Solo [Official Info] Emilia Clarke (Qi'ra) in Solo

This organization was explicitly shown to not distinguish between the failure of the leader and the crew. Vos planned to kill Beckett, Han and Chewie. Again, this is logic that isn't present in the movie and actually contradicts things that happened in the movie, but we're just assuming it must be that way?

Qi'ra obviously "can" be the candidate, as she ultimately was. The point is, she risked her ass by facing the wrath of failure alone. The only way to guarantee save her skin was to sabotage Han's plan and deliver the fuel to Maul herself. Yes, she's a survivor, a survivor with a clear weakness for Han, as Vos pointed out when she got caught lying to him. She risked everything for Han at the end of this movie.

I honestly can't believe one of these SW articles actually acknowledged something like this. Bravo

 

I'm not sure that holding onto the fuel and delivering it to Maul would be the safest move. As it stands, she has a plausible reason for why Beckett would want to murder Vos, he couldn't get the fuel and so came back to take him out. If she had the fuel then she'd need to explain why Beckett and Vos killed each other. I think this was her plan right from when Enfys Nest proposed the double crossing of Vos. She knew Beckett would betray them and Han would help her kill them both.

Did she know Maul would fall for it? Well she probably knows his current modus operandi as well as anyone, and she's survived for now so her plan worked. He says they will be working closely together so I take that to mean he's not planning on killing her as soon as she shows up (and I seriously doubt LFL would do that in any case).

 

What...? I don't agree with this at all. Maul is a crime lord. He cares infinitely more about money than Vos. The fuel didn't need to disappear at all for Beckett and Vos to kill each other, although that wasn't her story. If I remember correctly, her story was that Beckett killed Vos and everyone else and took off with the fuel. It could just as easily have been the same thing, only Qi'ra intervened and got the loot. I really don't even a tiny bit think Maul would be more angry/suspicious if she delivered him all that insane wealth, which again the movie emphasized was worth a lot.

I think Qi'ra will survive her encounter with Maul. I do not think Qi'ra didn't seriously risk death by covering for Han. Her best option by far and away was to betray him.

 

But to Dryden at the time, Han and Chewie are just random people that haven't proved their worth and doesn't seem to be able to make much difference anyway. Why would he care about their lives? Qi'ra is at least a known lieutenant that seems capable enough and Maul is experiencing a leadership vacuum in his organization that needs to be filled asap. The two situations are not the same at all.

Regarding her taking and delivering the fuel herself, she not only has to go through Han but Beckett and Chewie as well. The odds are probably not in her favor so I don't see how this is the best option for her. Not to mention that if she takes too long dealing with all them, Enfys Nest and her band will most likely check out what's wrong.

 

Beckett was able to get away and betray them, so Qi'ra would have been able to do the same thing. Also, Vos doesn't seem to care about whether someone is a somebody or nobody, he tells them straight up before the mission if they fail he'll kill all of them.

 

Qi'ra doesn't have to go "through" Han. He implicitly trusted her. If she wanted to manipulate him and sabotage his plan, it would have been the easiest thing in the galaxy far far away to do.

 

Well at this point we don't know if he is a crime lord or a Sith Lord or if his backstory from TCW is still official or anything about him really. Maybe he has some other scheme going we cant even conceive right now? He had more dialogue at the end there than in all other movies combined. I can't remember exactly whether she says that Beckett escaped or if he's dead too, but if it went down as you remember, then isn't it odd that Maul doesn't kill her if Crimson Dawn's unconditional penalty for failure is death? See, I don't think their bylaws are actually as strict as you do. In any case, she seems to have made the right call as now she has a kingpin's yacht loaded with treasure and is presumably a lieutenant to Maul, which is dangerous but potentially very lucrative for her as well.

I still don't think that when she tells Han she can't leave Crimson Dawn that she is being completely honest. She can leave if she wants but she'd rather stay in. She has other things planned.

