CT Did Han Solo come around to believing in the Force?

When we first meet Han Solo, he's the smuggling pirate many of us have come to love. The first exposure we have to Han and his thoughts on the Force are aboard the Millennium Falcon when he indicates his pessimism. He hasn't seen anything to make him believe it exists, but he doesn't outright deny the possibility either. Han's arc continues thru the two subsequent films. In ESB, he's on the side of the Rebels, but he still carries himself in the same cocky and smug way. In ROTJ, that seems to mostly subside, as Han is more rooted in the Rebel cause and his personality is a bit warmer.

Despite his adventures with Luke and Leia, by the time ROTJ ends, Han never comes out and says he now believes in the Force. Yet, we know he witnessed things that were directly related to it:

* In ANH, Han sees Darth Vader strike down Obi-Wan with his lightsaber. Instead of being cut in half, Obi-Wan disappears into thin air.

* In ANH, before choosing to not join the Rebels in their attack on the Death Star, Han utters a forced (no pun intended) "May the Force be with you" to Luke. Due to the nature in which the line was delivered, I do not believe Han was sincere. I think he was trying to appeal to Luke for sympathy, and he failed. However, given what he saw of Obi-Wan disappearing earlier, perhaps by now he's a bit more open to the possibility.

* In ANH, part of the reason Han is gone is because he doesn't believe the Rebels stand a strong chance to destroy the Death Star. Yet, he ultimately returns, and in a stunning move, Luke successfully takes out the battle station. Both Luke and Han are heralded as Rebel heroes.

* In ESB, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca accompany Lando for "refreshments." Ultimately, he's leading them into the hands of Vader himself. When Han sees Vader, he fires multiple shots at the Sith Lord. Vader deflects them all with his hands and then uses the Force to pull the blaster away from Han. Does this display of Force powers seal Han's belief in the Force? Or, is it concievable that Vader may have had something built into his gloves to catch the blasts? Even if this is possible, it wouldn't explain how he yanked the blaster from Han's hand.

* In ROTJ, Han is again pessimistic about Luke and his abilities when Chewie reveals to him that Luke is becoming a Jedi Knight and has a plan to rescue him. Han dismisses this an illusion of grandeur and doubts that a rescue attempt will be successful. By the time Luke does come around and tells Han to stick with Chewie and Lando, he is still doubtful that the plan will work. And when Luke does pull off the rescue, Han is gracious.

* In ROTJ, after Han and his friends are captured by the ewoks, Luke tries a last-ditch effort to get everyone freed. Through the Force, he lifts C-3PO into the air in an attempt to frighten the ewoks into untying the Rebels. We are given the impression that Threepio and the ewoks are the only ones who don't know how this occurred. And on top of that, Han doesn't seem surprised that Luke was able to do this. This leads me to believe that Han accepted the existence of the Force before this scene, though it's up in the air as to exactly when.

* In ROTJ, when backed into a corner by two Stormtroopers (and being shot herself), Leia miraculously uses her blaster and takes out both troopers in what appears to possibly be a quick, singular shot. This action is a bit hard to interpret, but the indication seems to be that she was able to use the Force to help her take them down. Han is taken somewhat aback by what he sees, but in a good way. Perhaps he is confused that Leia was able to do something that seemingly looked impossible.

As we know, the Death Star was destroyed by Lando and the Rebels and Luke "defeated" the Sith. Everyone parties and the galaxy celebrates the victory. We never get a scene in which Han rescinds his initial thoughts on the Force and confirms his believe in the existence of the Force based on the things he experienced firsthand. So, did Han ever truly accept the Force, and if so, when did this happen? Going strictly by what we see in the films, there doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer here. My interpretation is that when Obi-Wan disappeared with Vader's lightsaber strike, Han likely questioned his denial of the Force. It could have been an illusion, so it would take other things like Luke's unlikely victory at the Death Star to get him really thinking. Things like his run-in with Vader and Luke's victory against Jabba probably confirmed the existence of the Force to him. And Luke and Leia's actions on Endor, coupled with Luke's confrontation with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine may have left him without question. I believe Han was a believer in the Force by the end of the OT as a result of these actions, but it's still interpretation based on the evidence presented.

What do you think?

 

In the OT? I don't think so…not really. He might've been a little more open to the idea by ROTJ, but a full-on believer? I don't think so. But I'm not saying he didn't come around *eventually*….just not in the timeframe of the OT.


EDIT: Re: "May the Force be with you…" I saw that as him sort of paying his respects to Luke, in a way. He even says the line awkwardly, like he doesn't really believe what he's saying. But that's just how I read that scene.

