CT Han Solo Shooting at Darth Vader

Does this singular act establish Han as one of the "good guys"?

He's a mercenary, seemingly willing to take up any offer to get himself out of his current predicament. He regularly associates with the galaxy's most wretched hive of scum and villainy, as proven by his associations with Jabba and obvious comfort level and ease at hanging out in Mos Eisley bars.

But, he has morals, he's not evil, he obviously aligns himself with the "good guys", as he instinctually and immediately begins to shoot at Vader at the mere sight of him, so he obviously has some sense of who the "bad guys" are.

Let's say Luke and Obi-Wan hitched a ride with someone else, never having met Han. Han would still owe his debt to Jabba and would still be looking for that opportunity to pay it back. However mercenary he may be, I don't see Han and Chewy lining up with the likes of Bossk, IG88, and Boba Fett as Vader assigns them a mission to find Luke, after which they will receive a heavy reward, no matter how lucrative an opportunity that could be for Han.

Which raises a bigger question, what makes mercenaries like Dash Randar and Han Solo inherently "good"? As opposed to the villainess bounty hunters being "bad guys"? What makes it okay for a Bossk, IG88, Boba Fett, or Greedo to be killed, but if Han or Dash were to be killed there would be a certain level of sympathy as if one of the "good guys" were lost?

The flip side to that, why does Han react that way towards Vader, whereas another bounty hunter or mercenary might be indifferent to the sight of Yoda or another Rebel leader? What reason would a bounty hunter have to fire on a Rebel leader without reward? I think none. Whereas a guy like Han automatically fires on Vader without question and without expectation of a reward.

Is Vader truly that evil and anybody who associates with him equally so?

Back to the original point, what is it about Han that makes him react that way to the sight of Vader? I don't think it had anything to do with him being kidnapped, as it would not have been clear to Han that Lando set him up until Lando admitted it. Vader could have easily developed his own ruse, commandeered that room knowing Han and Leia would arrive there, and enact his own scheme to kidnap them, Lando having nothing to do with it. But before any of that was established, Han instinctually begins firing at him. Why?

 

I think Han firing on Vader is primarily out of self-preservation and protection of his friends. Someone might not immediately identify Yoda as a threat; Luke didn't even think him worthy enough to be a "great warrior" upon first sight. But Vader is notorious, and Han is fully aware of who he is and what his presence means to Han and any other individual aligned with the Rebellion.

Han's genuinely heroic acts, the ones that solidify him as a "good guy," so to speak, would be coming in to save Luke during the Battle of Yavin, and going out to save Luke in the middle of a snowstorm. In both of those instances, his only reward was saving the life of his friend, even if it meant risking his own life to do so. Plus, he stuck around with the Rebellion for three years despite not needing to do so. As for why we sympathize with mercenaries over bounty hunters, the former steal things and smuggle illegal materials, whereas the latter kill people and deliver human beings for reward. Mercenaries in this series come across like lovable rogues with hearts of gold, bounty hunters come across like heartless machines.

 

If the personification of all that is evil shows up in your best friend's dining room, you're likely to start wanting to shoot at him too. Other than that, PymParticles summed it up nicely.

 

Han knows who Vader is and knows that he is after them for being Rebels and those who destroyed the Death Star. He shoots at Vader because he recognized him and is still having trouble believing in the Force. So he treats Vader the same way he does the Stormtroopers. Only here it backfires on him and he realizes how outgunned he is compared to Vader.

 

In Han's line of work it's kill or be killed. He's been in plenty of those situations before. He saw Vader, went into fight or flight immediately and started shooting. I don't think it's anything to do with how "evil" Vader is.

 

What I'd like to know is, did either Han or Vader know that Han was the one who beat Vader in ship-to-ship combat at Yavin? Assuming Han knew that Vader knew, he might think, "Uh-oh, here's old cybernetic bronchitis himself, and I bet he's still royally ticked off at me after I knocked him for a loop over the Death Star. This would be another really good time for me to shoot first."

 

Maybe Han knows what Vader did to Leia in ANH?
And wouldn't want a repeat of that?
If I saw Vader, I would shoot first as well.

 

Well he shot at him in his TIE fighter in ANH first.


This to me sets him up as 'one of the good guys'

 

Vader knows that Han is the captain of the Millennium Falcon and he would have seen it as he was spinning out of control. So he has good reason for torturing Han. Han, on the other hand, probably didn't know that was Vader that was in the TIE Advanced.