 

I am not sure if people are objecting that Qi'ra acted to save Han or not. I believe she did, but to see that alone would be (in my opinion) missing her purpose. Qi'ra is like a light side cancer infecting the dark side. She believes she's trapped in some ways, yes. She believes she is unworthy in some ways, yes, because of what she has done in order to survive. But she saves Han because she's trying to save the light. If she believes it is too late for her, if she believes she's too far in and she can't get out, if she believes someone must fight them from the inside... whichever it is (if it is one or all of them), she fights for the light when she can. To her, Han represents the good inside her, the innocent child she once was, and she saves him in part to save herself (her spirit), in part to save him (his life), and mainly to save the light (because Han and Enfy are good).

Han and Leia both along their paths decide they are free. For Qi'ra, she can't find that. But most people who are oppressed never escape. It's only a minority that do.

Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if Maul's association with Qi'ra leads to his downfall. She knows how to survive and has the potential to defeat him.

 

I just think when you watch this so little about what happened to Qi’ra is shown we are mostly guessing again the slinky dress can imply one thing and the casual touching but sense she spends most of the movie basically on her own then it also in more ways shows that she is more like a second in command then a “sex slave” And it is well known once your in the mob the only way out is to climb to kill everyone else or die yourself

In regards to Maul he is more then used to the concept of killing your way up the ladder and I personally believe he knows she killed Vos and will be reminding her that he is the top dog and a lot harder to kill but otherwise business as usual with her in Vos place tell she fails her next job

 

I watched the movie again tonight and I noticed that Qi’ra told Maul that Beckett killed everyone, took the fuel and she was the sole survivor (I don’t recall the exact words, but I’m sure about the “sole survivor” part).

Who’s this “everyone” she’s talking about? Where were the other members of Crimson Dawn when the whole altercation took place? How can she fake their deaths? Won’t Maul find out sooner or later that they’re not dead afterall?

If it’s possible for Qi’ra to convince Maul that “everyone” - whoever that is - is dead, then couldn’t she have faked her own death as well and left with Han?

In fact, what about that one guy who greeted people at Vos’ yacht and asked for their weapons? Couldn’t he easily let Maul know somehow that it wasn’t just Beckett, there was a young man and a Wookiee involved as well? Hell, he might even remember Han’s name.

Maybe it’s the sheer amount of plot holes, but I don’t think it’s an either/or situation (that is, she’s either a helpless victim with no agency or a cutthroat ambitious woman who didn’t love Han).

If she really wanted to, she could have left it all behind to be with Han. They’d have bounty hunters on their tails, but they’d be together and figure it out. Han was certainly willing to take the risk. She chose the safest option, for sure, and understandably so (she’s a survivor AND she loves Han, so she chose to protect both of their lives), but the other option was nevertheless still on the table.

 

She seems to be a tragic villain.

 

A while back there was quite a bit of back-and-forth about Qi'ra agency and whether she was to be considered a slave in her relationship with Vos.

Well, I just saw an interview where Jon Kasdan described Vos as "Han's rival for her affections" and described that they purposely ended up making Vos more attractive that it would be more believable that Qi'ra would be in a romantic relationship with someone like him.

That doesn't really sound like a description of a sex slave to me.

 

The brand or tattoo on her arm implies something of the sort. L3 makes that comment about her already being in a committed relationship.

Now whether that means she is "owned" by crimson dawn as in employed in perpetuity or a concubine of sorts, it's not explicitly said and left to the imagination. her love for Han is hear weakness -- but her damaged sense of self worth and, I'll say it, lust for power (she could've run she didn't have to take vos' ring and call maul) kept her from leaving.

My take on it

 

Personally, I think we're meant to read the brand mark that way at first - to see her as a damsel in distress, as Han seems to do. One sees the brand and the implied intimacy between her and Vos, and connects the two. But the meaning evolves. In the end she hides the mark from Enfys, which implies something completely different.

As for Qi'ra's motives and feelings, I think it's interesting that they can be read in so many ways.