 

I'd say the last vestiges of skepticism are in his "A Jedi Knight?! I'm out of it for a little while and everybody gets delusions of grandeur." And that may be more skepticism about Luke, rather than about the Force in general.

 

Yes. Not right away but I'd say after time went on and all these events happened he began to believe in it.

 

Exactly. It's a genuine acknowledgement of respect to Luke, nothing else - but despite his own beliefs/skepticism, he wasn't being condescending. Using the phrase itself (something he didn't necessarily believe in) was his own way of showing respect to this brave kid in the best way he could find straight away. He meant to wish him well.

When it comes to his comment in ROTJ - "A Jedi Knight?! I'm out of it for a little while and everybody gets delusions of grandeur" - well, that can be taken just about any way. Han might still retain the exact same skepticism he had in SW/ANH, or he might have come on board having witnessed a few things in the intervening years.
The real point of the comment has more to do with his perception of Luke, not the Force and the Jedi Knights. Han's 'little brother' is all grown up and on his way to rescue him from this sorry mess he got himself into oh so many years ago, before Han and Luke had even met - something he even dragged Chewie and Leia into along the way. How embarrassment.

 

Han in the ANH novel, is more skeptical about the Force's ability to control actions, than about the Force itself:

"I've been from one end of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange things. Too many to believe there couldn't be something like this "Force". Too many to believe there could be some such controlling one's actions. I determine my destiny - not some half-mystical energy field. I wouldn't follow him so blindly if I were you. He's a clever old man full of simple tricks and mischief. He could be using you for his own ends."

 

I think Han does eventually come around to believing in the Force, though it's up in the air as to whether there's one specific point where it all clicks. I will say that I never got the impression Han quite saw what happened with Obi-Wan on the Death Star.

Here's hoping that the Sequel Trilogy doesn't make Han a skeptical old bastard again just to evoke his personality from the OT.

 

Per the films, no, I don't believe Han did. I believe he was like Tarkin in that he witnessed the Force at work but he personally actively rejected belief. I do think he came around to accepting that those around him did believe, however.

 

Option missing:

Yes - when he used Luke's lightsabre to cut open a Tauntaun and felt his own guts nearly flow through him...

 

I've gone with: Yes - It was a progression of all these experiences

 

I sort of feel it's a combination of all those experiences, but I think it's not just that simple. I think he started doubting himself bit by bit as the trilogy went on, and after seeing his friend Luke do all these amazing things, being Vader's prisoner, etc. it just struck right at home, whether he actively says so or not

 

I think after Vader snatching his blaster out of his hand and being rescued from Jabba, he accepted that the Force was real, but since he isn't a force user, his belief in the force doesn't make much difference. Han always seemed more cynical than a non believer to me, considering he has a pal and first mate how is old enough to see Jedi in action.

 

I never thought of Leia using the force in ROTJ to save her and Han, but I guess that might make sense. I don't know that Han's expression there should be read as evidence of that however.

I don't know if you can pinpoint an exact moment, but I strongly feel that Han would have accepted the existence of the force by the end of the trilogy. Having someone use telekinetic powers right in front of you to snatch the blaster out of your hand would be hard to reconcile.

 

Now that I think about it, just how much of 'The Force' did Han really see that he couldn't still dismiss as "a lot of simple tricks and nonsense"? We witnessed the lightsaber battles, the Force Ghosts, the Emperor's lightning, the telepathy, Luke's blowing up the Death Star without the computer - but Han didn't.

Yes, he did see Vader block his blaster shots, then drag his blaster across the room, but he also saw Luke deflect several shots from a remote blinded and still shrugged it off. I'm not saying he necessarily still had the same skepticism, just that he wasn't exactly privy to such extreme miracles that he had to become a true believer.

I imagine he wouldn't scoff at it to the same extent, given the respect he now had for those people who had completely embraced it, but I could see him still being suspect enough not to put complete faith in someone's Force abilities to complete a mission, for example. You could perhaps imagine a young character in the new films insisting to Han that he can take care of something by himself because he has the Force, Han eventually letting him go - but then muttering, "Go with him anyway, Chewie."

 

The novelization doesn't actually call that particular incident out as anything special. It does, however, suggest that it required more-than-natural strength to strangle Jabba:

With a strength beyond her own strength, she pulled. He bucked with his huge torso, nearly breaking her fingers, nearly yanking her arms from their sockets. He could get no leverage, his bulk was too unwieldy. But his sheer mass was almost enough to break any mere physical restraint.

Yet Leia's hold was not merely physical. She closed her eyes, closed out the pain in her hands, focused all her life force - and all it was able to channel - into squeezing the breath from the horrid creature.​

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