Is R5-D4 The Same Droid From Star Wars: A New Hope? An Investigation
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the second episode of "The Mandalorian" season 3.
The single most sympathetic droid in the "Star Wars" galaxy is R5-D4. Search your feelings; you know it's true. And if you're not sure which one R5-D4 is, well, that's kind of the point. R5-D4 is every actor who ever failed their audition and lost out on the role of a lifetime. He's every person who was ever passed over for a job in favor of another candidate. Even Luke Skywalker mistakes him for a generic "R2 unit" when they first meet.
To date, R5-D4's biggest claim to fame has been that he was originally chosen for purchase over R2-D2 back in 1977 in "Star Wars: A New Hope" ... before he malfunctioned, and his life took a different path. In season 3, episode 2, "The Mines of Mandalore" (chapter 18 of the series overall), "The Mandalorian" sends an astromech droid who looks very much like R5-D4 off on an adventure with Din Djarin and Grogu, aka Mando and Baby Yoda. Said droid was previously referred to by the nickname "R5," and while the makers of "The Mandalorian" haven't confirmed outright that he's the same one R2-D2 upstaged all those years ago, this is implied to be the case.
In 2019, months before "The Mandalorian" debuted, creator Jon Favreau shared a set photo on Instagram that leaned into nostalgia for any "Star Wars" fan who ever might have owned an R5-D4 action figure — beginning with the vintage Kenner collection, which officially retconned him as an "R5" unit in 1978. As of this week, we now seemingly have a definitive answer about the identity of that R5 droid in "The Mandalorian," as Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), refers to him by his full name, R5-D4. It turns out R5-D4 hasn't just been kicking around Tatooine or the toy closet since 1977/1978, either.
Roll forward, R5, and meet your destiny
To have a full appreciation for how much R5-D4's space-faring adventure on "The Mandalorian" means, it helps to have his screen history in mind. The droid's adventures started back on the Sandcrawler in "A New Hope," where he had a place among R2-D2, C-3PO, and other assorted gonk and junk droids the Jawas had salvaged. Things were looking good for him when the Sandcrawler arrived at the moisture farm owned by Luke Skywalker's uncle, Owen Lars. "I'll take the red one," Lars said, selecting R5-D4 as his first-round draft pick from the lineup of droids. Then, Lars settled on C-3PO, and the garage sale was seemingly over.
In another life, it might have been R5-D4 on the back of Luke's X-Wing fighter. Unfortunately, "Red," as Luke called him (can you feel the budding affection there?) had a "bad motivator," and his dreams went up in smoke as he rolled forward. You could certainly read into this and say R5-D4 wasn't motivated enough to be one of the galaxy's most famous droids like R2-D2. But maybe the Force just dealt him a bad hand.
Like many "Star Wars" characters, R5-D4 has had his story fleshed out in books, comic books, and trading cards, but if we're just going by what's onscreen, then R5-D4's next appearance would be a cameo in the 2002 prequel "Attack of the Clones." In our world, R5 was still stuck on Tatooine 25 years after his first appearance. In his world, he was there before Luke Skywalker was even born. You can spot him in the background on the streets of Mos Espa, another local spaceport, when Anakin Skywalker returns to his home planet. What's sad about this is that astromech droids were built for space, but R5-D4 remains grounded.
We're rooting for you, R5-D4
In "The Mandalorian," season 1, "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger," Mando wanders into the Mos Eisley cantina from "A New Hope," whereupon he crosses paths with R5-D4. The (perhaps oil-a-holic, never-was) droid rolls up to the bar, which now has a droid bartender, too, even though it used to have a no-droids policy. We get to see R5-D4 in close-up for a second, but it's just another cameo.
It's good to know, however, that R5-D4 survived the Jawa massacre that occurred in "A New Hope" as Stormtroopers pursued R2-D2 and the stolen Death Star plans he was carrying. At least droids have made some civil rights advances in Mos Eisley, which is more than you can say for the ones L3-37 attempted to liberate in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," right?