 

All good responses. Thanks for the discussion.

I've just always been fascinated at how quickly and instinctually Han begins shooting at the mere sight of Vader. There is not a second's hesitation in Han realizing "Oh, this is Vader" and then trying to shoot him. No, it's as if he's been trained and without any hesitation reaches for his sidearm.

I think it had a lot to do with Han's service in the Rebellion, his indoctrination to their thinking, rhetoric, and tactics, and his understanding now that Vader is the enemy. Which resulted in Han being a man for the greater good and not just for himself, thus making him one of the good guys.

I think that had more to do with Han feeling bad for leaving Luke to accomplish the mission and then coming back to help Luke out. Although helping the Rebels could have been a reason, I don't think it was the only reason or the main reason, as I doubt by the time of the Battle of Yavin that Han would have become so personally aligned with the Rebels. You could also argue that maybe he saw another prize in it for himself, Leia.

 

Love this scene, for 2 factors..... First being how quickly Han draws without hesitation. Secondly how vader deflects the bolts and then uses the force to get his gun. It just reinforces how powerful he is in this film.

 

It was only a matter of time :E

 

So true. It easily and quickly establishes that, regardless of how fast Han is and how much of a badA he is, he is no match for Lord Vader.

 

I wouldn't say Han automatically shooting at Vader is what establishes him as a "good guy"

I think him shooting was instinctively out of fear, fear the Vader was going to kill Leia and his friends. There was no possibility of Vader being there as pleasant or beneficial to the group. It became instantly obvious Lando had portrayed them and given Leia up to Vader. Han knows Vader couldn't care about him and Chewie, but Leia would be in for a slow and torturous death unless Han could luckily prevent that with a shot. It's kind of sweet, really.

 

Very true, imagine trying to shoot someone at point blank range and for that person not only to deflect your shots with his hand but to then telekinetically retrieve your weapon right from your hand. That would be extremely and utterly terrifying.

No use running I suppose, so might as well sit down for dinner...

 

I was going to post that.

 

Vader did arrange the ruse that played out on Bespin. He was the one behind this. He was the one who had coerced Lando into helping him set up Han and Leia.

It's obvious that Han shot at Vader out of fear for himself and fear for Leia and Chewie's fate. As far as he is concerned, Vader is their enemy and due to his association with Leia, Luke and the Rebel Alliance . . . his enemy, as well.

 

The fact that Lando's last words before they enter are "I've just made a deal that'll keep the Empire out of here forever" kind of give the game away.

 

Yeah, I agree. Lando seemed like he wanted to tell Han and Leia they were about to be detained. But he seemed like he felt constrained. Well, he was frustrated throughout that whole thing. That's part of why Lando is so interesting, as we all know. He's a mixed bag, but we all love him for how funny and nuanced he is.

I do think it's important to see Vader doing utilizing that power, tutaminis. It goes to show that even though he has robotic hands and it's difficult for him to channel the Force from his flesh/living tissue into those metal fingers and palms, he still is incredibly dangerous as a Sith Lord. Plus, people tend to forget how much of a moment this is for Han. Han didn't believe in the Force in ANH. He didn't understand what Luke was doing or how he blew up the Death Star. He probably didn't understand that Luke had used the Force to do it until later. I think Han got a sense that Luke had some powers, but he couldn't wrap his head around it. Him seeing Vader block lasers with his bare hands probably made him a believer. It certainly freaked him out.

