Star Wars fans love something adorable and tiny, and while not every character is destined for the level of universal adoration that greeted Baby Yoda, The Rise of Skywalker did offer up a couple of cute little critters that won over fans’ hearts all the same. One is diminutive droid D-O and the other is Babu Frik, a talented but crooked droid-hacker who’s actually only about the size of a hamster.
Frik’s role in Episode IX may have been small, much like the alien himself, but he made a big impact all the same. And you can relive that role in a new extended scene released today on social media, which we’ve got embedded for you up above.
In case you need reminding of the context, our heroes had come across a Sith dagger on Pasaana that held directions to the whereabouts of the Sith wayfinder that would lead them to the Emperor’s hideaway on Exegol. The trouble is, C-3PO is the only one who can translate it and his circuits won’t allow him to read Sith. So, Poe Dameron takes the team to his old stomping ground on Kijimi where he knows a guy who can help them out. Enter Babu Frik.
As this scene reminds us, the tragic drawback of the procedure is that it would allow Threepio to translate the directions but would also wipe his memory banks. Which leads to that touching moment where he takes a moment to remember his friends. Following this clip, the job is done and the droid doesn’t seem to recall anything. By the end of the movie, though, Threepio appears to get all his old memories back from R2-D2.
Fun fact: Babu Frik is voiced by Shirley Henderson, probably most recognizable as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films. You can watch Henderson’s full screentime as the character by checking out Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker again in cinemas, or waiting for it to reach Digital HD/Blu-Ray this March/April.
