Solo Lack of Plotholes in Solo

Whenever anything in Star Wars happens that doesn't seem to correspond to our notions of physics, like fire and explosions and sound in Space, i just remind myself that the movie is set in a different galaxy far far away, a long time ago. Basically another universe where science runs differently and the Force exists. As long as the rules stay internally consistant i'm happy.

That's why the Leia ressurection scene was a bit too much for me. It just seemed 'impossible' in a way far more flagrant than Yoda slowly heaving the X-Wing From the swamp.

 

Totally 100% agree! The lack of space acting like space in Star Wars does nothing to diminish my enjoyment of the movies. Actually it makes the films more enjoyable. Space is slow, cold, and boring.

Really Leia in space did it for you? Reminded me of C-3PO floating in a chair mixed with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan not being poisioned on the Trade Federation ship. Also Leia caught her breath before going into space.

 

I suppose it depends on how we're defining the size. If were talking about how much space the physical matter occupies, black holes are small. If we're talking about how much space they visually occupy, in other words the radius of the event horizon, well that depends on the mass of the black hole in question. But the event horizon can indeed be very very large.

 

The space monster was pretty huge - maybe km across.

The smallest black hole we've discovered (which is about as small as can form conventionally, via a giant star dying) was 24 km in diameter:

https://www.space.com/5191-smallest-black-hole.html

 

I didn't have any issue with how the monster and black hole were depicted on screen. It was just surprisingly smaller than expected, but that's my own expectations going in.

Good point about the space monster. Those close up shots made it look like a mountain. Later it seemed smaller, more like the space slug. So maybe the relative scale of things to each other is a little bit flexible on screen in order to convey what is going on. I'm not calling that a plot hole. Sure makes for a fun ride.

 

Didn't they have breathing devices on them? I mean, yeah, it is probably a bit odd for them to be carrying breathing devices, but maybe it isn't the first time someone has tried to poison a Jedi?

 

From what we see on screen they notice the gas and each take a deep breath that they hold. The next time we see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan some time has passed the Battle Droids open the door expecting to find their dead bodies. Out of the poison fog comes Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan without breathing devices on. Leia in space doesn't seem the different from surviving extended time in poison gas.

But this isn't the right play to talk about this. Let's get back to Solo. How about that POV from the TIE fighter cockpit and you see the pilot as his view shield breaks and dabre comes in the cockpit.

 

Colloquially, 'black hole' doesn't confuse anyone. Using that monster for scale, my eyes told me the actual event horizon was much smaller. Maybe only a few diameters of the MF. Without digging out books, I'm happy that this is a Disney creation of new physics in the Star Wars universe. This is on par with Abrams creating a new physics type of energy that propagates 500,000 light years in real time. A legit black hole of this size in our universe would radiate 'instantly' and blow the 'maelstrom' apart. So this is a new thing. One might speculate, 'hawking radiation is much weaker at certain points in GFFA', and that would cover the problem. Without 'strong' hawking radiation, you could achieve very small black holes not balanced by 'strong' evaporation. That allows longer time frames for their formation and duration. Depending on their accretion rate, they could persist as they are deep into present-day life-form memory. Like, maybe this one first formed just before KOTOR, whenever that was. Etc. However, existing inside a gas and solids rich environment like the maelstrom means they could not remain pint-sized for long. This black hole was not a plot point that came across as a plot hole.

The plot point that came across as a plot hole was whether or not it was ultimately of consequence that L3's database was uploaded in time for the MF to achieve the 12 parsec Kessel Run. SOLO:ASWS gestures or genuflects towards L3's database being essential, but then does not implement that plot point. We are presented evidence only that 1) MF engines + 2) a drop of coaxium + 3) Han has the ability to steer a hamburger shape through a hungry set of teeth shape. Many shots during this period play it as if their fate depends on getting L3 uploaded. This was not a subversion. It was not a bait and switch. Something got dropped along the way. Certain shots should not have been included IF, as it turns out, L3's database was irrelevant.

From: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kessel_Run/Legends

I think I'll wash my hands of this by thinking that the maelstrom under Disney has engineered space kept open by repulsor fields leading from outside the maelstrom to Kessel. These engineered spaces are lit by street lamps. This engineering works at a certain minimum distance from the black holes that are in some other part of the maelstrom. And, the maelstrom is not symmetric or isotropically differentiated. So, there are black holes near to *some surface of the maelstrom. And the black holes cause too intense a disturbance for the engineered spaces to work, so, there are no engineered tunnels that lead anywhere near to any black holes.

Han breaks away from the engineered spaces (lit tunnels) and ends up getting closer and closer to areas that are disturbed by the black holes. Call these areas large accretion disks, much more complex than the asteroid belt in ESB in terms of density, average size and momentum. An extremophile that requires as much energy as can be offered from a nearby black hole makes its home near a black hole. It's got some kind of motive force that allows it to survive there. A biological reactionless drive or something. Its size is a function of how much matter is gains access to. It likes metals as pure as it can get them, if its interest in the MF is an indication. The disturbance around the black hole that makes the engineered tunnels infeasible also results in fissures in the (very thick and solid, apparently) accretion disk, once in a while. But these cannot be depended on - they may never happen in short timescales that travelers would require.

