New 'Rogue One' Astromech Droid C2-B5 Could Be a Rebel Spy
On Wednesday night, Disney and Lucasfilm teased the existence of a new droid in the upcoming Rogue One, and we’re pretty sure it’s a rebel spy.
The new droid, C2-B5, is a jet-black and chrome Imperial astromech droid — essentially, a bad-boy goth version of R2-D2. We don’t know much about the little droid yet, but we got our first look during Disney’s Star Wars Show on YouTube Wednesday afternoon. The Star Wars Show has largely been one giant Star Wars commercial so far, not really revealing anything substantial, but C2-B5 seems different, and we think it could have a major impact on the plot.
The show’s hosts didn’t mention anything about how C2 will fit into the plot of Rogue One, but he does make a perfect complement to Rogue One’s other new droid, the anti-C-3PO, K-2SO, who is a rehabilitated Imperial combat droid that defects to the alliance.
Star Wars Show host Peter Townley did specify the different ways in which the Rebel Alliance and the Empire treat their little mechanical mechanics. Unlike the Rebellion, “Imperial technicians do not grant their droids independence and frequently wipe the memories of their droids to insure they remain subservient.”
Why say anything about that at all? Well, it might be a clue.
If A New Hope taught us anything, it’s that astromech droids are the main means of transporting secret Imperial codes, specifically when R2 was given the Death Star plans to give to the Rebels to help destroy the Death Star. Those plans will be retroactively stolen by Rogue One hero Jyn Erso and her rag-tag group of rebels.
If C2 somehow avoided those memory wipes, and got wise to the wanton destruction the Empire was plotting, maybe he began to develop a similarly plucky personality just like R2 and agreed to help the Rebels as a secret droid spy with their mission. And how would they secretly store those schematics and potentially ferry them to Princess Leia? C2-B5 would be a good guess.
Don’t mess with a droid that develops free will.
This, obviously, is pure speculation. It’s just suspicious that the Star Wars Show would take the time to mention the little guy. The only other similar seemingly irrelevant rollo-out of new characters like this was when Mace Windu and the Battle Droids were introduced as sneak preview toys before the release of The Phantom Menace.
C2 could be essential to the plot, or he could appear in the movie for like a split second. We’ll have to wait unto December 16 when Rogue One hits theaters to find out.