 

That matches what Michael Williams said about a love triangle, but IMO they completely failed to do any kind of love triangle on screen. It never came across as "Qi'ra is torn between whether she loves Vos or Han" like Katniss was between Peeta and Gale. It came across that she was deeply in love with Han but bound to the organization and could never leave. Every interaction she had with Vos Qi'ra looked terrified or incredibly uncomfortable. If they wanted to portray Vos as a genuine rival for her affections, they should have included a scene of Qi'ra gazing lovingly at him and kissing or hugging him. At no point did Qi'ra ever seem romantically or sexually interested in Vos at all.

I do find it interesting with what I've read about Most Wanted that

Spoiler

they seem to highlight the ultimately incompatible differences between Qi'ra and Han, with their final conversation being Qi'ra saying what keeps you going is money and power, and Han saying it's having the person you trust by your side.

However, they seemed to have changed the ending at the last minute so I wonder if the author was going on the previous script.

The editor here said that originally he wanted Qi'ra to choose to go with Maul easily but then re-edited to make it more out of fear of Maul.

"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."

 

Wow. I had a completely different take on this.

1) It's a movie, not a manual, and that's how someone like Han, especially Young Han, would act. Qi'ra hasn't told him what she's been through, and either he's too immature to figure it out or he doesn't want to believe it because he idealizes her. In either case, Han's romantic advances are his clumsy way of showing Qi'ra that he doesn't see her differently ("I will never stop looking at you that way"). If she was forced into sexual abuse, then he doesn't see her as "damaged." And if she joined Dryden willingly, then he doesn't consider it "cheating." The only way Han knows how to show that is by physical affection. That's not what Qi'ra really needs, but Han is too young to know that. That's good writing to me. It's honest, it's messy, it's painful.

2) The movie doesn't make a "big to do" about her abuse because Qi'ra herself refuses to. In fact, her refusal to tell Han about their time apart is what makes her such a nuanced, emotionally rich character. She wants to spare Han the pain she's suffered, choosing to bear that emotional burden all by herself. And like many victims of abuse, she may see herself as "damaged" and undeserving of love, particularly from a childhood friend. She may have even convinced herself that she became Dryden's partner and lover willingly with no coercion as a coping mechanism. Finally, Qi'ra and Han have a life-or-death job to do and now is not the time to lose focus -- Han would try to tear Dryden's head off if she told him everything.

I, for one, appreciate that the Kasdans gave their characters so many layers without hitting us over the head with explicit details (a necessity in this case as the movie is PG-13). Subtext and subtlety are almost entirely missing in blockbuster movies and Solo managed to give us that.

That said, the writer's general concern is totally valid (male writers often/usually miss the mark when it comes to female characters) and it's one reason I'm so glad Trevorrow and Connolly were fired from Episode 9. I was dreading how they would handle Rey after seeing Jurassic World and reading some of their real life comments.

 

I am trying to figure out why Qi'ra doesn't go with Han and instead phones Maul.

I am also trying to figure out how this could possibly work in that I think Maul should be able to see through her deceptions. Lying to a Force-user is not really easy to pull off. I was thinking Maul already doesn't believe her story. I think he sees her as seizing power by taking out the top, which is a very Sith-like approach and so he would see this as only natural. That kind of quality in an underling would be something that Maul would probably want, and he wouldn't consider people like Qi'ra or Vos as threats to him because they don't have the Force.

However, Qi'ra also let the fuel go because of love. Maul doesn't care for doing things for love, but it's not that this means he will kill someone automatically. He knew Ezra loved his friends and this was always a factor in his manipulations. Maul I would say loved his brother just a little, so he is not entirely devoid of love himself.

Anyway I almost think Qi'ra's chances leaving with Han are higher than her chances dealing with Maul, when it comes to her own survival. She chooses the most dangerous path. Why?

I know that one thing that drives Qi'ra is she seeks "protection." She likes the security that comes with being in a crime organization > no security at all. And like Lando, I think she prefers the finer things in life. But this alone is not enough of an explanation. She wants the power, may be better as an explanation. But again, why?

