R2-Q5

This article is about the spy. You may be looking for the waiter.

"Not to judge a droid by his plating, but one look at their paint jobs, and you know they're nothing but trouble!"

―R0-GR writes about R4-I9 and R2-Q5^[2]

R2-Q5 was an R2-series astromech droid. Made by Industrial Automaton, he served the Galactic Empire aboard the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, performing maintenance and repair as needed. Like many Imperial astromechs, he was fitted with spy devices allowing human overseers to monitor personnel. He single-handedly thwarted a software infiltration of the Death Star II by the rogue assassin droid IG-88B.^[4] During the era of the Resistance, R0-GR included R2-Q5 in "droidography."^[2]

Biography

Servant of the Emperor

"In fact, plenty of astromechs served Imperial forces as mechanics, and some even worked as personal messengers for the Emperor himself. Take these guys, for example."

―R0-GR writes about R4-I9 and R2-Q5^[2]

R2-Q5 was an R2-series astromech droid manufactured by Industrial Automaton^[1] that served the Galactic Empire as one of the many droid attendants to Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine. The R-series astromech droid was primarily used for astrogation and data storage^[5] and patrolled the corridors of the Death Star II superweapon carrying out maintenance and repair tasks. Many other Imperial astromechs fufilled the same role and were fitted with secret spy devices to allow human overseers to monitor personnel.^[1] On one occassion, R2-Q5 single-handedly thwarted the assassin droid IG-88's attempted software infiltration of the Death Star.^[5]

Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod marches past a row of four black-uniformed Imperial officers, including Mianda, in a hangar on the Death Star II. In the background, R2-Q5 is visible at the rear of the hangar. — R2-Q5 (second from right) was stationed on the Death Star II.

In 4 ABY,^[6] during the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Death Star was still under construction over the moon Endor in the Endor system. When the Sith Lord Darth Vader arrived on board the superweapon to increase speed of production, R2-Q5 stood at the back of a group of Imperial personnel led by Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod in the hangar where Vader's shuttle, ST 321, landed.^[7] He^[2] was also present in a larger group of droids^[7] in Hangar 272^[8] when Palpatine himself later landed on the station.^[7]

Battle of Endor and beyond

Not long after the Emperor's arrival, the Alliance Fleet attacked the Death Star, having been fooled by Palpatine into beliving its weaponry was not yet operational.^[7] During the battle, R2-Q5 performed duties for the Alliance instead of the Empire^[3] and was present in a portion of the battle station's Command Sector North where a rebel CR90 corvette crashed during the battle, leading to fighting in the Death Star's corridors between the Imperials and the corvette's surviving crew as the latter sought a ship to escape on.^[9] The Alliance eventually succeeded in destroying the Death Star and killing the Emperor.^[7]

The B1-series battle droid R0-GR later wrote about R2-Q5 and their fellow Imperial astromech R4-I9 in a work he compiled and called a "droidography." R0-GR claimed that just from looking at the two astromechs' paint jobs he could tell that the pair was nothing that trouble.^[2]

Characteristics

R2-Q5 had masculine programming^[2] and black and bronze paneling with a black sensor. He was also equipped with a magnetic fault sensor, motorized legs, a heat exhaust, a powerbus cable for tread,^[1] and an array of "quick repair" appendages that could swiftly contract into hidden compartments.^[3] The droid stood 1.09 meters (three foot, seven inches) tall.^[1] The astromech had above average intelligence but below average strength and speed, with especially low diplomatic skills and fighting abilities. He was not Force-sensitive.^[3]

Behind the scenes

R2-Q5 first appeared in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and was first identified in canon by this name in the gacha toy Star Wars Pullback Droid. In the reference book Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, the title states that many droids like him are fitted with secret spy devices, it does not specify whether R2-Q5 specifically is in fact fitted with these.

LEGO

"Make it quick. I'm up to my optical lenses in repair work, and if it doesn't get done today then… I dunno, something'll happen. Who has time to listen to consequences? My assistant really picked a day to play hooky. Think you could find that lazy lout for me and tell him to get his seat-warmer in gear?"

―R2-Q5^[10]

In the non-canon animated series LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales, R2-Q5 appeared during a flashbackto the Clone Wars in the episode "Crisis on Coruscant,"^[11] which aired on August 24, 2015^[12] In the flashback, R2-Q5 is depicted as serving the Executive Separatist Council on the planet Geonosis and is present at a meeting of the council in the Stalgasin hive where the captive protocol droid C-3PO is being forced to work as a waiter. C-3PO's companion R2-D2 sneaks up behind R2-Q5 and smashes a rock of his dome, pulling him through a doorway, and then swapping out their paneling to disguise himself in black. R2-D2 initially forgets to swap out his dome, but returns to R2-Q5 and completes the disguise before infiltrating the meeting.^[11]

R2-Q5 also appears in LEGO form as a character in the non-canon 2015 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens in which he is unlocked by completeing the bonus level "Trouble over Taul."^[13] In the 2022 sequel LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, R2-Q5 can be found in Bunker 01 of the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar where he'll complain to the player in binary that he is busy with repair work and ask them to locate his missing assistant, who the droid consisders useless. If the player accepts the quest, which is titled "Not the Sharpest Tool in the Box," then R2-Q5 thanks them and gives them a datalog to deliver to the assistant, displaying a hologram of his appearance. Once the player finds the assistant in Bunker 04, he reads the datalog, commenting that R2-Q5 clearly is not happy with him and some of the message got pretty personal. The mission is then complete and R2-Q5 is unlocked as a purchasable character to play as.^[10]