Star Wars' C-3PO actor returns to his teasing tweets

Anthony Daniels, the man behind C-3PO, offered a cryptic tweet on Feb. 4 as  Star Wars fans eagerly awaited the title of Episode 9, kicking off weeks of unusual Twitter activity.

"How strange. I am receiving images of something amazing coming towards us -- travelling over decades through space and time -- reaching out to all humans on this planet with its message," the actor said in a tweet that's best read in the iconic droid's British accent. "What could it be? Should I be afraid? Should you? Stay tuned."

Fans immediately assumed that Daniels, who has played C-3PO since the original movie in 1977 and completed his Episode 9 work on Jan. 28, was hinting at an imminent title announcement.

But two follow-up tweets on Feb. 6 suggested that it could be something else entirely.

"Everyone -- except one -- is looking the wrong way... But it's getting closer... Amazing... Doesn't seem to be the right shape for a movie title or trailer... Can't see an X or anything... Oh... The signal's faded... I'm sure it'll return... What can it be... Stay tuned... I will," Daniels wrote.

It seems like someone guessed the announcement correctly -- that it's something from the past and unrelated to Episode 9. A quick scan through the many replies to his original tweet revealed one guess each for a theatrical rerelease for the original trilogy (likely) and an official release for the much-maligned holiday special (unlikely). 

"I have to rest, before I fall apart... But wait... Wait... I'm receiving a message from... T...R...A...V............. Oh... signal fading....... Come back.... the One who got it?" he wrote afterward, leaving fans more perplexed than ever.

His next tweet came on Feb. 12 and continued in the same ambiguous vein.

"... signal's feint... but now more... bright stars... because PALEIO.. fading... N... fading... could be on the pa.... to the answ.... fading.... Have to update system. Will this never end.... ROBOT... ERROR... should read... REBOOT... PAL...is your only ho... fading ... kno...." he said.

The Twitter adventure continued on Feb. 18, when Daniels implied that his followers were getting closer with their guesses.

"INCOMING DECODING……..SOMEONE IS GETTING THE MESS……SIGNAL FAILI…… R…n…s…N…..A..O.A…TRDC…W….E….EnI….K…RD…..G…I…VEO…….N.. Ek…….. TRANSMISSION FAILED … SO FAR.... TRYING AGAIN.... PAL............................................................................" the actor wrote.

Things took an all-caps turn on Feb. 20, when Daniels made an announcement sound imminent.

"YOU ARE YOUR ONLY HOPE     URGENT NEW INCOMING DECODING RE LAST INCOMING     REMOVE DOTS," he tweeted.

The following day, he sent a surprisingly coherent tweet to thank fans wishing him a happy 73rd birthday.

"NEW INCOMING.... STRONG SIGNAL... SO MANY MESSAGES... IN CLEAR... HAPPY BIRTHDAY... COPY THAT... RETURN SIGNAL... THANK YOU... ALL OF YOU," he wrote.

However, the "new incoming" and "strong signal" parts suggest that this was separate to whatever he's been teasing since the beginning of the month.

An answer at last

He followed up a few hours later, returning to the tease by pointing directly to one of his followers.

"SIGHTINGS BY DECODERS STEVE KONDRIACKI / NORWEGIAN NERD & PALEION... UFO APPROACHING GALAXY... CLOSER NOW... SMALL... PACKED WITH INFO FROM FAR AWAY..CLOSER...SHAPE-SHIFTING...OPENING ..AHHHH.. IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL... DRAWING ME INSIDE... I WISH YOU COULD SEE IT TOO... AT LAST... A BO," he tweeted later on Feb. 21, with his next tweet simply reading "OK" -- completing the word "book."

Steve Kondracki, one of Daniels' 113,000 followers, had guessed on Feb. 15 that the actor was hinting he was going to announce his memoir -- and Daniels seemed to be confirming that suspicion.

Daniels basically confirmed it on Feb. 21.

"For the weak-minded... BO + OK = ???? (Clue - Fill in the appropriate four-letter word)," he wrote, without offering any further details.

He followed it up three days later to say how much he enjoyed messing with his followers, but noted that director JJ Abrams would be the one making any Episode 9 announcements.

"I so enjoyed those who tried to unpick the clues I laid with all their distractions. One of you got it immediately. Another decided I must be talking about Ep IX. Really? That's J.J.'s prerogative. So many followed that erroneous thread. What was it Obi-Wan said about following?" he said.

In case the reference doesn't instantly ring a bell, Daniels is reminding us of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's sage wisdom in A New Hope.

"Who's the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?" he says.

He returned his trial of all-caps breadcrumbs on March 4, when he cheekily mentioned Episode 9 in a tweet.

"IX SPOILER ... NOT...TITLE ...NOT ...TRAILER NOT..... IMPORTANT... IS... NOT QUITE SURE... LOOKS LIKE OLD CODE..... D EG HTTOIUNAI DM ENALILON ETCT T NTCW AL TDOEEIGBI LR BHCNHNOAG AI AICNIEE.... REMEMBER... YOU ARE YOUR ONLY HOPE TILL... COMS FAILING... WEAK SIGNAL... INCO," he wrote.

Good luck cracking that code.

The expectation that a title announcement was imminent made sense -- we found out Episode 8 would be called The Last Jedi in January 2017 (less than 11 months before its release). Episode 7's title was revealed as The Force Awakens in November 2014 (more than 13 months ahead of its opening).

Episode 9 comes out Dec. 20 -- that's 318 days away. C'mon Lucasfilm, don't leave us hanging any longer. The internet needs another round of wild theories.

First published Feb. 5.
Update, March 4 at 5:12 a.m.: Adds a fresh Daniels tweet.

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