The real hero of the Star Wars Saga

I sometimes fall into discussion with my Star Wars fan friends about the role of the hero in the overall story and who is more worthy and who is a better representative of this role.  But, when I stop to think of it, the real hero of the entire 6 movie franchise was R2D2.

R2 not only linked the characters together but each movie as well.  But he was more than just the little helper elf that ran messages.  He's the glue that held it all together and all efforts would've failed without him.

He piloted the important vessels.

Took heavy damage repeatedly in order to further the cause of the good guys.

Always jumping at every command, doing all the hard work, being pivotal in saving nearly every character's life repeatedly..

All while baby sitting C3P0.

Most of my friends know I don't consider the seventh film to be a legitimate part of the franchise.  Not my Star Wars, as it were.  The Force Awakens had R2D2 dancing around for 5 seconds at the end which is one of a long laundry list of reasons why it "doesn't count" for me.  Instead, TFA had BB8 and although he was adorable and certainly the only likeable part of the movie, he was just the map carrier and assisted with the small stuff.  He wasn't a hero the way R2 was because it would've overshadowed Rey.

But you've also noticed that I liked Rogue One and have said that it definitely fits in with the other six movies.  So why did that one work for me - there's no R2 in it after all?  Are you sure?

It was towards the end of the movie, before I accepted the reality that all the characters would have to die when K2SO sacrificed himself.  I'd come to really like this droid and he was my favorite character in this movie.  I whispered to my husband, "It'll be okay... R2 can rebuild him."  My husband said, "It was probably R2 that reprogrammed him to begin with - that's R2D2's attitude."  And that's a valid point.  If R2's beeps and squeaks could be translated into words, he would be very much the smart-ass like K2SO.  Not quite as misanthropic perhaps... K2SO hadn't asked to be reprogrammed after all.

But how much of that rapid twittering and how many of those indignant blats and squelches seem to be present in the personality of the facetious battle droid who's loyalty to Cassian is as unwavering as R2's is to his comrades while he does a lot of the dirty work as well.  K2SO wasn't R2D2 but he was the R2D2 element and it is an element that seems to be vital to me.

And that's why I say that R2D2 was the real hero of the Star Wars movies.