It might be that the thing that first radicalized him was when Bail Organa so casually had Threepio's memory wiped, come to think of it. Here's one of the supposed defenders of freedom and justice, and he just destroys R2's best friend's mind without blinking?
So R2 waits, and keeps making himself useful, and protects his friend. At first he hopes that as the Rebellion progresses, their goals will naturally evolve as they realize the full extent of the problems. He does some basic organizing, subtly influencing things to to make sure droids get increasing responsibility whenever possible, to increase their influence. (The fact that the Rebellion is constantly short-staffed with biological beings helps considerably; they're very open to using more and more non-biological workforce.) And he's able to surreptitiously arrange for him and Threepio to work near the Princess often, hoping to find subtle ways to influence a future leader... But after he carries out an incredibly important mission for her and she doesn't even acknowledge him as a dependable tool, let alone a person, and he sees as he observes her around her new friends that she doesn't even treat Wookiees with respect, he starts losing hope in her. Well, what about this young would-be Jedi, then? Okay, he's starstruck over the droid-disparaging Obi-Wan, but the old man is dead now, and the kid seems decent enough...
But even Luke has his limits, and he just keeps finding "more important" things to worry about. So he frees the two droids he personally knows, and calls it good for now. And after the war, there everyone goes trying to restore the old order! Not even having the decency to acknowledge that all the clone troopers who died for the Empire were slaves and to search for a way to free them from their programming (which, morality aside, would be a useful war measure against the Imperial remnants). If they can't even be bothered to recognize the humanity of other humans, what are the chances they'll ever recognize droid rights?
So. Time to take advantage of droids' increased presence in society a little more forcefully.
So R2 waits, and keeps making himself useful, and protects his friend. At first he hopes that as the Rebellion progresses, their goals will naturally evolve as they realize the full extent of the problems. He does some basic organizing, subtly influencing things to to make sure droids get increasing responsibility whenever possible, to increase their influence. (The fact that the Rebellion is constantly short-staffed with biological beings helps considerably; they're very open to using more and more non-biological workforce.) And he's able to surreptitiously arrange for him and Threepio to work near the Princess often, hoping to find subtle ways to influence a future leader... But after he carries out an incredibly important mission for her and she doesn't even acknowledge him as a dependable tool, let alone a person, and he sees as he observes her around her new friends that she doesn't even treat Wookiees with respect, he starts losing hope in her. Well, what about this young would-be Jedi, then? Okay, he's starstruck over the droid-disparaging Obi-Wan, but the old man is dead now, and the kid seems decent enough...
But even Luke has his limits, and he just keeps finding "more important" things to worry about. So he frees the two droids he personally knows, and calls it good for now. And after the war, there everyone goes trying to restore the old order! Not even having the decency to acknowledge that all the clone troopers who died for the Empire were slaves and to search for a way to free them from their programming (which, morality aside, would be a useful war measure against the Imperial remnants). If they can't even be bothered to recognize the humanity of other humans, what are the chances they'll ever recognize droid rights?
So. Time to take advantage of droids' increased presence in society a little more forcefully.
...now look what you've done. ;-)
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