Something that I've wondered since being younger when the OT was released and watched on an almost weekly basis on VHS. HAN: Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. Ben smiles quietly HAN: It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense. Although he doesn't believe in the force, is he subconsciously a force user. His simple tricks, do they work due to an increased ability to anticipate the near future? Is this not also the case when he shot Greedo (is you accept that Han shot first)? He also sought out Luke on Hoth when others couldn't find him, was this a force ability?
IMO the intention (and what I believe) is that Han is not subconsciously a force user, rather he's more an experienced smuggler and someone with more street smarts than most (which is appropriate, given his childhood and teen years). That's just my take on it, though.
I've started threads on this part before. I always see this as the will of the Force leading Han to Luke's location in the snow, or possibly Obi-Wan doing so using the Force. As soon as Obi-Wan finishes telling Luke to go to Dagobah and then his Force ghost disappears, Han comes riding in from that same spot on his tauntaun. Of course, Han had no idea what had motivated him to go that way, and he would have attributed it to his own skill, his equipment, and luck. Han definitely had good tracking skills and was using equipment, but the rest of that scene seems to indicate that the equipment they have is not enough in certain conditions, like a blizzard and the wide open plains in which Luke was lost.
[quote"Darth Vader's Chest Plate, post: 50645461, member: 1377956"]Obi-Wan: In my experience, there's no such thing as luck.[/quote] His experience, just like his point of view is only his.
What he said. I think Han is probably one of the people who are very mildly Force sensitive, enough to give them increased ability to anticipate things (and possibly, subconsciously, to be guided by the Force) but not enough to make them realise what it is. Wasn't there a stormtrooper like that in the Death Star novel?
I haven't watched ESB in a while so I can't remember, but does Vader deflect the blaster shots elsewhere or just block them? If the latter I guess Han could have rationalised it as special armour plating.
Ah I had forgotten that (it really has been a while since I last watched ESB). Could be limb-magnets like Grievous had I guess (not that Han would necessarily know about Grievous, more that they're demonstrated to exist in the films). Of course it's an unlikely explanation, but it might occur to someone determined not to believe in the Force.
So to clarify and add to what I said above... I think people are missing the distinction between "being a living thing that could be affected by the will of the Force without realizing it" and "believing in the Force". Also, "being a living thing that could be affected by the will of the Force without realizing it" does not equal "being a Force user". Of course Han doesn't believe in the Force until sometime around the time that Vader uses it to snatch Han's blaster right out of his hand. The look on Han's face is priceless then... almost like "oh crap, Obi-Wan may have been right about some of this stuff." So he still doesn't believe in the Force on Hoth, which is before the scene on Bespin. But that doesn't mean that the Force (via its own will or via manipulation by Force ghost Obi-Wan) doesn't help guide Han to the correct location where Luke is lying. The odds were very much against Han finding Luke on his own, even with tracking equipment, and with the way Obi-Wan's Force ghost disappears right before Han gets there, "luck" doesn't seem to explain it.
If you take that according to Obi-Wan, luck doesn't exist and it's the will of the force, then does that mean that people that rely on luck rely on the force - with or without realising it? Any pilot that takes their ship into an asteroid field, must believe they have good reactions to survive the outcome. Luck? Finding Luke on Hoth, shooting before Greedo (shh Greedo didn't!! ), fighting whilst still blind on Tattooine, etc are more examples of his luck in the OT. His cocky attitude is to do with the fact that he wings his way through life with no real plan, yet always comes out on top......could he be force sensitive without realising it? Leia, without knowing her paternal history, does she not just come across as lucky too? Anakin in TPM was viewed as a gifted pilot with quick reactions, before the midiclorian test he wasn't considered a force user by those around him.
Obi Wan's opinion on luck isn't a fact. That's just his own view. There are many non force sensitive people in the galaxy who are just really skilled at what they do. Han, Wedge, and Lando are in that group. Some may call it the will of the Force, others call it luck. It's probably one in the same, but if the force is on your side when you can't use it, then that person is lucky, imo.
Yeah, I don't think Han was always wrong about luck. I was mostly talking about this situation, where the Force seems to be too involved for just luck to be able to explain it.
Since the Force is created by all living things, pretty much everybody is Force-sensitive to one extent or another. And I'd say that by the end of the OT, Han is pretty much open-minded about the Force. He just won't say it out loud.
