I agree. He had more agency in Jedi because he gained the trust of the locals to help them in their cause. Far more than in Empire. To my recollection the only time his translation skills came in handy during their escape from Hoth was when communicating with the Falcon's computer and even then 3PO himself commented,
"Where is R2 when I need him!" This was in response to 3PO's difficulties understanding the ship's language which is normally his specially being a protocol droid, though I suppose in that case Artoo would have been better because that's his specialty communicating with ships. 3PO was essentially a diplomat between the Rebels and the Ewoks when they reached Endor so I'd say he had a very important role. From the outset, sure it might not make sense to bring a shiny gold robot with them but he did prove to be useful.
If anything like Inquisitor Peregrinus pointed out he's basically Artoo's translator for the human characters. 3PO's skills are not necessary in all scenarios but not knowing when or where they will be needed the audience can reasonably assume that it's handy to have both droids with them no matter where they go. Artoo handles the technical aspects of their adventures and 3PO handles the translation/ diplomacy side of things.
Plus from a dramatic point of view for the audience they can offer some levity to what can be pretty heavy dramatic scenes if necessary. To me having a protocol droid on Endor isn't so much of a continuity or story logic issue that would break my suspension of disbelief considering he's been on all the lead character's adventures. I think there are far worse offenders with gaps in the story logic and they are so glaring you could fly the Falcon through those plot holes.
"Where is R2 when I need him!" This was in response to 3PO's difficulties understanding the ship's language which is normally his specially being a protocol droid, though I suppose in that case Artoo would have been better because that's his specialty communicating with ships. 3PO was essentially a diplomat between the Rebels and the Ewoks when they reached Endor so I'd say he had a very important role. From the outset, sure it might not make sense to bring a shiny gold robot with them but he did prove to be useful.
If anything like Inquisitor Peregrinus pointed out he's basically Artoo's translator for the human characters. 3PO's skills are not necessary in all scenarios but not knowing when or where they will be needed the audience can reasonably assume that it's handy to have both droids with them no matter where they go. Artoo handles the technical aspects of their adventures and 3PO handles the translation/ diplomacy side of things.
Plus from a dramatic point of view for the audience they can offer some levity to what can be pretty heavy dramatic scenes if necessary. To me having a protocol droid on Endor isn't so much of a continuity or story logic issue that would break my suspension of disbelief considering he's been on all the lead character's adventures. I think there are far worse offenders with gaps in the story logic and they are so glaring you could fly the Falcon through those plot holes.
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