Skip to main content

star wars - Why don't more droids remove their restraining bolts?



In "Downfall of a Droid" (S01E06 of The Clone Wars), R2-D2 is captured by a Trandoshan trader, who puts a restraining bolt on him and puts him in a storage bay of sorts. However, R2-D2 simply nudges the restraining bolt off of himself by pushing it against the door frame, which then frees R2-D2 to roam the ship:


Animated GIF showing the bolt being slammed against the doorway to remove it.


If a restraining bolt is so easy to remove, then why isn't this technique more common? Is there an in-universe explanation to why most droids keep their restraining bolts on?



Answer



It is established in Timothy Zahn's books (specifically The Last Command) that some droids, security droids in particular, are actually immune to restraining bolts. Han and Chewbacca figuring out how to use a restraining bolt on a prison-guard droid (the bolt needs to be placed in one exact spot on the droid for it to work, which is so precise a task that they need Luke to use the Force to place the bolt)is actually a very important plot-point in this book.


It is possible that since R2-D2 saw military service that he was given upgrades to render him at least partially-immune to restraining bolt technology. As such, if he's left alone in a room he can use nearby materials (the door-frame) to pry off a bolt, but if he's being watched his owner, or the person who owns the restraining bolt, can freeze him if he attempts to do something unauthorised, as the Jawas do to him when he attempts to follow Threepio in A New Hope.


In another of Timothy Zahn's EU novels, Heir to the Empire, Talon Karrde's smugglers seem to anticipate this loophole in restraining bolt technology by actually placing Artoo in a restraint collar rather than a restraining bolt, which physically holds him in place so that he cannot move when there is no-one else in the room to release him. This raises the question of whether Karrde's people; are smart-enough to spot the upgrades; simply suspect them, or; are merely very cautious, smart people (this is known to be true, but may not be why they used a collar instead of a bolt). The alternative theory is that removing the bolt doesn't actually require any security upgrades, but is merely something that the average droid, as jacen.garriss says above, is not intelligent or experienced enough to figure out.


I would be inclined to ret-con the military upgrade feature I mentioned above myself if I were a Star Wars writer, because it would render the very concept of restraining bolts obsolete if they were easily removed by any droid.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion
Post a Comment
Read more