Unidentified RA-7 protocol droid (Jod Na Nawood)

The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

An RA-7 protocol droid^[2] was manufactured by Arakyd Industries^[1] and was left deactivated in a droid repair shop on the asteroid Port Borgo^[2] around 9 ABY.^[4] While looking for the droid SM-33, the pirate Jod Na Nawood activated the RA-7 protocol droid to check if it was SM-33. Upon being activated, the droid waved its arms while saying that a prince was in danger and that it must save them, then began walking forward. Na Nawood held his arm out in front of him, blocking the droid from moving as it attempted to walk forward, then removed his arm and stepped aside. As the droid walked past him, it said they must go that way and then said it could not see before again repeating its need to save the prince. As the droid stumbled around the shop, Na Nawood checked other droids for SM-33, who he eventually located. The RA-7 protocol droid had silver plating^[2] and stood 1.7 meters tall.^[3]

Behind the scenes

The RA-7 protocol droid appeared in "Very Interesting, As an Astrogation Problem," the third episode of the Disney+ live-action series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,^[2] which aired on December 10, 2024.^[6] The droid was performed by Gordon Tarpley and voiced by Christopher Ford, a writer for the series.^[5]

Before the scene, Tarpley spoke with Jude Law, who portrayed Na Nawood, about how they would do it. Originally, the script called for Law to shut the droid off after it began flailing around. Because this was similar to another droid in the scene, Law suggested that Tarpley walk into him, and that he would hold Tarpley off before stepping aside. In the original scene, he would not have been visible for the rest of the scene, but because it was changed, the location where Tarpley walked to would be visible, resulting in him having to repeatedly walk into a wall for the whole day while the scene was filmed. When Tarpley was bumping into the wall, his left arm was touching the doorway while his foot was kicking a box on the ground that was not visible in the scene. Tarpley did not learn that Ford voiced the droid until meeting him at the show's premiere.^[5]

While editing, Ford recorded lines on a voice memo on his phone for ADR purposes, which he then decided to use, as he thought that the low-quality phone recording worked well for the beat-up droid. Ford said his lines were in reaction to Tarpley's movements, explaining that the line "I can't see" came after the droid acted as if it could not see.^[7]

Appearances

• Star Wars: Skeleton Crew — "Very Interesting, As an Astrogation Problem" (First appearance)

Notes and references