Original artwork, not a still
R2D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is Threepio at his most fussily wrong. The audience already knows the Empire has disabled the hyperdrive, so R2's source is good, and the comedy is a protocol droid lecturing the one who has just told him the truth. Fans quote it as a joke about distrusting strange software, and it is a small, sharp reminder that R2-D2 is usually the one who is right.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes BackShow the scene
In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the Millennium Falcon is fleeing Cloud City with Darth Vader's Star Destroyer on its tail. In the hold, R2-D2 is busy reconnecting C-3PO, who has just one leg attached after being blasted apart by stormtroopers. When Lando's order to jump to lightspeed fails, R2 beeps that the hyperdrive is deactivated. Threepio asks how he could know, is told the city's central computer said so, and delivers this scolding. R2 is right: Vader had the hyperdrive disabled.
Sources (2)
- IMSDb: The Empire Strikes Back scriptFalcon escape sequenceReference checked
- Wookieepedia: Cloud City Central Computerpage header quoteReference checked
Context reviewed
