BL - 17 BL - 17 was a BL - series Battle Legionnaire , created to serve the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars . One of the few Battle Legionnaires to survive the Mission to Norval II , which saw the Galactic Republic defeat the Confederate - allied Mandalorian Protectors , BL - 17 later came into the possession of the bounty hunter Boba Fett sometime after the Declaration of a New Order in 19 BBY . When Fett was approached by Sise Fromm to hunt the speeder racing team of Thall Joben , Jord Dusat , and Kea Moll on Boonta , the bounty hunter decided to use BL - 17 to infiltrate the group by befriending their protocol droid , C - 3PO . BL - 17 succeeded in leading the group into a trap , but before Fett could attack , his true intentions were revealed in a chance encounter with a former acquaintance , the droid Proto One . In the ensuing skirmish , BL - 17 was knocked into a pile of scrap machinery , causing it to fall and crush him . Biography . Clone Wars . BL - 17 was a BL - series Battle Legionnaire , one of only 1 , 000 of the droids to be manufactured by Baktoid Combat Automata after the Mandalorian Protectors , led by Alpha - Ø2 , allied themselves with the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars . The Battle Legionnaires were deployed successfully during the Second Battle of Kamino and the Battle of New Bornalex , but during the failed Mission to Norval II , they suffered heavy losses at the hands of Galactic Republic forces , along with their Mandalorian masters . BL - 17 was one of the few Battle Legionnaires to survive the Republic victory at Norval II . Run down but still functional , the droid was later found by the bounty hunter Boba Fett during the early years of the Galactic Empire . Fett , who also had a Mandalorian heritage , recognized the battle droid ' s potential and made BL - 17 his aide . Mission to Boonta . In 15 BBY , Fett was approached by the gangster Sise Fromm on Boonta to hunt the young racing team of Thall Joben and Jord Dusat , along with their rebel associate Kea Moll , after the group destroyed Fromm ' s " Trigon One " weapons satellite , leaving the Fromm Gang powerless against their rivals . Though Jabba the Hutt had placed a bounty on Fromm and his son Tig , Fett agreed to take the job in return for a previous favor provided by the Fromm Gang . Fett ' s plan was to work against the group from within , so he dispatched BL - 17 to locate and befriend the group ' s protocol droid , C - 3PO . BL - 17 soon achieved his goal by pretending to have graduated from the same production facility as the protocol droid . When C - 3PO mentioned that Joben and Dusat needed somewhere to conduct repairs on their racing landspeeder , the " White Witch " , ahead of the Boonta Speeder Race , BL - 17 offered him the use of a garage supposedly owned by his master , who , he explained , was away on business . C - 3PO relayed the message to Joben , who gladly accepted and moved the speeder to the garage . BL - 17 soon began using his friendship with C - 3PO to keep the other droid away from his masters , leaving them vulnerable . Though he suggested that C - 3PO ' s counterpart , R2 - D2 , might like to join the two droids , C - 3PO resisted , stating that R2 - D2 was not one for conversation . BL - 17 soon saw an opportunity to make his move when Moll was the only sentient present in the garage . As he and C - 3PO left the garage together , BL - 17 smashed the door controls to seal Moll inside and remotely triggered a gas leak in the welding tanks to kill the Human . However , BL - 17 ' s failure to persuade C - 3PO to let R2 - D2 accompany them caused the plan to fail when the astromech droid , unaffected by the gas , used a heavy lifter to smash open the door and pulled Moll clear of the building . Destruction . By the time BL - 17 and C - 3PO returned to the garage , Joben had taken Moll for medical treatment and only R2 - D2 remained , keeping watch over the " White Witch " . BL - 17 suggested that the speeder was not safe in the now - doorless garage and that he knew of somewhere they could store it . C - 3PO agreed and helped BL - 17 move the " White Witch " to an isolated processing plant ; blaming R2 - D2 for the apparent accident with the welding tank , C - 3PO refused to let the astromech droid go with them . BL - 17 took advantage of the situation by sending a signal to R2 - D2 , supposedly from C - 3PO , to tell the other droid where to find them . The Battle Legionnaire knew that R2 - D2 would lead his masters to the processing plant , where Boba Fett would