main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

CT If Han and Chewie had joined the Empire instead of the Rebels, would the Empire have won?

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by NotSoScruffyLooking, Oct 18, 2014.

  1. NotSoScruffyLooking

    NotSoScruffyLooking Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 20, 2009
    Han was responsible for saving Luke at the Battle of Yavin, and the Falcon, which was Han's ship, destroyed the second death star. Those were pretty telling moments, but could the Rebels have won if they were on the other side?
     
  2. Among the Clouds

    Among the Clouds Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2001
    You mean like if Han had shot down Luke's X-Wing instead of Vader and his entourage? That would have certainly changed the end of the movie, and the rest of the trilogy...

    But yes, if that had happened, the Death Star would have destroyed the Rebel base, including Dodonna and Leia and everyone there. The Rebellion may have been over at that point, and the Empire would have endured.
     
  3. Rachel_In_Red

    Rachel_In_Red Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 12, 2013
    The Rebels were the clear underdog in Star Wars. A lot of things had to go right for them to win even with Han and Chewie. At the end of the day, the only reason the Rebels did win was because of Vader and Palp's preoccupation with turning Luke to the Dark Side. If Vader destroys Luke on Bespin like he could have, Luke is dead and Han is either permanently entombed in carbonite or dies in a rescue attempt by Leia/Lando.

    But that said, no, the Rebels probably don't win without Han.
     
  4. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    It would of course depend on the time of Han's joining of the Empire.
     
  5. NotSoScruffyLooking

    NotSoScruffyLooking Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 20, 2009
    Of course when Han was in the Imperial Academy.
     
  6. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 6, 2004
    I think if you were to track it back that far it's pretty hard to say.
     
  7. Drewdude91

    Drewdude91 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 21, 2011
    No. Anakin was still meant to bring balance to the force. It would have happened one way or the other.
     
  8. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 6, 2004

    Oh, yeah, that's right. The prophecy...
     
  9. NotSoScruffyLooking

    NotSoScruffyLooking Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 20, 2009
    But if you should be mindful of the future and if it is always in motion why is a prophecy all telling?
     
  10. Drewdude91

    Drewdude91 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 21, 2011
    The prophecy could be fulfilled in any number of ways, but only Anakin could have done so. Yes, the Empire would probably have won the day in the OT, but eventually, down the line, Anakin/Vader would have fulfilled the prophecy. If he killed Palpatine and declared himself Emperor, he would have eventually caused his own demise, thereby fulfilling the Prophecy by unintentionally ending the Sith order. With it, the Empire would crumble. It's not a matter of it, but a matter or when.
     
  11. NotSoScruffyLooking

    NotSoScruffyLooking Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 20, 2009
    Well, when you think about it, no leadership is constant, so even without a prophecy the sith or jedi would not be in power permanantly.
     
  12. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Han spent almost 5 years in the Imperial military. Does that count?
     
  13. sbk1234

    sbk1234 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2014
    I know that's been mentioned in unofficial (and maybe even official) backstory for Han, but does that still hold true, based on the discarding of the Expanded Universe? Also, where did the number of 5 years come from? And for that matter, a year on what planet, since they all have different length years?
     
  14. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    It may be a slight overestimate. In the the timeline at the start of the more modern books - the Han Solo trilogy began in 10BBY - Lando trilogy began in 5BBY.

    Han went to the Academy at the end of book 1 in the Han Solo trilogy, which took place over a fairly short space of time - less than 1 year.

    Han taught Lando to fly the Falcon very shortly after being kicked out of the Navy - book 2 in the Han Solo trilogy.

    Lando trilogy begins right after Lando's finished his flying lessons and headed off to the Oseon system.

    Conclusion - a little less than 5 years must take place between the end of Han Solo Book 1 and the start of Lando Book 1.
     
  15. sbk1234

    sbk1234 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2014
    I'm out of the loop on most Star Wars books. These books are different than the Han Solo at Stars End books that came out 100 years ago, aren't they?
     
  16. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    They are indeed.

    They were published in the late 90s, and are The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit, and Rebel Dawn.

    The Han Solo Adventures trilogy published between ANH and TESB coming out, are set during Rebel Dawn, and there's references to those events in Rebel Dawn.
     
  17. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Even if we're discarding the Expanded Universe, it is still a well-known fact that Han was a member of the Imperial Navy, then lost his commission when he rescued a Wookiee slave from abuse by one of Han's superior officers. Guess which Wookiee that was.
     
  18. sbk1234

    sbk1234 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2014
    I've heard of him getting kicked out of the Imperial army for rescuing the wookiees. Another backstory I heard somewhere had him being expelled from the Academy for selling exam answers. I kinda like that one. I like the idea that he never actually made it fully into the Imperial Service. It also supports his roguish personality.
     
  19. Beezer

    Beezer Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2013
    How is it a "well known fact" if we discard the EU (which LFL/Disney did)? There is absolutely nothing in the movies (or other forms or canon that survived the great purge) which states or even implies such events took place (and no, I don't consider his conversation in the Detention Block Control Room to be even remotely any sort of supporting evidence).

    That's like saying "even if we're discarding the EU, it is still a well known fact that Chewbacca is dead."
     
    Darth_Pevra likes this.
  20. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009
    I seem to recall that it does come from GL, but I honestly don't know if it's a public quote, or if it was information he provided to someone working on supplementary material, like the Brian Daley novels.

    I might be wrong, though - it could simply have been an 'EU' piece of information that's been around for so long that everyone assumes it's something GL came up with.
     
  21. The General

    The General Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Oct 15, 2014
    As for the OP, no the empire would not have won. Main reason? The plot demands that the rebels win. However, if you are asking if the rebels would have won if it was a real life situation instead of fiction, probably not as the falcon played a huge role in the destruction of both Death Stars, and Solo was the reason the shield generator was taken down, and that Princess Leia escaped the Death Star and from Hoth.
     
  22. Beezer

    Beezer Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2013
    I believe Lucas has talked about it or referred to it himself, but he has also in the past discussed many other parts of the now-defunct EU, so I think Disney has moved on from the notion that "Lucas said it, therefore it must be canon."
     
    Darth_Pevra likes this.
  23. mratm23

    mratm23 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 13, 2014

    Pretty sure they mean from the gecko.
     
  24. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009

    Yeah, I'm just wondering where it came from originally, I'm not too fussed about canon. A lot of weird stuff was dredged up during the post-OT, pre-PT era that people speculated on for the upcoming PT, and may have been from GL, or just something from the Marvel comics or early 1990s EU - or even OT-era fan fiction like 'The Fall of the Republic', which was mistakenly regarded as authentic by the likes of Empire magazine looking for some easy source material for a SW article.

    Apart from bits & pieces like the Vader/Obi-Wan lava duel and Chewie being 200 years old (directly from GL), there was often mention about things like there being only 12 Sith Lords at one time (read it in the letters of the TOTJ comics), which I can't find any source for, but was accepted as coming straight from The Man Responsible For Everything.
     
  25. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Yeah, Darth_Nub, that story about Han & Chewie triggers something in my memory too. Seems to me that I read it in an interview with GL. I can't pin it down, though.

    Edit: Was it in one of the big reviews TIME magazine wrote when the originals were first released?