Though he’s clearly meant to be the Ghost’s RD-D2 equivalent, in reality Chopper is quite different. His bleeps whirs form syllables a lot of the time, giving you the gist of what he’s saying, whilst his manipulators resemblance to hands and arms allows him to project a lot more. He’s also far more troublesome than R2, but as proven this week, he ultimately has a circuit board of gold.
Basing an episode on a droid might sound like an odd choice, but Chopper’s history hasn’t really been explained before. We just know he’s old, has quite the personality, and is Hera’s. Now I think about it, I’ve not complained about a lack of backstory for Chop in the same way I have for Hera, Sabine and Zeb. Am I droidist?
Perhaps, but now we’ve got some more I’m glad we do. I’ll let you in on cool thing that doesn’t spoil anything; he was on a Y-Wing, one of my favourite ships. Hera saved him, and now we have a good idea how long he’s been around. It explains a lot.
The episode wouldn’t be anything if he didn’t have a good foil though, and AP-5 is well up to the task. I had to check the credits, as I could have sworn that his low tone and cadence sounded like Alan Rickman. Alas, it was not Hans but long time Star Wars voice artist Stephen Stanton providing a ‘Paranoid Android’ vibe. Throughout the series we’ve seen droids treated differently, but this is the first time I recall we hear their take on things. They know they were useful, and if given a chance could be again. They have memories and feelings, despite what those around them may think. It’s a surprisingly deep tale if you think about it.
The Forgotten Droid is first and foremost a fun episode. But it’s also heartfelt and gives us some more history on an important member of The Ghost.
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