C-3PO Lives
The trailers really did a number on us when it comes to C-3PO. The scene of him “taking one last look” at his friends was featured in many promos, seemingly preparing us for the end of the droid who’s been with the franchise the whole time. As it happens, though, Threepio made it out in tact.
All the drama concerns the protocol droid being unable to translate the inscription on the Sith dagger that will lead them to the Sith wayfinder due to restrictions in his programming. The heroes take him to expert hacker Babu Frik on Kijimi where his memory is wiped to undo the mental block. For a while, it seems that Threepio will remain an amnesiac, but he eventually appears to get all his old memories back without much fuss, albeit it in a muddled order, from R2-D2.
In this case, a character not meeting a dark fate was the surprise twist. Thanks Lucasfilm, for all the months we spent worrying about Threepio’s future.