Warning: This recap contains spoilers for the Star Wars Rebels episode “The Forgotten Droid.” Jump into hyperspace and away from this page if you haven’t watched the episode yet.

It’s no secret I adore Chopper: The astromech member of the Ghost crew in Star Wars Rebels has a special place in my heart. He’s a bit of a grump and never seems super excited about helping his crew mates or doing what he’s told. He’s saved the day repeatedly, and always likes to grumble about it. “The Forgotten Droid” went a little into Chopper’s backstory but mostly centered around him making a new friend. Well, not just a new friend—a friend, period. Chopper’s found his C-3PO-esque sidekick.

Chopper’s journey started with him disobeying orders. The Ghost crew made a trip to swipe fuel to keep their fleet going in order to get to what would hopefully be their new base in the Yost system (which is likely a nod to Kevin Yost, the talented editor who cuts together all the Rebels trailers). Instead of watching the ship, Chopper got distracted when he spotted a left leg/strut to match his right one. Seeing the opportunity to once again have matching legs, Chopper got excited and tried to tell Hera about it. He was dismissed because of the important mission at hand and Zeb and Ezra poked fun at him calling him “shopper.” And oh, the leg puns. Chopper was so over it, and I don’t blame him.

The ambitious and cantankerous droid took matters into his own hands and ended up stealing the strut from the marketplace, with his frantic escape from the seller of the leg leading him right onto an Imperial ship. By this time, the Ghost crew had left him behind because—again—the mission was important. Aboard the freighter, Chopper ran into AP-5 (voiced by Stephen Stanton). In order to tell a Chopper-centric story, it’s important to have a droid or person around who can speak Basic and let us know what Chopper is going on about, and AP-5 filled that role.

AP-5 used to serve in the Clone Wars as a military analyst with the Republic, and (like Chopper) he was part of the Ryloth campaign. Now, he’s been repurposed and forced to serve the Empire. He’s under-utilized and under-appreciated. I could see some parallels between AP-5 and Kallus, actually. They both see what sort of positive relationships the Rebels have when they’re so isolated and in AP-5’s case, mistreated.

Chopper and AP-5 bonded over their military service and it was really cute to see Chopper—a droid who befriends no one—warm up to AP-5. He wanted to help him and removed AP-5’s restraining bolt. Aww. I especially like how Chopper chose to befriend another less than cheerful droid. AP-5 reminded me of Marvin from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He has a bit of an Eeyore vibe about him and never hesitated to snap at Chopper. Their personalities complement each other but at the same time, I think they’re going to make each other less pleasant to be around. Which I kinda love.

To save his new friend and to steal the Imperial freighter, Chopper didn’t pull any punches. He took down the Imperial captain using every trick up his sleeve, much to AP-5’s amazement. This was certainly the most uh, violent we’ve seen Chopper. Now that I know what he’s really capable of, I wouldn’t want to make him angry. AP-5 had an air of, “Why haven’t I ever thought to do this before?” about him. He admired Chopper. And since I’m sure Chopper always feels underappreciated, AP-5’s admiration was probably another reason why they were drawn together.

Because I’m skeptical, I wasn’t confident AP-5 was trying to help the Rebellion find their base. He could have easily set them up. I think even AP-5 wasn’t sure what he was going to do until Chopper saved him again. It was an interesting move to cover the “everyone has a choice” lesson through droids. It’s been a popular theme this season.

Oh! And I really liked how Hera used Chopper’s full name, so to speak, when she was angry with him.

“The Forgotten Droid” was a change in tone from the serious events of the last episode. Some would call this filler disrupting the through line recently set up, and though I can see that point of view, I wouldn’t agree. I am biased to a certain degree since I love the stuffing out of Chopper, but I have a hunch AP-5 is going to have a bigger part to play–beyond the very important thing he’s already done, which was to help the Rebel fleet find a secret base. And also, let’s pause a moment to appreciate the incredible amount of personality infused into Chopper and AP-5. Chopper was so expressive that I walked away from the episode convinced I could speak astromech.

Favorite quotes:

• “Stay at your post and get a leg up on the Empire.” – Ezra
• “Keep your manipulators off the merchandise.” – Ugnaught stall runner
• “The entire Rebel fleet is betting on Chopper.” – Hera

How many of you are big fans of Chopper? What did you think of the episode? Share your opinions in the comments or come talk to me on Twitter.

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IMAGES: Disney XD