That red R2 unit...

[Morrus]

If that red R2 unit in A New Hope hadn't had a bad motivator, would the Empire have won?

 

[delericho]

Well, there are some options...

Apparently, according to the EU materials (and specifically the first "Galaxy Guide" for the d6 SW RPG), R5-D4 actually deliberately faulted in order to keep the two droids together.

Or, you could argue that it was all the will of the Force, in which case some other circumstance would have served to bring R2 to Obi-Wan and Luke.

Or, yes, the Empire would have won. Just as if the gunner on the Star Destroyer at the start had shot down the escape pod. Or, indeed, used their tractor beam, which would have made more sense.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

R2-D2 would have ended up waiting tables in Chalmun's Cantina, until Ben Kenobi came in one day for a Blue Milk ...

 

[darjr]

It might have been a different movie.

 

[MarkB]

R2D2 would have played the holomessage while on board the sandcrawler, and a few days later Princess Leia would've been rescued by a bunch of besotted Jawas, who also stole the main components for the superlaser on the way out so that they could fit it to their sandcrawler.

 

[Leatherhead]

Apparently, according to the EU materials (and specifically the first "Galaxy Guide" for the d6 SW RPG), R5-D4 actually deliberately faulted in order to keep the two droids together.

R5-D4 is supposedly Skippy, the Jedi Droid.