Han Solo's sacrifice and its repercussions for the ST

I'll try to state my position on this as simply as I can--which is tricky, because it's one I feel very strongly about. It has taken me a bit of time to get past reaction to Han’s death and closer to analysis.


I believe the most important aspect of Han's death is his last act of love and forgiveness toward Kylo, when he tenderly touches his son's face even after the brutal and murderous stab has already occurred. In itself, Han’s act is meaningful because it brings Han's character arc to completion, from the guy who announced his refusal to rescue a doomed princess because "better her than me"… to someone who thought the mere extremely slim possibilityof saving his son was worth risking his life for.


I too choose to honor Han’s last act of forgiveness in how I see Kylo Ren.


But I don’t believe that Han’s last act is completed yet, and the more important meaning is to come. I believe it will ultimately play a key role in bringing Kylo to redemption, because it will continue to haunt him. Han will have saved his son…it’s just going to take awhile.


I try to look at the big picture: To me, having Kylo be an unforgiveable Dark Side monster would actually be a waste of the original trilogy. Why have Luke save his father, if Anakin’s own grandson is just going to fall into irredeemable evil? Why give our Big Three characters a happy ending in RotJ, if everything is going to end so horribly for them in this trilogy, with Han and Leia’s only son an anathema, and Luke a failure who is completely unable to help him? Is it OK, too, for Leia to lose both her husband and her son forever? Is that really the legacy this trilogy will leave? Do we want to remember Star Wars as the story of one family’s misery, that there was no escape from?


I hope not.


Here’s my hope: “Come home,” Han said to his son. And I think he will.

 

i thought he was really going to surrender and that some stupid stormtrooper was going to spook him and Han was going to perish in the ensuing panic.
more of an accidental killing. the fact of it being so deliberate was very heart-breaking.

 

Yes, he is not even holding a blaster. Is only armed with love and affection. It resembled the encounter that Luke had with Vader more, the "Join me" only more subtle with "Come home, we miss you".

 

first time i ever saw the movie, i thought jeez Kylo Ren is a terrible liar (as in: he's bad at it).
he sounds kinda dazed: this is what i need to say right now. he gains confidence in the line following, but his first reaction is definitely: oh sh!t.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 3, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 3, 2016 ---

i couldn't agree more. it would mean Han and Leia's lives were irrevocably broken and Luke would no longer be the hero of my childhood.
that may be the way of the real world all too often, but Star Wars needs to be better than that.

that line just destroys me every time. it's just so simple. so beautiful. and Ren Ben's reaction to it is crushing.

 

Related, with Han throughout the whole movie "home" is a thing. The "Chewie, we're home" getting on the Falcon, then Maz telling him to "Go Home" meaning to take BB-8 to Leia himself, then him telling Ben/Kylo Ren to "Come home". It's part of the whole reuniting part of the story. They better do right by this story.

 

this scene with Snokeface and the later one after the interrogation really bother me in the novel. you really get the sense (moreso than the movie) of Ren basically being this sicko's chewtoy.

i don't know whether Han ever really understood that (given Leia told him so late about Snoke, and his own dismissal about him being too Vader), but that in a way also underscores the depth of Han's willingness: he doesn't really know his son at all except perhaps the worst none of that matters: he's there unconditionally.
it's not even: give yourself up and we'll try to help you. it's just "come home" and all is forgiven.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 3, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 3, 2016 ---

i agree. i loved that change too.

 

Yes, I wondered if it was in the script like that, or it was improvised or changed at the last minute.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 3, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 3, 2016 ---

I wondered if Han knew who Snoke was. I thought that "too much Vader" was a nerfherder thing to say.

 

I saw this scene on youtube. I couldn't tell if he was just playing or actually never heard of him. LOL I think it is called "tunnel scene" if you look for it.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 3, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 3, 2016 ---

Found it.

 

It's a bit too silly, and I am glad they deleted it, but I loved knowing about the boots. You could tell he knew Finn was lying, but then it takes a conman to know one.

 

I thought Han mispronounced "Snoke" out on the catwalk too the first time he said it, and I thought it was a deliberate swipe...but hmm! Maybe Han really wasn't all that familiar with Snoke.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 3, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 3, 2016 ---

Maybe a little of both.

 

@Choose Light, @Obi-Wan Solo, @Boushhdisguise:

i think he's playing dumb. and i agree it's a silly scene and deserved to be cut ~ hahaha

i think the Resistance is fully aware that Snoke is behind the FO. Snoke may keep his distance, but he's not actually hiding. even the troopers in that very scene are all: by order of Supreme Leader Snoke! so this is most likely common knowledge.

but how Han processes Leia's revelation regarding Snoke and their son is a curious thing. if Kylo Ren is running with the FO, obviously Han knows his son and Snoke are "together", it's the fact of Snoke being the one who dragged Ben into the Dark that may be news to him.

as for the nerf-herder Vader remark, i give Han a pass on it. he's trying to make sense of this tragedy in the only way he knows how and blaming it on his son's genetics is actually his way of excusing it (and trying to ease the burden of responsibility). it's yet another reason that his unconditional love for Ben on the bridge is so important: he'd written his son off as hopeless, but went to him anyway on Leia's word and (probably) his own deep-buried hope.

 

this is apparently rough territory that rubs up against something very raw in me personally.
i've written and rewritten this post about 18 times and have had similar trouble all day with this thread ~ hahaha.
rather than try to explain whatever it was i've been trying to say, i'll just spare you my incoherent rambling altogether.

Johnson may yet pull a rabbit out of a hat and i've no objection to him doing it (totally open to the possibility)!
in the meantime i feel like i see what i see in the scene and i'm really okay with it (for all the reasons i previously stated).

 

I agree with this.

And this. I think Kylo is saying one thing (I have to kill you to snuff out my conflict) and Han is hearing something else (I'm ready to take my first step back toward my family).

This look Han gives him speaks volumes of things (Ford is such a pro), one of which seems to be "Now I understand this terrible burden on you."