CT Why Greedo Really Missed: the Physiology of the Compound Eye

Of all the changes to the Original Trilogy, perhaps none infuriates audiences more than Lucas choosing to now have Greedo shoot at Han before Han kills him with his blaster. This change confuses viewers for a number of reasons. As it was, Han's actions seemed justified as self-defence given the context. Also, Han waiting to shoot second makes Han appear dumb -- what if Greedo had killed him with the shot he fired first? Finally, there's the incongruity of Greedo missing at point black range.

For a long time, these issues with the scene plagued me, and the impact of scene was irreparably weakened. However, deeper knowledge of the compound eye shows why the change should not cause us any issues as viewers and gives us new insight into just how clever a strategic thinker Han is.

Greedo, a Rodian, possesses what is known as a compound or a multifaceted eye, which is most attuned to the infrared portion of the visual spectrum. A compound eye functions very differently from the simple eye with a refractive cornea found in humans and most vertebrates. One might think that multiple lenses of a compound eye would increase visual acuity, but the opposite is true. Rather, each lens of a compound eye functions more like a single-pixel on a television screen, and together the multiple pixels from the numerous lenses on a compound eye are combined within the brain into a single image. Since the vertebrate eye of humans forms its image at the back of the eye via light-sensitive "cones" which are only a single-cell wide, a compound eye can never come close to the resolution of a vertebrate eye, as the laws of optics prevent each single eye facet on a compound eye from even coming close to the incredibly small size of a single-cell. In fact, if human beings had compound eyes rather than vertebrate eyes, seeing with a comparable resolution would require us to have compound eyes 22 meters in diameter, roughly 1/4th the length of a football field. Since Greedo's eyes are obviously far, far smaller than that, his visual acuity is greatly compromised. At the same time, I should point out that compound eyes do have certain advantages. Compound eyes have evolved to be most sensitive to movement rather than achieving a highly resolved detailed view of a visual field, and this sensitivity to movement allows improved reflex time, which inevitably frustrates us every time we try to swat a fly.

Now, using this knowledge, we can appreciate what happens in the Cantina scene more fully.

Han, a man of the universe, must know the limitations of Rodian vision and recognizes that the gun-toting Greedo is far less threatening than he would appear. Han appears as nothing more than a fuzzy blur to Greedo, and considering that Rodians are most sensitive to infrared light or -- in other words -- heat, Han's 98-degree internal temperature makes him even less distinguishable from his surroundings within the hot interior of the cantina. Aware of all this, Han knows how he must respond to Greedo. Greedo's sensitivity to movement requires Han to move slowly. Cool under pressure, Han unholsters his blaster calmly and without a sense of haste. He knows that Greedo can only manage a random shot in this environment. Nonetheless, Greedo's keen sensitivity to movement catches Han's nearly imperceptible gestures under the table, and scared, he fires off a wild shot at Han -- with Greedo's visual limitations, the best he can muster. Han recognizes he's already in the clear. He's provoked Greedo to shoot first, so he can't be accused of murder. Han now has the perfect opportunity, and with perfect accuracy, Han shoots Greedo at point blank range. Slumping over dead, Greedo has no time to conceive of what actually did him in: Han's understanding of the compound eye.

 

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Would that not also mean Greedo would have a hard time so much as walking around without bumping into anything?

 

I think you bring up a great point. It seems likely to me that Rodians must possess short hair-like sense organs that sense air currents since, as you point out, Greedo really couldn't move effectively without them. If that is the case, then Greedo would be able to avoid bumping into things since air currents next to objects differ greatly from those in a wide open space. However, much like a fly buzzing around, Greedo would meander a great deal as those air currents would simply provide Greedo with a means to avoid objects but not any sense of direction. Furthermore, unless Greedo has a keen sense of smell and knows what Han smells like, I would imagine that Greedo, who would be unable to recognize Han by his face, spent a large amount of time asking patrons in the bar where Han was, then slowly moving closer to Han's general position before having to ask another patron to correct his course even more, and then going through this process again and again until he stumbled on Han's table. In fact, if Lucas provided us with a very extended cut of the Cantina scene, I think we would find Greedo wandering around in the background of the cantina, slowly nearing Han for a span of maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Han and Chewie probably even noticed him and found his slow approach amusing, as they recognized that Greedo was not a particularly great threat.

 

So Han was basically shooting a legally blind alien? Doesn't that make Han even more cold-hearted?

Interesting theory though.

 

Why would he be bounty hunting then? Surely he'd realize that his eye problems would be a liability right?

