SPECULATION Official Han Solo Discussion Thread.

I just want to see the outfit they come up with because I don't want it to be exactly like Harrison's.

 

it will depend on the timeline .

 

OF COURSE NOT!!!

 

That is true and Aldrich isn't that young either.

 

unless they spend a ton of money on makeup and mocap then i doubt it .

 

Haha, I figured! And yep, "The Princess Diarist". You can get it on Amazon.

 

Goodbye royal rock.

 

Those last two pictures are weird. And disturbing.
The Han Solo character is dead. The real life actress Carrie Fisher died. The Princess Leia character is "alive".

 

This has been bugging for a while and I’m not sure if this has been talked about but is anyone else annoyed with how they used Han Solo in Force Awakens? I find it puzzling that people are so critical of his treatment in Jedi but give him a pass in Force Awakens. The Han Solo that went out in a snow blizzard to save Luke, decides to take off because his son became a gang banger. Does that make sense to anyone? At least in Jedi, while he doesn’t have much to do, he’s at least proactive and helps destroy the shield generator, serving the good cause. Why would the Han Solo that came back in the end to help Luke blow up the death star get cold feet because his son became a spoiled brat? It was that characterization in particular that made his death fall flat. Wouldn’t it have been more meaningful if Han actually knew who Rey was and gets in the way during her with with Ren and Rey, which causes Ren to kill Han by accident. Thats the problem with the mystery box, if we don’t really know how or why any of this is really happening(unless we read the books) then it becomes hard to be emotionally invested. What do you guys think?

 

hi @Chesley! welcome to the Cantina!

in an interesting way, the seeming incongruity of it is what makes it so poignant.
Han Solo is no coward. Death Star? Darth Vader? he's there to fight the good fight.
but the problem with his son is personal--and that makes it different.

we don't know all the details of what went down, but the impression we're given so far is that Ben was shipped off to Luke and went Dark while in Luke's care.
think of it from the perspective of a father: you send your kid off trusting his uncle to teach and guide and protect him, and everything goes wrong.
it's Luke's fault, it's Leia's fault (she sent him, she lied), but most of all Han probably feels like it's his fault. he was not there for his son, he deliberately made choices that he quite possibly disagreed with (sending him away, lying to him).
and how does a Force-null father who barely grasps the magnitude of his own child cope with that child's defection?

we don't know if Han had tried to find Ben before. it's been about 6 years since Ben turned and clearly Han's life has fallen apart in that span.
of course that makes sense: he is grieving and feels helpless. and it's not an enemy he can just blow out of the sky. he failed as a father.

i honestly thought Ren Ben was going to kill Han by accident when they went out on the bridge--in a moment of panic. what we got was more calculated on both their parts--and as a result all more meaningful.

watch the scene in which Han admits to Leia his own sense of helplessness ("Luke couldn't save him, how can i?" "Luke is a Jedi. you're his father.")
in some ways this is the best moment in the film and it's the crux of Han's arc through the whole of Star Wars: he comes to this pivotal moment of realization that it's not about the Force or the FO or Vader: it's about his duty as a Dad--regardless of whether he even succeeds.

eh. food fer thought.

 

Thanks for the reply Here’s where I disagree with that. While I see what you are saying, if it’s son and its more personal, then as a parent, he should take responsibility. I believe Devin Faraci suggested it, but what if Han took off not because he was ashamed but he was trying to hunt him down. He was trying put the rabid dog because he saw his son was murdering people. What if when he spend the entire 2/3rds of the film wanting to kill his son, he’s about to kill him but at the last moment can’t.

The problem with Han disagreeing with sending Ben to train with Luke is that we don’t know any of this stuff unless we read the books, which makes it dramatically unsatisfying in the film.

My problem is that Han’s entire character arc, starting from A New Hope is ultimately ruined. The film clearly states that he went back to being a smuggler to deal with his son. For me it felt a little off. We don’t really see Han’s conflict with his son. The movie simply alludes to some vague event.

 

i actually feel like we don't need the books to intuit Han's frame of mind. again, it's all in that scene with Leia. he's written his son off as having "too much Vader in him" and then capitulates when he confesses that he doesn't feel equipped to handle the problem.

it makes less sense for Han to want to kill his own child, to be honest, and it's actually completely within character for him to start out processing this mess by dodging responsibility.
becoming a hero of the Republic did not change Han Solo's essential nature. he loves Leia. he loves his kid. that doesn't mean he suddenly has the emotional tools to deal with what happens to his family.
yes, he should take responsibility. and guess what: he ultimately does. that's what his arc is about.

and again, i don't think we don't need the books or any outside information to see that in the film.

 

This maybe just me but that scene with him and Leia read “Our son became a gang banger, so we just let him prance around.”