It's also possible that Qi'ra believes there is no out for her. Maul will have her hunted down and it may be there's no way around that. Han escapes with everyone who knew his face that mattered, dead. For Qi'ra, Maul knows her face.

But it's such a big galaxy... it's hard for me to imagine there is nowhere to hide.

The other matter is it's clear Qi'ra wants Han safe. She will stand guard and not let the greater evils reach him. And it's not just him, I think this extends to Enfys as well. She likes Han because he's "the good guy." She also knows that Enfys is good. She wants to protect the good by not letting the demons tear it down.

That said, Maul can get info from people's minds as he did from Hera in Rebels. If Qi'ra can't provide associates for him to hunt and he knows she's lying, he'll find the real associates. It's all too convenient if everyone is dead (too convenient and too unlikely).

Qi'ra must have some trick up her sleeve to think she even has a chance.

 

Qi'ra says out loud to Han that she can't escape. I don't really find it that ambiguous. It doesn't matter if it's theoretically possible that Qi'ra could have faked her death and escaped with Han. It only matters if she viewed that as an option and if she stayed out of desire or only out of fear. I don't recall any moment in the movie where Qi'ra herself conveyed any desired to stay in the organization beyond fear. I've only seen it once, though, so maybe I'm just forgetting.

 

The impression I got after seeing Solo wasn't as much that she was a slave to Vos or Crimson Dawn, but rather an ambitious individual that was desperate to work her way up the ranks-even if that meant making compromises-like Han did-or betraying friends to get there. Feeling like she has no other choice, fearing they might kill her if not. I might have missed certain details having only seen it once so far, but from the impression I got, she's not happy about some of the things she'd done, but still had that burning desire to make something of herself and was basically sacrificing certain things to get there.

That's the overall impression I got from Q'ira. She struck me as quite similar to Elsa in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Her overall intentions for the end result were good, and she had weak spots for the protagonist, but her means of achieving what she wanted were deceptive and ultimately all-wrong.

 

This article is an interesting summary that is pretty in line with how I view this character: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...-cameo-undermined-qi-ra-character-arc-1117058

I didn't think that Qi'ra was trying to help Enfys Nest from the beginning, but that's as good a theory as any. It certainly fits her character. She started the movie telling Han to leave her for his own good, and she ends the movie tricking him into leaving her for his own good. She clearly believes in Enfys Nest's cause. Why wouldn't she help? The flip side of that is, Qi'ra is very clearly afraid of Crimson Dawn, and out of her own lips in this movie she says explicitly to Han that she's not in it to win. She's in it to survive. When it comes to Qi'ra's pov, I don't value any speculation higher than words that come out of her mouth.

 

I love this analysis. Spot on I think.

Qi'ra is so complex as others have said. She's definitely a new favorite.

 

I really don’t see where people are getting ambition from this character. She never expresses a desire to rise in the ranks of the criminal underworld that I recall. She starts the movie craving freedom. When Han sees her three years later, she tells him she never escaped and she can’t escape now. She never refers to her position as something she desires or she’s proud of. When Han talks of winning the game, she doesn’t. She explicitly says she doesn’t care about winning. If she was ambitious, she’d care about winning. As far as betraying friends, Qi’ra never betrayed a single friend in this movie.

 

Considering the brutal by crime syndicate standards and Star Wars methods of ''human ressources management'' of the Shadow Collective, I would dare to say that Q'ira did not looked much optimistic into explaining a 60 million credit loss (not to mention that Crimson Dawn looks far more brutal than Black Sun or the Hutts)

 

I love Clarke in the movie (but I love her in anything) however one thing that does throw me for a loop is when she says "I was trained to seek weaknesses!" which, honestly, I don't really see her doing at any point in the film, aside from maybe beating up the Pyke Syndicate fellow. But it did lead to an awesome moment of her turning on Vos which was nifty. But, yah, the trained to seek weakness line was a tad odd.