This post contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Following the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens back in December, we were left with a fair few questions. Why did Luke banish himself to a remote island? How on earth did Kylo Ren retrieve Darth Vader’s burnt mask? Who are Rey’s parents? We want answers, dammit.
Well one question that we can get an answer to is the puzzling tale of C-3PO’s red arm. When the shimmering droid burst onto the scene with a red arm – a stark contrast to his usual gold mechanics – fans were intrigued. A hint was unveiled in a companion book to The Force Awakens stating: “It is a memento of another droid’s sacrifice.” Intriguing stuff.
Well now, the full story behind C-3PO’s new arm has been revealed in a new comic called Star Wars Special: C-3PO #1. The premise of the comic book sees C-3PO and several other Resistance droids crash-land on an unknown planet. Among his fellow droids includes Omri, a First Order droid who is holding the group captive and also holds information about the where the Order are keeping Admiral Ackbar. The group eventually make their way through the planet to find a downed TIE fighter which is sending a distress beacon to help them get off.
As the group make it through the planet, they are picked off one by one by Order fighters and C-3PO engages Omri in several conversations in which the pair question why droids are pitted against each other and discuss the taboo subject of having their memories wiped, as seen to C-3PO in Episode III. During one of the attacks shown in the comic, C-3PO’s arm is shown to be ripped off by an attacker before he manages to escape.
By the end of the comic, C-3PO and Omri have come to question their existence as disposable machines and form an important bond. Omri later is won round by C-3PO and to save him, he sacrifices himself by giving information regarding the location of Admiral Ackbar, and walking out into falling acid rain on the planet, destroying his First Order tracking beam so the group can escape. As he does so his paintwork is destroyed and later he is shown to have once been painted red before becoming a First Order droid. As a show of gratitude, C-3PO then picks up the red arm and attaches it to replace his missing limb. Cute.
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So there you go, his red arm has finally been settled and we can move on with our lives. Actually, shall we try and solve this Emperor Snoke theory? Go on then…