I, for one, think that Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus could block blaster bolts with his hands. If he can do that with lightning, he can do it with lasers. I'm not sure why we have this new rule in Star Wars canon about it being harder for one to block a lightsaber blade with one's own hands than lightning or lasers. Vader only being able to block blaster bolts with even his robotic hands, even if he can't block lasers or lightsabers, is still impressive. Plus, it's a good intimidation tool of his. He lives to intimidate, invade, dominate, deceive, evade, and eventually win. He doesn't have to fight many lightsaber-wielding foes by the Galactic Civil War time. Him blocking lasers with his bare hands is like saying, "You are pathetic." He's telling Han, "You're just a little boy with a toy to me." I mean, Vader was trying to manipulate and frighten Luke before telling him he was his father, since the fight was a distraction in itself, much like Palpatine or Obi-Wan would handle it. Vader is one heck of a manipulative bastard who knows how to scare people very quickly or if necessary slowly and subtly. He may not be as powerful as he could be, due to the loss of his living tissue and his lack of complete immersion in the dark side, but he knows how to make what power he has count. I think this is why Palpatine liked Vader being his Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet even though Palpatine wasn't satisfied with Vader as a Sith. Vader was virtually unbeatable when he faced most opponents. Vader had killed many surviving Jedi, probably hundreds, and he knew how to keep the Imperial officers in line. I think that Vader viewed violence and fighting as a matter of ceremony. He considered Luke a worthy adversary and tried to dominate him in TESB. As for Han, Vader viewed him as a joke. He wouldn't have a duel with him. He would prefer to roll his eyes at him. Now, if Vader had known that Leia was his daughter, well, Vader would have tried to manipulate her by threatening Han, much like he did to Juno Eclipse to try to keep Galen Marek's clone enthralled to him.

In short, I just would not want to run into Vader if he were real during the TESB period. Lol. The guy needed some counseling, but he certainly was interesting. Great character.

 

The scene shows how awesome he is.

 

Yes, and, of course, Vader using the Force to block the lasers and to take the blaster from Han was further proof of the Force for him. He was clearly enraged with Lando for going along with this, and Leia was, as well. Chewie seemed disappointed. Vader's tone and his method of showing his power over Han was his way of saying, "Sit the hell down!" Boba Fett is even ready to shoot them if they don't comply and try to pull anything. Just always found the way the scene ended funny for some dark reason. It's like Vader has invited them to dinner, but as a kid I wondered, "Why in the world would he eat in front of them?"

I do find the tutaminis ability fascinating. I believe Vader can redirect blaster bolts back at someone from his hands if he wishes rather than simply absorbing them. Yoda was able to absorb and/or redirect Dooku's lightning easily, but he had a great deal of trouble doing this with Sidious's power. Clearly, Satele Shan shocked Darth Malgus when she pulled this off when she blocked his lightsaber with her bare hands. He really didn't know what to do. Each of the Ones used this ability. The Daughter blocked the Son's lightning and redirected it, the Father blocked Anakin's lightsaber blade easily, and the Son blocked Anakin's lightsaber blades effortlessly. When Galen Marek absorbed the lightning of Darth Sidious, he was initially able to do it, but in the end Sidious was too powerful and he overwhelmed and killed Marek.


http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111114211612/starwars/images/c/c5/ForceAbsorb-TORHope.jpg

 

I think Han becomes a definitive Good Guy when he returns to the Death Star to give Luke the assist. At that point, he disregarded personal interest for the interests of others, and that moment marked his full embrace of being Good Guy. By the beginning of ESB (which takes place what, 4 years after ANH?), he has been a long time officer in the Rebellion. He only decides to leave to try and pay off his debts after mentioning that it's becoming a problem. Of course, Vader capitalizes on that problem by calling on the bounty hunters.

 

I disagree. In ANH, he is still a mercenary. While he certainly had established personal relations with Luke and Leia by that point, he still had only known them for a short while. I do not think his actions during the Battle of Yavin were solely for the greater good. Like I said, he felt guilty for leaving Luke to accomplish the mission and also wanted to impress Leia. Obviously at that point he had aligned himself with the Alliance, but I don't think he would have done so had he not become so personally involved with Luke and Leia.

It was only after having served in the Rebellion for three years did Han Solo become a good guy in full support of the greater good without any personal incentive. And his reaction to Vader served as proof of his indoctrination to the Rebel cause. Again, it wasn't his realization that Vader is a bad guy, it was instinctual reaction to Vader being the bad guy.

 

I'd add a third - sticking around during the battle to make sure Leia gets away, then the entire chase from Hoth through the asteroid field. All the while he's carrying a package that could clear all his debts with the Empire if he just turned around and handed her over.

 

I think Han shot at Vader so quickly as he wanted to ensure that this time he did indeed "shoot first" But yeah, I don't necessarily look at it as an act of heroism. Hes trying to take out the bad guy sure, but who wouldn't in that situation? Don't get me wrong, I think Han, especially at this part of the saga, is a heroic character, and there probably was an element of wanting protect Leia, Chewie and even probably Lando, but Han has been saving his own skin for years, and the quick shot is probably just a reflex action developed through his history of self preservation.