Editing R2-D2 (section)

=== Prequel trilogy ===

==== ''The Phantom Menace'' ====
In ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'', set 32 years before ''A New Hope'', R2-D2 is portrayed as belonging to the [[Naboo]] defense forces, one of three astromech droids deployed for repair duty onboard Queen [[Padmé Amidala]]'s ([[Natalie Portman]]) [[starship]] as it attempts to get past the [[Trade Federation]] blockade. The sole survivor of the three, R2-D2 repairs the deflector shields and saves the day. Having proved his worth, R2-D2 then becomes part of Jedi Master [[Qui-Gon Jinn]]'s ([[Liam Neeson]]) party on Tatooine where he meets nine-year-old [[Anakin Skywalker]] ([[Jake Lloyd]]) and C-3PO, whom Anakin built from scrap. Later still, he serves as the astromech droid for Anakin's [[Military spacecraft in fiction|starfighter]] during the [[Battle of Naboo]], helping Anakin destroy the Trade Federation's command center and free the planet [[Naboo]] from the Federation's grip. R2-D2, along with Anakin and the young Obi-Wan Kenobi ([[Ewan McGregor]]), are awarded medals by Padmé and [[Boss Nass]] ([[Brian Blessed]]) at the end of the film.

==== ''Attack of the Clones'' ====
In ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'', set 10 years after ''The Phantom Menace'', R2-D2 again serves Obi-Wan and Anakin ([[Hayden Christensen]]), who is now Obi-Wan's Jedi apprentice. He accompanies Anakin and Padmé to Naboo, and then to Tatooine when Anakin tries in vain to rescue his mother [[Shmi Skywalker|Shmi]] ([[Pernilla August]]) from a pack of [[Tusken Raiders]]. Here, he is reunited with C-3PO, and the two get into various misadventures on the planet [[Geonosis]]. He and C-3PO are later witness to Anakin and Padmé's secret wedding.

==== ''Revenge of the Sith'' ====
In ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'', set three years later, R2-D2 helps Anakin and Obi-Wan in their mission to rescue Chancellor [[Palpatine]] ([[Ian McDiarmid]]) from [[Count Dooku]]'s ([[Christopher Lee]]) capital ship, the ''Invisible Hand''. He is attacked by super battle droids, but he defeats them through ingenious tactics. After Anakin falls to the [[dark side (Star Wars)|dark side]] of [[the Force]] and becomes Darth Vader, he takes R2-D2 with him when he goes to assassinate the Separatist council, but he tells him to stay with the ship. After Obi-Wan defeats Vader in a lightsaber duel, R2-D2 goes with him aboard Padmé's ship, where he witnesses as Padmé dies after giving birth to her and Vader's children, Luke and Leia.

After Palpatine and Vader overthrow the Republic and establish the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Galactic Empire]] at the end of the film, C-3PO's memory is erased to keep the knowledge of Luke and Leia's locations a secret from their father. However, R2-D2's memory is not wiped; as a result, R2-D2 is the only surviving character at the end of the saga who knows the entire story of the [[Skywalker family]]. Both R2-D2 and C-3PO end up in the possession of Captain [[Raymus Antilles]] ([[Rohan Nichol]]) onboard the ''Tantive IV''.