10 Dumbest Things In The Star Wars: Prequel Trilogy

Because one jet-boostered figure simply wasn't enough when it came time to bring Episode II: Attack of the Clones to screens, George Lucas oddly decided to give R2-D2 one hell of an upgrade during the second Star Wars prequel.

The fact this astromech secretly possessed the ability to whip out a pair of jet boosters and fly his way out of danger wasn't all that illogical or dumb in isolation; you can see how a pair of leg rockets would come in handy when trying to fix a starship in space, for example. But the fact Artoo isn't ever once seen relying on these incredibly useful tools at any stage in the wake of the Clone Wars made their inclusion in the prequels feel a bit silly in hindsight.

No on-screen explanation was ever given as to why the loyal droid suddenly bizarrely lost the power to hover in the wake of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith either. Instead, it was just eventually noted in the canon The Star Wars Book that these rocket boosters were damaged after the aforementioned galaxy-changing battles. Their warranty also expired, apparently.

In reality, though, Lucas simply didn't have the tech to make his astromech soar in the 1970s and '80s, and just wanted to finally give Artoo a boost in the prequels, with the director likely hoping you'd be too entertained by the droid incinerating battle droids to wonder why his rockets weirdly went missing a few years later.