Yoda recognized R2-D2 during The Empire Strikes Back

R2-D2 has long been a major player in the world of galactic politics and an icon for Star Wars fans everywhere. R2-D2 has probably seen more action than all of the sequel characters put together, and has met a long list of Jedi from across time, including master Yoda. R2-D2 has even carried out special missions for the Jedi Council. That left fans with a major question after the prequel movies came out, why didn’t Yoda (or Obi-Wan) recognize him when they meet him later?

Luckily this loophole has finally been getting a little bit more light recently. The book From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back spells out Yoda’s thought process in the newer anthropology.

"“Carefully moving through the swamp while staying beneath the fog, Yoda soon spotted the boy and his droid unpacking their supplies. Even though the droid was caked with algae, dirt, and stomach fluid, its appearance and familiar blips were still quite recognizable.R2-D2.Of course, the boy had Anakin’s old droid with him. Such cycles of fate no longer surprised the nine-hundred-year-old Jedi.”"

This blase response seems to be a bit demure. In all fairness, Master Yoda had lost virtually everything he grew to cherish for almost a millennium. If you can accept order 66 with nothing but a shudder, and then decapitate two clones who were serving you not 60 seconds before, seeing an old astromech really isn’t anything at all.

Hopefully, this sets up a precedent for future projects to give us details. We have seen a good number of easter eggs dropped in books, like when BB-8 said the ionic “I have a bad feeling about this” during The Last Jedi.” With Disney publishing a lot of material set during the High Republic time period, we may even get a few more easter eggs for the serene Master Yoda in the near future.

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