We might have a Constable Zuvio situation on our hands. Much in the same way a big character reveal and a huge swath of toys were released for the secondary Jakku character in the lead up to the release of The Force Awakens — which left some people scratching their heads when he wasnt in the actual movie — so it goes for C2-B5. The Imperial astromech droid received a conspicuous character announcement in the lead up to the release of Rogue One, but if you watch the final film the little bizarro version of R2-D2 is nowhere to be found. What gives?
In August, official Star Wars channels were abuzz with releasing information about the little guy, with most specifying that unlike the Rebel Alliance, Imperial technicians don’t grant their droids independence and subject them to frequent memory wipes to keep them subservient. It led us to believe the potentially plucky and sentient C2 would have something to do with Jyn Erso’s mission to steal the Death Star plans on Scarif.
He also popped up in the movie’s “Imperial AT-ACT Playset,” which also included a Jyn action figure. So if he didn’t have to deal with memory wipes and the toys said he was on Scarif, then he could be given the plans to pass along to Princess Leia after the battle somehow.
Wherefore art thou, C2-B5?
“Where does C2-B5 fall into all this? You’ll have to find out this December when Rogue One is released,” Star Wars Show host Peter Townley said on an episode from August that announced the droid. But the question still stands.
It seems as though C2 was the victim of the infamous reshoots that retooled the ending of Rogue One. Instead of Jyn having to upload the plans to a droid, the ending as is has her uploading the coveted Death Star plans directly into the Scarif communications tower to beam to the Rebel fleet. No C2-B5 needed. So now C2-B5 joins Constable Zuvio in the ranks of Star Wars characters so important that they didn’t end up anywhere in the movies.
Main Lucasfilm Story Group dude Pablo Hidalgo agrees.
