h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nod and Osh arrived in the middle of a battle, 'and then they asked the old guy about the map'.

Did they miss much?

Was there any explanation for C3PO's red arm?

Mol

They missed a bit but that was pretty near the start.

Missed Jey scavenging about an old star destroyer and getting tiny amounts of food for it. Missed the droid BB8 meeting her (she rescued it from a character that looked rather a lot like a Sandperson from Tatooine)

You might have missed probably the coolest bit of the film where the bad guy (Kylo Ren) stopped a blaster bold if full flight using the Force.

Not much else I think.

I think C3PO commented himself on his arm, that was about it as I recall.

Hope that helped.

Actually you might not have missed ALL of that.

IIRC actually BB8 escaped from that battle and then met her (Jey)

Apparently C3PO's red arm is to 'mark time'

http://www.wired.com/2015/11/star-wars-force-awakens-jj-abrams-interview/

Not that that helps with the reason within the Star Wars universe of course.

C3P0 has a red arm because his normal arm is in for repairs. It's red just so that he can make the joke "you might not recognise me because of my red arm".

I don't think they missed much. Luke is missing. An old guy has a map which he gives to a pilot Poe telling him to bring it to the Resistance. The bad guys turn up and waste the place taking the pilot captive and killing everyone else. The droid BB8 escapes with the map. One storm trooper, Finn, horrified at the destruction, helps Poe escape.

That's probably where they came in.

Thank you both

'An old guy has a map' sounds like where they came in. So I don't think they missed much more than the opening credits. Nod reckons they are going to see it again, anyway; hopefully next time she will (a) not go off Christmas shopping 25 minutes before they are supposed to be at the cinema (b) allow for horrendous Christmas traffic on all roads to the cinema and (c) not count on there being 40 minutes of ads and trailers before the film actually starts

Mol

I wonder if they'll reveal who the old guy was. He had a pretty clear idea of Kylo Ren's parentage.

And you're welcome, even if my clumsy attempt was far less clear than Gnomon's explanation