I'm just a little puzzled at why he didn't just put in 2 new spokes and finish the job. A buck each or so for new spokes.

Did you have a bad wreck? Auto accident? There is a point where things are too far out of true to fix, at which point, at least the rim would need replaced. But, even that can be difficult to judge with a pair of broken spokes.

I wouldn't replace all of the spokes until your 2nd or 3rd trip into the shop to get broken spokes replaced on that wheel. Hmm, rusty spokes? Really old galvanized spokes?