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This is a theory I have posted on several sites, each time without acknowledgement, although I still believe it is worth discussing. It takes as its launch point the somewhat contentious issue of Anakin (Darth Vader) being the original creator of C3PO.

Even as a lifelong fan of the Star Wars films and universe I initially thought this was a clumsy and somewhat indefensible move on Lucas’ behalf, that is until I saw a recent interview with him during which he explained that the Star Wars movies were essentially the story of the two druids, R2 and 3PO – these being the two characters who string the whole of the narrative together.

This got me thinking, as did the fact that R2 had entered the story as an obscure astrodroid aboard Amidala’s ship.

My observation then became that the two droids represent the union of Anakin and Amidala prior to their actual marriage, the consummation of which leads to the birth of Luke and Leia. In many ways, then, R2 and 3PO could be seen as representatives of both parents of the hero and heroine of the original trilogy. Surrogate parents, almost (?).

Another interesting move on Lucas’ part was to move the force away from the exclusively spiritual realm it seemed to inhabit in the original films in order to introduce a physical / biochemical explaination in the form of Midichlorians for the new films.

This could, of course, simply be a reaction to the rise in public interest for such sciences, although mention of ‘Clone’ Wars in the earlier films suggests that Lucas had always intended to follow a genetic theme at some point.

So, Lucas has – or should I say, could – now tie together notions of cosmic destiny and biological determinism in these two approaches to the force; the mystical or metaphysical, and the biological / scientific. Either way, Lucas appears to be interested in exploring the concepts of pre-destination – of having your destiny somehow decided for you ahead of time, of being inexorably drawn toward an inevitable conclusion. Of being, in some regards, "programmed".

Back to the droids: here is my theory.

As a powerful jedi who readily reveals that he ‘dreams’ of things to come (coming back to free the slaves on Tatooine), could it be that Anakin, even at so young an age and with a certain degree of innocence, has already foreseen his own destiny, knows that he will fall to the dark side but also, more importantly, knows that he is destined to overcome the Emperor but only with the intervention of his own unborn children?

Having foreseen this, and being aware of the implications should this destiny be denied, could it be that Anakin, as a young child, encoded instructions for 3PO to marshal his son, Luke, in some way?

It’s already apparent that Obi-Wan, Yoda, Owen and Beru have all conspired in some way to keep the children a secret. Could this have been at Anakin’s request, or at least with his knowledge, with Anakin himself putting the finishing touches to a master plan by programming droids, prone to neither interferance from nor detection by the Force, to ensure his destiny was played out?

Could this justify the more contentious elements of Episode 1 and provide a satisfying twist to the whole story?

I think so – but does Lucas?

Hmm. Hmmmmmm...

Ok, the droids roles as narrators is an idea taken from Kurasawa's film The Hidden Fortress, where the tale of mighty heroes is told from the point of view of the two serfs of one such hero. This is one of GL's favourite films. However, it is a premise he appears to have abanonded for the new films- the droids are simply continuity characters rather than narrators. That isn't a criticism, though I know some people who HATE him for doing that.

However, their central part in the main story as narrators would somewhat preclude them being surrogates.

I take issue with your comment that the Force is no longer exclsuively spiritual. It IS exclusively spiritual., That it is focussed via biological means makes no difference; it is the same mysterious binding force that it always was and I would be careful of reading into this in a Cloning sense, though such a link is not impossible.

Obviously, pre-destination is a large part of the saga but this is purely because GL is using mythological influences to tell a futurisitc tale; it really is very simple.

So, anyhow, I very much doubt that Anakin theory of yours because it undermines the central point of the story. Anakin went bad and NO-ONE saw it coming, even himself.

Kind of an interesting point of view though. But if that were true I would definately have to question Anakin's integrity. "Goal justifies the means" is pretty cruel in these circumstance. Many innocent people get killed, slaughtered, tortured etc., just because he has to fulfill his destiny.

Yeah, everyone says 'but he killed the Emperor', would the Emperor have gotten where he did without Vader? At least the Sith kept themselves to the themselves before all the Palpatine/Vader business.

Yes, Anakin;s role as ultimate good guy is tainted by the fact that things wouldn't have gone wrong without him in the first place; it's all very well planting a new tree but it would have been far better if you hadn't burnt the forest dowen in the first place.

UNLESS it is somehow made clear that the Emperor could have succeeded without Vader; in that case Anakin is off the hook.

I think that Lucas needs to play up the destiny role in the prequels, and we need to see Anakin fight to avoid his; fght like a man who truly doesn't want to succumb to the inevitable, but who fails.
If he goes back to Tatooine, finds his mother dead, loses his temper and ends up becoming the scourge of the universe as a result it won't be at all satisfying. Lucas will have created a weak-willed villain who, like a spoilt child, throws a tantrum because things don't go his way.
What I would like to see is Anakin really at odds with his destiny, vowing to release himself from it at some point, before tragically being overcome by it.
Yes, Ushgarak is right; Anakin will lose all sympathy if he plants a new tree in a forest he destroyed. So it’s important that Anakin is proven not to be the one with the arsonist’s tendencies. He needs to be entirely consumed by the Emperor and the power of the dark side and all I’m suggesting is that as a Jedi (a powerful Jedi with a higher midiclhlorian count than Yoda, no less!) he may have foreseen this happening and made provision for repair before it did and then he needs to be shown fighting to save himself as best he can before he falls. If he doesn’t try to fight it, he’ll have no credibility at all – and in order to fight it he will need to be aware of it.
I think we can expect to see a lot of Episode II dedicated to the Jedi Order impressing upon Anakin just how perilous the dark-side is, and also the Emperor impressing upon him just how powerful he could be. But only if Anakin is aware of the suffering he could cause will his rebellion against his fall be truly credible and one way Lucas could give him this knowledge would be to make him see it in his own future – something that would be in-keeping with his nature as well as indicative of his power/ability.
I also think that using the prequels to show Anakin setting up the events of the OT would serve to re-enforce how powerful and significant he truly is – after all, we have been lead to believe he is the chosen one, but a man who fell at the first fence, joined the dark-side and acted as ultimate evil (or there-a-bouts) is hardly illustrating worthiness of that title.
If he were responsible for everything that happens in the OT, despite being incapacitated at the time, he would be shown to be truly the saviour – and one way he could influence the events of OT would be through the droids, R2 and 3PO, who were central to all of the events of the original three films.
I maintain that this would be satisfying – although it probably won’t happen.

It;s an interesting idea, bit I still think it is very important that Anakin ALWAYS thought he was doing the right thing, even after he became Vader. So as far as he was concerned, there was nothing to plan a contingency for.