Mission to Mos Eisley ( episode ) " Mission to Mos Eisley " is the third episode of " " . It follows C - 3PO to Mos Eisley on Tatooine in his quest to rescue R2 - D2 . There , he recounts his version of the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " Droids in Distress " and . C - 3PO then teams up to Chewbacca to find R2 . Plot summary . Helping the Spectres . While aboard a space transport , an impatient C - 3PO asks the droid pilot to go faster while in hyperspace . The irritated droid threatens to slow the transport down , and C - 3PO resigns to sit in the back of the ship where encounters a Twi ' lek who has been collecting cards of Rebel heroes . Recognizing one of them as Hera Syndulla , C - 3PO shares his account of how he and R2 - D2 encountered Hera and the crew of her ship , the " Ghost " . In the fifteen years following the formation of the Empire , 3PO and R2 went undercover as Imperial minister Maketh Tua ' s translators for Amda Wabo , an Aqualish arms trader . The hanger where Wabo ' s disrupters are being loaded is ambushed by Hera ' s crew , consisting of Garazeb Orrelios , Sabine Wren , Ezra Bridger , Kanan Jarrus and C1 - 10P ( " Chopper " ) . Once Zeb shoots the door that Wabo is under , seemingly crushing him , R2 suggests that he and 3PO follow the " gunkbot " ( Chopper ) and leave for the " Ghost " , where Hera asks " Who are you calling ghastly ? " in response to 3PO ' s perceived opinion towards her crew . Once in space , 3PO and R2 are fitted with restraining bolts , and after a brief quarrel with Chopper , the protocol droid assures the astromech that they are quite valuable to the Empire . Zeb overhears him and suggests scrapping the both of them , but Kanan is more concerned about delivering the stolen ion disruptors to their benefactor Cikatro Vizago . Once they have left , however , 3PO takes matters into his own hands and calls for help via an intercom . 3PO ' s distress call is picked up by Agent Kallus , who tracks them down to Lothal , where Hera and her crew are making the transaction with Vizago . They attack the rebels with AT - DP walkers . During the fighting , C - 3PO accidentally uses the ion disruptors to destroy the attacking Imperial forces . He and R2 are then taken back to Bail Organa — who 3PO subsequently discovers is a prominent member of the Rebel Alliance — on the " Tantive IV " . Heroes of Yavin . At last , the space transport arrives at Mos Eisley , where 3PO discovers that Wuher has gone out of business due to a cantina run by Watto , and the Mos Eisley Cantina has become a refuge for droids who are running from Jawas . He tells the droids in hiding about how he and R2 played an important role in the events before and after the Battle of Yavin . Four years ago on the " Tantive IV " , Bail ' s foster daughter Leia Organa had obtain the stolen plans for the Death Star . While performing some two takes of " Help me , Obi - Wan Kenobi . You ' re my only hope , " Leia places the plans in R2 , who escapes with 3PO in a pod heading down to Tatooine . On the surface they are captured by Jawa s and taken to the Lars Homestead , where Luke Skywalker and his uncle purchase the duo after R2 sabotages all of the others . Once purchased , R2 goes in search of Obi - Wan , and Luke and 3PO follow . Meanwhile on the Death Star , Darth Vader berates Conan Antonio Motti for his reliance on technology and uses the Force to take control of his body and humiliate him . Luke and 3PO find the elderly Obi - Wan , who is surprised that Luke did not change his last name while hiding from the Empire . R2 presents them with Leia ' s message and Obi - Wan asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan . Luke immediately agrees . At the cantina , the search for a pilot doesn ' t last long since they are attacked by stormtroopers . With Han Solo and Chewbacca added to the party , they take off in the " Millennium Falcon " where Luke conducts lightsaber training in a clumsy fashion . 3PO informs Han that the ship is being pulled into a tractor beam towards the Death Star . Hiding under the floor , the Imperials find the vessel empty but Vader suggests otherwise , summoning his band of stormtroopers back to guard Leia . Obi - Wan use his " Jedi Mind Trick " to get past two Stormtroopers ( actually just him getting the Stormtroopers to look away and then knocking them out with a wrench ) . Taking the two stormtroopers ' armors , Han , Chewbacca and Luke search for the princess while Obi - Wan goes to shut down the tractor beam . 3PO and R2 hide in a closet with a rapidly firing mouse droid for company . After freeing Leia , the four escape into a trash compactor that nearly crushes them before R2 deactivates it . Obi - Wan finds deactivating the tractor beam surprisingly easy until he encounters Vader ; they both apologize to each other and are about to go their own ways until they realize who the other person is . Luke and the others arrive just in time to see Vader do away with Obi - Wan ( offscreen ) before Vader sees Leia out of her cell and they escape . Luke and Han argue in the turrets after fighting off a few TIE fighters , and Leia takes over until they arrive on Yavin 4 . Leia points out that the Death Star ' s one weak spot is a ventilator shaft which is vulnerable to proton torpedoes , describing the situation as a " one in a billion chance " from which many of her pilots will never return alive . Luke and the others fearlessly accept the odds without hesitation . 3PO watches R2 go off in Luke ' s X - Wing , wondering why the astromech puts his life in such dangerous situations . In the battle , Luke hears Obi - Wan ' s voice and fires the torpedoes down the ventilation shaft . Meanwhile , Han shoots Vader ' s TIE Advanced fighter , causing it to spin out of control . At the ceremony , 3PO , distressed that R2 never made it back , is overjoyed to see him , yet falls . The tray he carries with Luke and Han ' s medals remains intact , but Chewbacca ' s breaks into three pieces , explaining why Chewie never got a medal . Concluding his story , one of the droids informs 3PO that R2 was seen with a mysterious stranger , who was buying up droids from the Jawas . Exiting the cantina , 3PO spots the hooded stranger and R2 heading into a LAAT gunship . Too late to enter the departing ship , 3PO finds Chewbacca and the " Falcon " instead and the two follow the ship into space .