R2-D2 was present when Padmé gave birth to Leia and Luke, so he knew Luke was Anakin's son – but what he didn't know was that Anakin became Darth Vader. In addition to that, Anakin's fall was surely a painful event in R2-D2's life, one that he definitely wouldn't like to remember or even talk about.
Darth Vader's true identity as Anakin Skywalker was a highly guarded secret, known only to a select few individuals including Palpatine, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke, Han, Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, Master Yoda, Bail Organa, Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul, Grand Moff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Jocasta Nu, Ferren Barr, Verla, Reva, ...
Very few people knew that Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker were the same person up to his death in 5 ABY. Imperials who knew in the current canon: Sidious (emperor), Grand Moff Tarkin, all or most of the Inquisitors, Grand Admiral Thrawn, various clones in the early empire.
R2-D2 witnessed some of Anakin's best moments and knew him when he was an innocent boy on Tatooine; it might have been healing for Luke to hear these stories. Perhaps, like the stories about Padmé, they were simply too painful to share.
in the Dark Horse comic series star Wars Tales, which is now part of legends, it's revealed that Darth Vader did recognize C. 3PO on Cloud City. when 3PO was shot by Stormtroopers, his parts were brought before Vader. because the Imperials thought he could hold valuable.
But only a few of the human characters in Star Wars can understand droids; Luke Skywalker wasn't the only one. Obi-Wan Kenobi was another human who could speak Binary, as well as Anakin, who shared the strongest relationship with R2-D2, as seen in the prequel trilogy and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Unfortunately, Rex and Vader never meet again though. Why didn't Palpatine feel afraid of showing his evil actions, behaviors and ways to Anakin and the Jedi anymore?
Yes, he sensed Order 66 and Anakin's turn to the dark side. In fact, it's not hard for a Jedi Master like Yoda to do so. Ahsoka Tano even felt the disturbance in the Force when she actually heard Anakin's words right when he turned to the dark side. And mind you, this was when she was on route back to…
The sequence calls back to a similar scene in Revenge of the Sith, when Bail Organa orders Threepio's memory be erased to prevent him from sharing information about Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side.
He was also evasive with Luke as far as his relationship with Luke's father. C3PO was clearly created from some sort of kit or existing prototype since every protocol droid aside from coloring looks the same. He didn't recognize him because again, they all look the same & it was decades until he saw him again.
At the end of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, C-3PO's memory was wiped, allowing him a fresh start by the time A New Hope begins, but R2-D2's memories remained intact, which is why many fans wonder why he didn't tell Luke the truth about his family history, but he might have not done that because he didn' ...
secondly, in Legends, R2 was given programming that actually restricted him. from sharing any information with Luke or Leia. about their parents or relation to one another. this was all part of the plan. to conceal this information from the twins.
R2 was later able to restore his companion during the Battle of Geonosis. After the battle, R2-D2 and C-3PO were the sole witnesses to the marriage of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala in Lake Country. After this Padmé gave ownership of R2 to Anakin while she kept 3PO.
Together, Palpatine and Vader commanded the Empire's army of stormtroopers. Vader lacked any kind of formal rank and was simply regarded as a "lord" by stormtroopers or any other Imperial. Imperial stormtroopers rallied behind Darth Vader, who they seemed to basically worship as the hero of the Empire.
Despite initially rejecting him, Padmé actually also had romantic feelings for Anakin, as she had fell in love with him during the time they spent together on Naboo, but she did not want him to give up his position as a Jedi for her.
By wiping his memory, it allowed the leeway necessary to bridge the logic gap created by the previous two prequel films. However, the same could not be said for R2-D2, who never had his memories erased.
Darth Vader acts like he doesn't even know C-3PO or R2D2. They were with him since he was a child. He did everything he could to forget his past. Also, his plating had been replaced many times, and protocol droids all look very similar.