be waiting for them . With C - 3PO no longer needed , BL - 17 prepared to eliminate the droid . However , he was interrupted by the arrival of Proto One , an aging droid who disliked BL - 17 from a prior encounter . Seeing the opportunity to eliminate two of his enemies at once , BL - 17 produced his blaster and pointed it at Proto One . Still oblivious as to BL - 17 ' s true purpose , C - 3PO tried to persuade him to stop , providing enough of a distraction for Proto One to charge at the battle droid . However , BL - 17 acted quickly , grabbing the oncoming droid and throwing him aside before turning his attention back to C - 3PO . Only the arrival of R2 - D2 , along with Joben and Moll , saved the protocol droid — as BL - 17 turned his weapon to the new threats , C - 3PO charged him , knocking the battle droid into a nearby pile of scrap machinery . BL - 17 quickly righted himself , but the unstable junk heap collapsed , crushing the droid . Joben was able to escape the trap in the " White Witch " , leading Fett away from the processing plant and Moll . Fett pursued his target even as he participated in the Boonta Speeder Race but , when the bounty hunter ' s " Silver Speeder " was destroyed , he decided to instead capture the Fromms and their assistant , Vlix Oncard , turning the group over to Jabba the Hutt and using the reward to cover the loss of BL - 17 and the " Silver Speeder " . Characteristics . Like all BL - series Battle Legionnaires , BL - 17 was designed for combat . He had an internal first - aid kit , an inbuilt signal jammer , photoreceptors that could double as spotlights and military - grade balance gyros that , when coupled with joints calibrated for maximum torque , allowed him to lift thousands of kilograms and run at thirty kilometers per hour for extended periods without recharging . He was armed with a Briletto AAP - 11 " blaster box " , which could be attached to his chest , and was finished with an olive - drab military camouflage to match the Mandalorian Protectors ' armor . His appearance was similar to the Cybot Galactica 3PO - series protocol droid , a similarity that aided him in befriending C - 3PO . The droid was a cold and efficient killer — traits that were recognized by Boba Fett — and even enjoyed killing , expressing his eagerness to destroy both C - 3PO and Proto One . BL - 17 could be deceptive , a skill that assisted in his work with Fett , and proved successful at manipulating C - 3PO and turning the apparent animosity between C - 3PO and R2 - D2 to his advantage . Boba Fett wrote in " The Bounty Hunter Code " that BL - 17 was competent and versatile , and he planned to get a new droid after completing a job in the Mechis system . Behind the scenes . BL - 17 was created by Peter Sauder and Steven Wright for the 1985 animated series " " and made his only appearance in the final episode of the first story arc , " A Race to the Finish , " and its picture book adaptation . The " Star Wars : Droids " opening credits depicted a scene in which BL - 17 , alongside another droid and Boba Fett , rode a skiff through a desert canyon in search of R2 - D2 and C - 3PO . This scene is not taken from any episode of the series . BL - 17 ' s involvement in the events of " A Race to the Finish " has since been referenced in several sources , though there are some discrepancies between these sources and the episode . The second edition of " A Guide to the Star Wars Universe " by Bill Slavicsek says that it is unknown whether Fett was still in possession of the droid following the episode . This contradicts Fett ' s desire to cover the cost of BL - 17 ' s loss as depicted in " A Race to the Finish " and sources including " The New Essential Guide to Droids " , which confirm his destruction . " The Essential Guide to Characters " by Andy Mangels mentions the character in Boba Fett ' s entry , though it erroneously refers to him as " BR - 17 " . The 2004 " Polyhedron 170 " article " " by Abel G . Peña and Rich Handley also recaps the episode , stating that BL - 17 planted a thermal detonator in the " White Witch " while it was in the processing center . In the episode , however , it is Tig Fromm and Vlix Oncard who plant the detonator . BL - 17 ' s model went unidentified until 2005 , when Peña wrote the article " The History of the Mandalorians " for " Star Wars Insider 80 " . In the article , Peña describes the origins of the Battle Legionnaires , identifying them with the BL prefix . Daniel Wallace later expanded on the Battle Legionnaires and BL - 17 in " The New Essential Guide to Droids " .