by the people that surround them. While this is often seen as commonplace within the context of the story, the denial of that complexity has proven to be a serious underestimation, particularly when it involves armed droids built (or modified) for murder.

Created for countless purposes ranging from ship repair to basic companionship for the lonely, droids dawdle in and out of stories often unnoticed or abused, but many of the galaxy’s most famous units have broken the mold of basic programming and become something more. Look no further than the first pair of droids that fans were introduced to, C-3PO and R2-D2, for examples of exactly what that means: through arguments and countless obstacles over the years, the infamous duo has proven that their care for their friends, and each other, is more of a driving factor for their existences than the servitude they were programmed for. But beyond that, the two have given an in-depth look at what exists beneath their outer plating — the hard-earned ability to lead all-droid teams of their own, and the memories of the past that they share.

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