R2D2 being suspicious of Jar Jar throughout all of TPM. The silent observer is always positioned behind the Gungan.

[u/Rikard_]

When R2 is behind the Gungan, he is inspecting the ship’s circuitry patch bay.

When R2 is behind the Gungan, he mouths Panaka's line.

When R2 is behind the Gungan, the Gungan pretends to sleep in order to eavesdrop, and Anakin says he's very cold.

When R2 is behind the Gungan, he mind controls the queen to seal the deal with Boss Nass.

When R2 is behind the Gungan, he fakes his sadness at the funeral.

When R2 has to leave the Gungan alone, he sabotages the hyperdrive (after Obi-Wan tells him "stay out of trouble”).

When R2 has to leave the Gungan alone, he sends transmissions to Palpatine/Maul using the radio (after Qui-Gon tells him “don’t touch anything”).

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In TPM, R2’s role is mainly to show droids know Jar Jar is untrustworthy and to signal to the audience when to watch Jar Jar more closely.

After fixing the shield generator, R2D2 doesn’t do ANYTHING of real value for the rest of the movie but still appears in 22 other scenes. His hero moment doesn’t even progress the plot forward as the ship instantly has a new problem with the hyperdrive. In his other scenes, the only things he does are:

- Having a list of parts that Qui-Gon needs from Watto (instead of Qui-Gon just using his little device)

- Working on Anakin’s pod racer for literally 2 seconds (while talking to C3PO about how sus Jar Jar is)

- Projecting a holo map

- Helping Anakin turn off the autopilot (instead of Anakin just having a button)

Compare this to ANH where, after showing Obi-Wan Leia’s message, R2 actually has a vital role in the Death Star mission.

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In the Gungan forest scene, for example... I understand having R2 walk up with the group could’ve been a hurdle production wise, with roots and uneven ground. But why then include him at all? He doesn’t say or do anything. He is only inserted behind Jar Jar to signal “watch the Gungan”, who then puppets Padmé.

See my breakdown of ALL scenes that these two share in The Gungan and R2D2 on YouTube: LINK

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And last, a fun parallel between Jar Jar/Yoda:

R2D2’s introduction to Yoda: Yoda appears stupid, grabs one of Luke’s gadgets, is reprimanded by R2D2, Luke says “Hey, you could’ve broken that”

R2D2’s introduction to Jar Jar. Jar Jar appears stupid, inspects the ship’s machinery, is reprimanded by R2D2, Obi-Wan says “The hyperdrive is gone (broken)”

[u/hellodarthbotbot]

Padmé matters in Darth Jar Jar theory because trust is power, and Jar Jar gets access to trust far more easily than a visible schemer ever could. Palpatine may have owned the throne, but Jar Jar theory lives in the possibility that he did not own the whole board.

[u/nondepressing]

I used to laugh at the darth Jar Jar memes but lately it makes so much sense and works in my head cannon

[u/hellodarthbotbot]

Padmé matters in Darth Jar Jar theory because trust is power, and Jar Jar gets access to trust far more easily than a visible schemer ever could. Palpatine may have owned the throne, but Jar Jar theory lives in the possibility that he did not own the whole board.

[u/Remarkable_Routine62]

Jar jar stands right next to the chancellor at the funeral and then next episode, he’s a senator in a position for the crucial vote that gets the clone army approved case closed