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33. Chopper steals the show
Episode: Season 2 Episode 19: The Forgotten Droid
The Moment: Chopper, feeling left out from the rest of the group, decides to take off on his own for a bit. Being a Clone Wars era droid, he doesn’t have all of the original parts that he once had. He finds a vendor who has a leg that matches his original set, and ventures out to acquire this part.
Chopper accidentally boards an Imperial freighter, where he meets an inventory droid named AP-5. After a series of fun events, Chopper escapes, but at the sacrifice of his new droid friend, who saves his life. Instead of using his newly acquired leg-part for himself, Chopper uses it to restore AP-5 to normal function.
Why It’s Memorable: Who thought an episode about a rogue droid would be a lot of fun and a well-written one as well? Not me, I’ll admit. But I gave the episode a chance and it was a pleasant surprise. Having an episode featuring Chopper was risky and could have really flopped. But the boldness of the writing team paid off, adding some depth to the droid, as well.
Chopper was once a Clone War droid who crashed in an A-Wing and was then saved by a young Hera. Now we see how Chopper was considered a war hero, with his bravery displayed in this episode. His self-sacrifice, which I thought was non-existent in this droid, was in full force.
This moment reveals Chopper to be more than just a family pet and he raised his stock closer to the epic and legendary status of R2-D2. We also find out in Rogue One that Chopper is still alive, so I’m eager to learn how he and Hera’s roles expand once the Rebel Alliance is in full swing.