The idea of Han Solo getting killed by his son, a sith lord or whatever is a terrific idea but everything leading up to it feels off. Agreeing with what Faraci said, I think Han hunting down Ren would be reminiscent of the old westerns, like in The Searchers. We think John Wayne is about to kill his niece but he ultimately doesn’t. If there’s too much of Vader in him, wouldn’t it behoove him to do something about it?

I’m just going off of his actions in the OT. He didn’t hesitate to shoot at Vader in Empire, which makes him fearless. So if he’s spent years trying to hunt his son and put an end to his evil actions, it’d give him a lot of conflict.

The only way I can buy Han and Leia being separated if they thought their son died but it turned out he’s alive and is a servant of Snoke.

 

well, if that's all you got out of that scene, then yeah, i can see why you wouldn't feel anything about it. i don't think the scene says that at all. nothing in the language even remotely suggests they've been permissive about his behavior. additionally, i think the scene says so much more, as noted.

like i said, this doesn't actually make any sense for who Han is.
fighting the Empire is different from fighting your son. same with Luke. there's a reason Luke's stayed away all this time.
Han trying to kill Kylo Ren would be a bizarre perversion of our crusty-exterior/marshmallowy interior smuggler. he's not an assassin.

i dunno if you have kids or have ever been in a situation in which you felt utterly helpless to do something for someone you love, but it's actually very easy (and very common) to let things fall apart when things go bad. i don't see how Han & Leia's separation has any bearing on whether they believe Ben is alive or dead. the fact of him being alive sure doesn't make it easier.

 

You see I think Luke staying away also felt out of character. Hopefully VIII will answer this, but this is something Hamill himself has had issues with . If he was willing to give his life to save his dad, then he should take responsibility and stop his nephew. Obi-Wan saw his apprentice getting out of hand and went there to put him down. He at least tried to stop him before becoming a hermit.

By going off and essentially doing their own thing, they kind of imply that they’re being permissive of Ben’s actions. While his son is essentially out there murdering people and doing god knows what, Han is out smuggling again.

At least for Leia, she’s at least in charge of the Resistance, so she’s fighting the organization that has Ren.

If Han is willing to risk his life just to save Luke in a deadly snow blizzard, he says “I’ll see you in hell,” then there should be no reason why he wouldn’t give his life up for his son. My issue with the film is that he just appears in the film and then stumbles upon Rey and Finn by coincidence. We don’t have an earned relationship between the two leads and so his death falls flat. There isn’t a whole lot leading up to it. Han’s death kind of just happens.

Not to sound like a broken record but having Han hunt down Ben feels more in tune with his character. We see Han as a man who has grown and is away from his wife because he’s trying to stop his son from murdering people. Then by the time he can do it, he chooses not to because he can’t kill his son. Just like Vader gave his life up to save Luke, Han could give his life up to save Ben.

The reason why Obi-Wan dying worked was because we knew the relationship between him and Luke. Han barely knows Rey and Finn. We don’t know what the relationship is between Ben and Han is. We have some vague ideas but aren’t told. The lack of character consistency throughout the film is what I have issues with.

I don’t have kids but I have felt helpless at times to do something for people I care about. While I have felt helpless, I did my best to do something about it.

 

I blame the mystery boxes. We don't know why Luke is sitting around on his island. Hopefully we'll find out he has a darn good reason for it...fortunately it's a trilogy and there's time to get answers.

I think you have your answer as to whether Han "Take care of yourself, that's what you're best at" Solo is out hunting down his kid...well, he's smuggling. Rustling up rathtars for King Prana. That doesn't sound like taking the posse out for a hanging to me.

Han did offer Rey a job on his precious Falcon. She knows it's not just Chewy that likes her. She screams at Han's death and calls Ren a monster for murdering him. To me there's as much there as Obi-Wan and Luke in ANH.

Spoiler: TFA script snippet

HAN Listen to me, will you? I know every time you... every time you look at me, you're reminded of him.
LEIA You think I want to forget him? I want him back!
Han looks at her with sympathy.
HAN There was nothing we could've done. (hard for him to say) There was too much Vader in him.
LEIA That's why I wanted him to train with Luke. I just never should have sent him away. That's when I lost him. That's when I lost you both.
HAN We both had to deal with it in our own way. I went back to the only thing I was ever good at.
LEIA We both did.
HAN We lost our son, forever.
LEIA No. (LONG BEAT) It was Snoke. Han takes this in. LEIA (CONT'D) He seduced our son to the dark side. But we can still save him. Me. You.
HAN If Luke couldn't reach him, how could I?
LEIA Luke is a Jedi... you're his father. There's still light in him. I know it.

This scene gives us a lot of answers, such as Han saying, "There's nothing we could've done," "I went back to the only thing I was ever good at," and "We lost our son, forever." This doesn't sound like a guy on a hunt to me.