 

Well Greedo wasn't exactly shown as the brightest person in the room but you do have a point.

 

Maybe Greedo was hooked on spice really bad and he was so desperate for money to pay for his next high that he'd do next to anything.

 

Or it could just be that Han anticipated Greedo pulling the trigger and slid over just enough to not get hit. Watch the scene in slow motion and you can see HAN slide over a small fraction as Greedo shoots making him miss Han. Obviously, the subtle move by Han was added later to kind of explain why he was able to not get hit.

 

If your theory is correct, then Greedo has certainly chosen a sensible vocation.

 

But Han actually shot first...

 

Han shot first. that was a stupid change that was made to the film it make Han out to be a fair man and dumb man he is the complete opposite of both if those things

 

I will ask the usual

How can any non-Force-sensitive human react that quickly when the shot came literally less than a second before his? Considering the fact that you see him reaching for his gun under the table and aiming it at Greedo's gut, then implying that he wishes to kill him, how is this fair?
I will however, not question Han's intelligence, as that really is an entirely different debate

Aside from that, if you support Greedo not shooting, then why say "Han shot first" if nobody else fired at all?

 

"Mama Greedo, when I grow up I wanna be a bounty hunter!"
"Good God, Greedo! That is the worst thing a Rodian can do. Go run around in circles out back, we Greedos are much better suited to it!"

 

I guess Greedo's cockiness got the better of him. It would have been better if he had never gotten a shot off, but there's no point in complaining about unneeded changes.

 

It's times like this that I like to point out that Han took the safety off his blaster before he even took it out of his holster. That Rodian was dead before he knew it, no matter which way you look at it...

On blu-ray or in the OOT at least. The interim editions do look pretty bad.

 

Ok, so I may be a little out of my place saying this, but it seems to me that while you have an interesting idea (and plausible if true), there are a few holes in it.

I seem to recall reading about (SPOILER ALERT) other rodian bounty hunters. One in particular was mentioned in the book Rebel Dawn. Another was mentioned in the book series about Boba Fett as a kid (I forget the name). Well, it seems to me that if Rodians had that much trouble seeing, why would so many of them become bounty hunters? It would be a huge hindrance in that line of work, and I doubt all Rodians are that retarded. Not only would that impediment get them killed very quickly, it would also give them trouble(as mentioned above) finding their quarry. Also, who would hire a blind bounty hunter?

While your idea is theoretically possible, and even probable, I wouldn't mind having my objections explained to me.

 

For one, the EU obviously didn't exist back in '77, and all we knew then is that Rodians have compound eyes. Couple that with the OP's explanation and that's all there is to it. Lucas tends to disregard EU regardless, so discrepancies are to be expected sometimes

 

Ah ok. But still, didn't the revision that contained the part where Greedo shot first come after the EU already existed(or am I wrong on this too)? Also, it surprises me that GL disregards the EU, as I thought I remembered reading somewhere that most Star Wars books were considered canon. However, you guys know a ton more about Star Wars than I do....so it wouldn't surprise me if most of the things I thought were wrong lol.

 

The change was for the '97 SE, in which the EU was still a nascent entity

And yes, the EU is considered canon (that is, officially the new EU post April something, I don't see the point in de-canonizing everything though) but George sees SW two ways - there's his SW, the saga, the main episodes, then everything else which he's had pretty much no hand in other than being credited with a special thanks

 

Han was an anti-hero and his morals were intentionally characterized as ambiguous at best. The change to make him into a good guy who only killed people who shot at him first is beyond dumb.

 

Don't know how many times I can possibly say this

How is it possible for a normal, non Force-sensitive human to react that quickly? The shots were literally less than a quarter of a second apart. Greedo's shot is coincidentally timed if anything

And another thing I say often. We still see Han readying his blaster. As if the fact that his shot is now a fraction of a second slower suddenly changes the fact that he was clearly planning to kill Greedo anyway?

 

He had a certain amount of involvement in TCW as well - as did his daughter, Katie Lucas.

 

I think you're being too rational. The change was made to moralize (in an extremely juvenile way) Han killing Greedo.

To that point, you could argue he was "readying" his blaster for self defense. But this was a "scoundrel" who lived illegally as a trafficker dealing with a bounty hunter in the underworld. It's pretty clear from the dialogue that Greedo intended to kill Han, so shooting him first would have been the logical thing to do.

 

It's immoral to kill someone who's about to kill you, and therefore it's suddenly perfectly ok to kill someone after they try to kill you?
Murder is murder