Not so fast. For starters, the cantina is clearly not as popular as it once was. You get the sense that if Jon Favreau's "Swingers" character were there with his buddies, they'd say, "This place is dead."
There are other indications of droid inequality. This was just R5-D4's first appearance on "The Mandalorian," and he's since gone on to become a recurring background character (also during the informal "Mandalorian 2.5" parts of "The Book of Boba Fett"). R5-D4 next showed up in the season 2 premiere, "Chapter 9: The Marshal," by which time he had entered Peli Motto's service alongside the pit droids in her hangar.
Given his history, we can surmise that it was a big moment for R5-D4 when Motto barked his nickname, giving him the chance to roll forward again with a holographic map of Tatooine for Mando. We know that R5-D4 has been all over that map, so you feel like: he's got this. We're rooting for you, R5!
Droid rights for R5
Alas, Peli Motto has an impatient streak, so R5-D4 is subject to immediate criticism over his slowness in producing the Tatooine map. "Take your time, seriously," Motto remarks, denigrating R5 further by saying, "You just can't get good help anymore."
What's so wrong about that comment is that it lays bare R5-D4's social status as a servant, "the help." In that respect, he's not so different from R2-D2 and C-3PO, who Oscar-nominated filmmaker (and "Return of the Jedi" crew member) David Fincher once likened to "slaves," saying, "I always thought of 'Star Wars' as the story of two slaves who go from owner to owner, witnessing their masters' folly, the ultimate folly of man."
So much for droid rights. It should come as no surprise, then, that R5-D4 stands by idly as Motto, his demanding master, gets attacked by a womp rat in "The Book of Boba Fett" episode 5, "Return of the Mandalorian." He can only watch from the ground as Mando takes off in his new Naboo starfigher.
To add insult to injury, R5-D4 then has to watch as R2-D2 comes swaggering back onto Tatooine on an X-wing fighter in "The Book of Boba Fett" episode 7, "In the Name of Honor." Motto is so busy cooing over Grogu and opining that his name is terrible that the episode barely even acknowledges the reunion between R5-D4 and R2-D2. "They don't even notice me," R5-D4 probably thinks, until Motto barks some more orders over her shoulder at him.
R5-D4 has been passed over all his life, but this week, all that finally changed in "The Mandalorian," season 3, episode 2. In the spirit of droids passing from owner to owner, Motto tries to pawn R5-D4 off on Mando, rightly saying that he's "built for adventure."
Never judge a droid by its motivator
When Mando explains to Motto that he's returning to Mandalore and needs a droid to explore ahead and test the atmosphere, the camera pans down to R5-D4, who is trembling with nervous anticipation. This is his chance. Everything's been leading up to this moment. It's exciting yet scary, so he backs away, but Motto pushes him toward Mando and says, "You gotta shine." As she notes, he's "supposed to be piloting starfighters across the galaxy and fighting tyranny."
Mando isn't impressed and says R5 is "falling apart," whereupon Motto drops the bombshell: "R5-D4 is as good as the day it came back from serving in the rebellion."
This line recontextualizes everything we know about R5-D4. Is R5 even a "he?" StarWars.com says yes, so it seems likely this is just further dehumanization of a droid servant on Motto's part. What's more surprising is that R5-D4 fought in the rebellion. Sure, he's seen better days (Motto has to offer to sell him half-price with a free oil bath), but he's also seen some action. Rae Carson's canonical story, "The Red One," from the anthology book "A Certain Point of View," further confirms that R5-D4 wasn't stuck on Tatooine all his life like the Unchosen One, some failed robo-Luke.
R5-D4 lived, and maybe even loved. If there was ever any doubt this is the R5-D4, by the way, that evaporates when Motto threatens to sell him back to the Jawas if he doesn't settle his bolts. We've come full circle to R5's origin, and now Mando's starfighter has a veteran astromech droid and another springboard for exposition via one-way dialogue, like Grogu.
Shine on, R5-54. You've taught us a valuable lesson, and that is: never judge a droid by one bad moment, a single failed motivator.