Fighter weapons and R2D2

[vengence]

So with the episode 7 release I went and watched the old movies again like many people and I noticed something odd about R2s ability to take damage.

In episode 6 R2 gets shot by a stormtrooper while interfacing with a computer this seams to cause an overload in him that shorts out all his systems. Leia gets shot by the same type of weapon shortly later which causes a mere flesh wound.

in episode 5 R2 plugs into a power socket and gets a similar ish shock yet is still functional.

What really gets me is seeing that R2 is pretty susceptible to getting broken in episode 4 he tanks a shot from Darth Vader's Tie fighter and still has enough of him left over to repair back to working order. With memory units intact it seams. What do you all think of this?

[Vympel]

The shot was partially deflected by the X-Wing's shields. We saw in TPM that fighter shields encompass the astromech, not just the fighter (when Anakin gets the shields of his N1 back up in the hangar of the Droid Control Ship).

[DesertFly]

My no prize explanation (besides the shields idea, which is a good one), is that R2-D2 really didn't survive the shot--at least not his body. Really those Rebel techs violated some poor other R2 unit and swapped in our hero droid's memory and processor core. It would also be a reason why we never see R2-D2 using his jets after the prequels: the owner of the body he was slotted into hadn't splashed out for the optional "Rocket Boosters 5000".

[biostem]

It could also be that the important bits of R2 are stored deep within his body. I also think that there's some voltage running through those computer terminals, and perhaps R2 has to regulate it while interfacing, (especially if he's slicing it). Maybe getting shot while doing so messes up his ability to carefully regulate it, and zzzzaaap!

Heck, maybe the electricity is some sort of security measure, and an authorized droid wouldn't run that risk...

[bilateralrope]

My no prize explanation (besides the shields idea, which is a good one), is that R2-D2 really didn't survive the shot--at least not his body. Really those Rebel techs violated some poor other R2 unit and swapped in our hero droid's memory and processor core. It would also be a reason why we never see R2-D2 using his jets after the prequels: the owner of the body he was slotted into hadn't splashed out for the optional "Rocket Boosters 5000".

Imagine that your computer got fried by an electrical surge. The only bits that are important to keep are:
- The parts you can't afford to replace.
- Your data.
If you have enough money (or insurance), that just leaves the data. The hardware is all replaceable and there is the possibility that damaged parts could looks like they are functioning normally for some time before they fail from the damage they received.

Maybe they didn't even swap in the hardware the memory was on. Just recover what data they could from the memory core, download it into a spare R2-D2 unit with the same paint job. That way they know that the hardware won't crap out in the middle of a firefight and get a pilot killed.

Then start checking the hardware from the fried body to see if any are still usable.

[Venator]

The shot was partially deflected by the X-Wing's shields. We saw in TPM that fighter shields encompass the astromech, not just the fighter (when Anakin gets the shields of his N1 back up in the hangar of the Droid Control Ship).

For reference of the above; at 3:16 you clearly see the Naboo Starfighter's shield surrounding R2 along with the hull.

Likewise, at 12:30 you can see a diffuse green flash of the X-Wing's shield partially (okay, almost completely given the yields we're talking about) absorbing the shots that hit R2.

[Borgholio]

Wasn't it also a bit of a glancing hit too? I don't think he absorbed the entire shot.

[Venator]

All I can tell at full-speed playback from the clip is two bolts that appear to be converging directly on R2's 'head'. Issues of space fighter weaponry with convergence points measured in tens of meters notwithstanding, I'd need to see frame-by-frame to tell anything more useful.

[PREDATOR490]

The shots on R2 have to be glancing. They even have a quick flash to R2 after he has been shot and he is visually fine where you would expect a gigantic crater of his dome from a direct hit. When he gets pulled out on the ground the damage looks to be heavily scorched but no missing head. Going to be funny trying to say R2D2 is made of materials that can withstand the physical damage from a ship-to-ship weapon but he cannot absorb the energy.

It seems sensible that the X-Wing absorbed a significant amount of the energy through a combination of shields and the hull. Whatever bleed through is what caused R2D2 to blow his lid and later he has scorch marks all over his frame when the X-Wing shelters it. It remains somewhat consistent with the rest of the movies since R2D2 is shown to be vulnerable to getting zapped and one expects that being jacked in things like an XWING might cause him to be juggling a lot of power which a lucky blaster shot would cause a massive surge.

[vengence]

The shot was partially deflected by the X-Wing's shields. We saw in TPM that fighter shields encompass the astromech, not just the fighter (when Anakin gets the shields of his N1 back up in the hangar of the Droid Control Ship).

For reference of the above; at 3:16 you clearly see the Naboo Starfighter's shield surrounding R2 along with the hull.

Likewise, at 12:30 you can see a diffuse green flash of the X-Wing's shield partially (okay, almost completely given the yields we're talking about) absorbing the shots that hit R2.

Just noticed. at like 6:20 of the second video the y-wing pilot mentions routing deflector screen power. and there are a few other mentions of it throughout the clip.

[Venator]

The shot was partially deflected by the X-Wing's shields. We saw in TPM that fighter shields encompass the astromech, not just the fighter (when Anakin gets the shields of his N1 back up in the hangar of the Droid Control Ship).

For reference of the above; at 3:16 you clearly see the Naboo Starfighter's shield surrounding R2 along with the hull.

Likewise, at 12:30 you can see a diffuse green flash of the X-Wing's shield partially (okay, almost completely given the yields we're talking about) absorbing the shots that hit R2.

Just noticed. at like 6:20 of the second video the y-wing pilot mentions routing deflector screen power. and there are a few other mentions of it throughout the clip.

True. At first they talk about "double front", as protection from the trench guns up ahead. Presumably, when Vader's squadron got behind them they shunted all available deflector power to the rear instead. It also helps to explain why Vader waits for a confirmed target lock instead of hosing the general area - a deflected blast might hit the trench wall/floor and either cause damage & kill personnel or, if it hit something volatile, endanger the escort TIEs which seem to have minimal shielding.

[Mad]

True. At first they talk about "double front", as protection from the trench guns up ahead. Presumably, when Vader's squadron got behind them they shunted all available deflector power to the rear instead.

"Stabilize your rear deflectors." Sounds like they evened them out (or, at least, the Y-wings did). The trench turrets could theoretically open fire again at any moment, so they had to defend against attacks from both directions.