So. The MF was recipient of a piece of complete fortune (dice) they could never have predicted. 1) A fortunate break in the clouds appeared, exactly when they needed it. 2) They did have coaxium on hand. 3) The MF engines could handle the coaxium without permanently exploding or shutting down. 4) Han's piloting was sufficient to the task of this escape. 5) The played up drama over getting L3 loaded into or as the navicomputer turned out to be completely unnecessary, because, Fortune. By this means, there is no plot hole. But I had to supply the means (pretty inexpensive compared to other Disney era products) by which it became not a plot hole.

 

Three times now and I think I caught the moment that is the problem. It is not abundantly obvious what happens. Lando gets L3 uploaded and intones that she's in the MF now. The ship is still moving and we are not told exactly whether it is Han *piloting or L3 *guiding/navigating/autopiloting. The next thing we see is the MF entering a region of the maelstrom with those spiky things. Homage to STI, if you ask me. Now we encounter the monster, and now Han's piloting skills are tested to their maximum. The thing that did not get abundantly obvious revelation is that L3 brought them to the region that had the monster that lives around the black hole, not Han flying blindly and just seeing where he could get to. So, there should have been a simple scene where the MF is being guided for some five seconds audience time, and someone says they don't know what L3 is doing, and someone else says they have to trust L3's guidance. Then they come across the spiky vista.

Now I can revise that there is no plot hole as far as L3 goes. When Han in SW77 boasts to Obi-Wan that it's the ship that made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, his boast does truthfully incorporate the navigation computer that he to this day still does possess and still is with the ship in Docking Bay 94. His boast also does truthfully incorporate the piloting skill that he to this day still does possess. Now, after SOLO:ASWS, his boast to Obi-Wan DOES NOT truthfully incorporate the coaxium additive (nitromethane analogue), which he DOES NOT have in possession in Docking Bay 94. So the boast is nothing Obi-Wan can purchase, as is. And the drop of coaxium made the difference between success and failure. But between the MF's new nav computer and Han's piloting, they got 90% of the way there. They could have done the 12 parsec Kessel Run without the coaxium if they had not encountered the monster.

One other thing - L3 identified a way out of the maelstrom that happened to be the fissure that Han was able to see by eye. L3 would not have navigated the MF into that area with its hazards if L3 didn't know there was a perfectly good chance of getting one of those fissures that would allow them to escape. That means those fissures are a constant or frequent occurrence and opportunity to the benefit of any other traveler who attempts the same stunt. That's important because it preserves mythology already built up pre-Disney / EU. The primary tweak by Disney is the introduction of an extremophile that thrives off black holes. But since black holes were already laid down by EU, this is a very reasonable tweak. An extremophile exists in ESB and a gargantuan apex predator in TPM. What I said about the maelstrom being not symmetric or isotropically differentiated can still work, and that's what L3 knew, and L3 guided them from a more stable area farther from the surface (blocked by SD) to a less stable area closer to the surface.

 

What is STI?

 

Sorry. Star Trek I: The Motion Picture

 

To me it felt like both Han and Qu´ira know that they have no future together. They make up a story about Qu´ira collecting the jewels so the goodby does not hurt them as much but know better in their hearts.

 

It was established that you can't be safe if Dryden Vos is looking for you. It was established that Beckett was particularly scared by it. But then he betrays him in a careless way.

 

One thing that a lot of fans called a plot hole...definitely isn't. And that's Lando not taking Han to task for betting a ship he didn't have. That's because Lando did the same thing. Lando didn't actually have the Falcon to bet with. It had been impounded. And he needed Beckett and his crew to help him get the lock off. Essentially, he had no grounds to stand on.

 

I didn't find some plotholes. I just would have liked being explained, why the dice chain was so important. It came so often into the focus of camera that while watching, I asked myself more than once, what I had missed before. And of course the film ends with a plot hole - the continuation sequel.

 

It was a lucky charm of his. And a symbol of Han’s risk-taking nature. No more explanation needed.

 

And it was dangling off the "rear-view mirror" thing in the Falcon, getting bumped by Chewie's head, the first time viewers ever saw the interior of the MF's cockpit, so it has been associated with Han since '77.

 

Does anyone have any details on why and how the coaxium deal (on Corellia) went so bad? We dont see it in the movie, we just see Han firing up a speeder to get away with one vile of coaxium.

What was Han's role in that deal and why did it go so bad?

 

Right. And...the details don’t matter. Han got into trouble by doing something he wasn’t supposed to. That’s all we need.

 

Why didn't they just take a cooling device to keep the coaxium from overheating? Even if it wouldn't work forever, it could buy them time. Not like cooling tech is rare in the GFFA.

The ship would have been hot and easily identifiable. Crimson Dawn could have put out a finders fee for the ship and they'd have people ratting them out everywhere they went. I suppose they could have sold it at their first stop, but Crimson Dawn would find the buyer.

The ship also may not particularly suit their needs. May be too big. May require too many crewmembers. May be too slow. Too fuel inefficient. So forth.

Doesn't fly. No one escapes Crimson Dawn. The Pikes certainly wouldn't buy it or care, they would hold CD responsible for someone sporting their brand, regardless of explanation, even if the explanation was true.

 

Vos would make the explanation true.

 

Qira's participation to the mission was not the most logical solution for different reasons, but I think we should give it a pass since of course her presence was needed for the sake of the drama.