A/V SOLO: A Star Wars Story (untagged spoilers allowed)

What? She told Han straight up they could never be together or they would be hunted down and killed by Crimson Dawn. She was owned by the organization and was a slave to it who was literally branded and could never leave it or she'd be killed by its enforcers. She had no choice but to stay and she saved Han's life by doing so because she wasn't selfish enough to risk his life to leave with him. Not only that, she risked her life to lie to Maul about what really happened with Vos so that Han could escape with no bounty on his head. She clearly loved Han and wanted to leave with him but would be dooming both their lives if that happened. How could Han feel betrayed? She made endless sacrifices of her own happiness so he could live free.

 

You clearly have a different take on her actions than other people do though. For example, I didn't see it as her "sacrificing" herself for Han. She just seemed opportunistic. Also people have done the "we cannot be together because they'll kill us" cliché in fiction before, and yet there's always a way out. So I don't really buy that there's NOWHERE in the SW galaxy as vast as it is where they could hide. Nor do I really buy that Crimson Dawn would waste tons or time and resources looking for one person, and they could always just fake her death anyway.

Basically you read complete selflessness in her actions, whereas I and others do not.

 

I think Clarke's acting in that moment sells the opportunistic angle of Qi'ra's choice. Going from all smiles to a hardening of the eyes and a ruthless, dispassionate expression taking over. Kinda reminded me of moments like Derek Jacobi's transition from the good Professor Yana to the evil Master simply with a change of expression.

 

Agreed, Maul doesn't know who Han is regardless of whether Qi'ra called up or not. She'd endanger him by being seen with him, but she still could have run away on her own.

 

That's fair, I just thought that they made it clear in her conversation with Han that she felt it was impossible they could ever be together so that option was never on the table for her. Regardless of what exactly her motivation was in the final scenes, it can't be denied that IMO she showed she deeply loved Han when she let Han sabotage the mission putting her life at risk with Vos, killed Vos because he was threatening Han, let Han get away with millions of credits of fuel, and lied to Maul about Han's involvement so he could walk free without a bounty of his head. Not only that, she kept his dice for three years and told Han whenever she thought of him it made her smile, and looked miserable in her final shot flying away from him.

Also, didn't Beckett specifically say that the Crimson Dawn will send out enforcers to hunt someone down and kill them if they ever betray the organization?

Also, this interview by the editor is interesting - originally he wanted to make Qi'ra go with Maul willingly, but then in the end decided it would be better if she went with him out of fear.

The thing is, I think it had to do with the surprise element, the dialogue between Maul and Qi’ra, and really, what is his presence? How does it effect what Qi’ra is doing? I think the original scene was a little… I don’t know. It was fine, but there were certain things that they wanted to change dialogue-wise, saying less, and creating a little more fear in Qi’ra. It was [originally] too simplistic; she easily goes with this villain. I think Ron wanted to get a little more depth and layers in the performance, because it’s a devil’s pact taking this on.

My guess is they may have originally wanted her to be more of an opportunist ambitious career climber but then thought the audiences might not like seeing masculine hero Han dumped, so it would be better to do the "We're only not together because we'll be hunted down and killed if we leave together" star crossed romance.

Well, once Vos' dead body was found Maul would try to find out who did it, and it wouldn't be hard to figure out that it was Beckett and his crew which included Han and Chewie, and Qi'ra if she disappeared along with the crew. By lying to Maul about what happened Qi'ra spared Han from Maul sending enforcers after him.

 

If there's a specific betrayal meant to be a "this is why Han is cynical" moment - which I actually rather disagree rather strongly with - I kinda feel like wouldn't it be Beckett's more than Qi'ra's?

 

I don't understand why people think that Han Solo was supposed to be cynical and jaded at the end of the movie. When we last see him and Chewie, he's in pretty good spirits, excited for what comes next.

 

Well I think it's more a matter or the fact that we know how he will become, and so people are wondering how these events play into that. Personally I feel he should have been a bit less happy at the end, but even still I do think the stuff with Beckett will inform the cynical a-hole we meet in ANH

 

He only knew him for a few days - why would his betrayal cut him that deep?

Also, I understand that Crimson Dawn is evil but I kind of understand why Beckett did what he did. Han was going to give away all their fuel to Enfys Nest, which would mean Vos would definitely kill them, as he promised he would if they didn't come back with the fuel. So it was either betray them or be killed by Vos.

 

Well Beckett took him under his wing and kinda have him the chance to be free finally. I think even if he did not know Beckett well, being betrayed by him was essentially like seeing the worst parts of yourself

 

Well, inasmuch as I think this at all, it's partially because of what you already said: Qi'ra did in fact save his life and go out of her way to protect him from Vos; Beckett, on the other hand, after "just" seeming to walk out - which Han was disappointed in but understood - only to then come back and outright sell them out seems like it'd be more of a blow. But really, the fact that Han did anticipate and prepare for it is why I have trouble buying the notion of the film being "an origin of Han's cynicism" in the first place.

 

I mean Beckett pretty much told him straight up to expect him to betray him, just like Littlefinger did to Ned. And Han anticipated it which is why they came up with the plan so the actual betrayal couldn't have come as much of a shock. Though I still have no idea what their plan was to get the real fuel out of there to give to Enfys Nest...anyone else know?

 

Why was Luke so torn up about the crazy old wizard he knew for, what, a day? Two?

Also, consider the first time Han sees Beckett: standing on the frontlines, spinning his blasters and looking cool as all hell. Han hero-worships him from that point onwards, because Beckett's exactly the gunslinging scoundrel Han wants to be (or thinks he already is).

 

Because he's cynical, jaded, and a merciless non-idealistic mercenary in A New Hope.

Even if he didn't shoot first.

 

I know what people were expecting.

But he isn't that at the end of Solo.

 

Its the origin which includes everything but Han becoming Han in personality.

 

We still have time for that to develop. There's no doubt we'll see a SOLO II in a few years. I hope it's an adaptation of HAN SOLO'S REVENGE that has Crimson Dawn as the big bad manipulating events instead of the Corporate Sector Authority.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

Given the massive bomb it's turned out to be, I somewhat doubt that.

 

Agreed. Why couldn't Disney have just spun off a different set of Anthology films--Star Wars animation or something like that? They would be lower cost animated films, not worry about having to get actors trying to look like the OT stars, and make a series of them--Han Solo animated chronicles or something like that. The lower budget would mean that they wouldn't lose as much.

 

The movie wouldn't have cost nearly as much if they didn't have to reshoot the vast majority of it. You can do a good, high quality Star Wars movie, in live action, for relatively cheap. I mean, R1's budget was only around 219 million.

 

Depends on the Star Wars story too. You could easily do a Star Wars story on, say, the Space Titanic or on Tatooine.

 

Those books or whatever Lando was writing about himself... was that an implication that the Legends-verse is in-universe fiction in the New Canon-verse?

Well that's a mind-kriff.

 

Maybe he should have listened when she told him several times they could never be together because they would be hunted down and killed? If he can't figure out that she saved his life by letting him leave with millions of credits of fuel and then staying behind to face off against the organization that the movie tells you several times hunts down and kills betrayers then he's an idiot. She wasn't lying to him to hurt him, she was trying to get him to leave so that he could go on and live his life free without a bounty on him unlike the trapped life she was forever a slave to. Just like how in the beginning of the movie she tells him to run and escape while she's trapped. If he's too dumb to recognize the sacrifice she made, that's his problem.

And while I can understand him feeling initially betrayed that she lied to him, after thinking about it for a while he should have figured it out when he thought back to their conversation in the desert.