As the 11th standalone Star Wars film – 12th if we count The Clone Wars – Solo: A Star Wars Story is one of the many prequels to the Original Trilogy.
It tells the story of the airfaring smuggler-turned-Rebel ally Han Solo from before he met Luke Skywalker in A New Hope.
In Solo, we finally find out how Solo met his co-pilot and first love, Chewbacca, had his romantic ideals shattered into a million pieces, and earns himself the title of the Galactic underworld’s star pilot.
When Solo ends, Han is no longer the blue-eyed romantic scrunge we first meet in the Corellian underworld. He has already killed his fellow smuggler Beckett in a duel, and the love of his life, Qi’ra, has abandoned him to lead a former Sith lord’s criminal organization.
But he gives grief only a minute, and the film ends with Han and Chewy setting off to the planet of Tatooine on his sabacc-prize, the Millennium Falcon.
Less than a decade after Han and Chewbacca flew to Tatooine in search of Jabba The Hutt, “A New Hope” arrived in the Galaxy.
Since 19 years have passed between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, we know that the Han Solo spin-off fits here.
When the Han Solo movie first hit the theatres in May 2018, the word was that there would be a standalone Han Solo Trilogy. (Actor Alden Ehrenreich who plays Han in the film, let slip that he had signed a three-film contract with Lucasfilm.)
However, the film bombed big, and all plans of a sequel were binned.
A big blow for Disney, whose plans for a sequel became more than evident once the film was out. Major plot threads around the Crimson Dawn, Qi-ra, and Darth Maul were left dangling, not to mention the fate of the Wookiees and the birth of the Rebellion itself.
Solo was clearly ambitious and hoped to fill all gaps between the end of Episodes III and IV.
But while many questions remain unanswered, some did find closure in the film. Here are 10 major mysteries the Han Solo film revealed.
1Who is the Game of Thrones Lady Playing?
Known to Game of Thrones fans as Daenerys Targaryen or the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, in the Star Wars universe Emilia Clarke goes by the simpler name of Qi’ra.
Hers was one of the most intriguing and interesting fresh characters introduced in Solo, which was not a part of the canon of any of its hundreds of co-productions – book, film, or series.
Qi’ra was the fellow scrunge to Han on Corellia, and the film’s inciting incident is their separation. Han manages to escape the seedy Corellian underbelly while Qi’ra goes to work for, or worse yet is sold to, the criminal organization, Crimson Dawn.
Soon after, it becomes Han’s aim to learn how to fly, find a plane and some money, and rescue Qi’ra. However, as we soon realize, there is more to Qi’ra than what meets the eye. She is no damsel in distress.
Gambling, smuggling, cheating, and fighting — for Qi’ra, none of it’s off the table. The next time they meet, she is sniffing around to become the leader of Crimson Dawn herself.
It is rumored that Qi’ra as a character was originally conceived by George Lucas for the sequel trilogy. This was before Disney had taken over Lucasfilm. Qi’ra was supposed to be Rey in the sequel trilogy.
The introduction of Qi’ra in the Solo movie could be a hint at Rey’s lineage, or it could be nothing. One thing is for sure, the mystery of what happens to Qi’ra at the end of Solo and does she ever meet Han again – needs to be resolved. Only a sequel can do them all!
2How Did Darth Maul Become a Crime Lord?
The tattoo-faced Sith lord of the Prequel Trilogy was definitely one of the biggest surprises of Solo.
His last-minute cameo as the probable in-charge of Crimson Dawn was practically an announcement of a sequel or another spin-off or even a music video!
Something, anything – because you don’t just bring back a major character for a brief few minutes without having some plans for him in the saga.
Fans of the animated series The Clone Wars will recall that Maul had survived being cut in half, got himself a fancy new pair of robot-legs, and became a space gangster. A quick cross-production fact.
Vos mentions in the movie of an alliance with the Pyke Syndicate, who runs the mine.
In Star Wars canon, the Pyke Syndicate are members of Maul’s Shadow Collective, suggesting that the Crimson Dawn is just another criminal organization working for Maul’s bigger gangster group.
3Does Han Solo Have the Force?
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Han Solo in the original trilogy was his Force sensitivities. Was he? Wasn’t he? If he was, how do we know? If he wasn’t, is incredibly lucky for knowing precisely where and when he was needed?
There were many speculations about Han being Force-sensitive. The way he would play Jedi-like mind tricks on Jabba or on Greedo was proof of many of his Force capabilities.
In Episode V, he even finds an injured Luke amid a snowstorm with nothing to go on but his intuition.
Curiously, the Han Solo movie talks nothing whatsoever about his Force capabilities.
In fact, it is more or less focussed on portraying him as a scrounge rat with big dreams, an ordinary man with a talent for flying.
He is a maverick and struggles with structure and following orders, but other than that, he displays no obviously unusual behavior.
However, his exceptional piloting, intuitive precision, and lofty romantic ideals all point to a Jedi-way of thinking, if not living.
4Does Han Solo Get Millennium Falcon For Good?
Now we know Millennium Falcon belongs to Han, and Han belongs to the Falcon. In Solo, we finally see how Han manages to wriggle it out from under Lando Calrissian in a game of Sabacc, the Star Wars version of poker.
In fact, the film ends with Han and Chewbacca finding Lando on Numidian Prime. Up until then, Lando was the reigning champion of all Sabacc games.
But this time around, Han catches up and manages to whisk away Lando’s secret trump card hidden in his sleeve.
Han then used those very same cards to win the match, and Falcon became his possession ever since.
Falcon gave Han and Chewy the confidence to make it big in the underworld, and they soon turned into successful smugglers. Rest, as we know, is history.
5Is Qi’ra Good or Evil?
The curious nature of Clarke’s character Qi’ra was evident from the start when she barely flinches when Han gets a beating from his slavemaster, Lady Proxima.
Qi’ra seems used to the barbaric treatment and threats to Han’s life. However, when the threat turns real, and Han is about to be killed, she steps up in his defense.
From that scene until the very end, when she abandons Han and Chewy to occupy the seat of the supreme leader of Crimson Dawn, this seemingly contradictory behavior continues unabated.
Even when they’re first reunited at a Crimson Dawn gathering, Qi’ra vaguely tells Han she’s not proud of the things she did in the three years since they last met.
Now the nature of the “things she has done” could be pretty dark. Did she have a hand in the destruction of countless groups of people as described by the pirate Enfys Nest at the end of the film?
Qi’ra ends up helping Enfys Nest with stealing coaxium to arrange funds to start a full-fledged Rebellion. However, Qi’ra also doesn’t hesitate to take the seat as chief of Crimson Dawn soon after.
She kills her master, a very Sith thing to do, before occupying his seat.
But she also says something about “staying in the game long enough,” which makes us think if she is onto something big. Now, if that “something big” is good or bad remains to be seen. Maybe when Han and Qi’ra meet again, perhaps?
6Who is The Voice of Millennium Falcon?
One of the original trilogy’s biggest mysteries has been the exact functioning behind the Millennium Falcon’s computer.
Is it really all the work of a skilled pilot, or is there something more? Way back in The Empire Strikes Back, C-3PO mentions that the Falcon has “the most peculiar dialect” after trying to communicate with it.
It looks like we finally have our answer, as well as a new character who’s apparently been in all the main Star Wars films: L3-37, Lando’s outrageous, activist droid.
7How Does It Work Between Lando and L-3?
To have a space scoundrel like Lando Calrissian fall head over heels in love is a spectacle in itself. Now, add the fact that it is a droid he has fallen for, and you have the weirdest Star Wars romance for you right there.
Lando and L-3 definitely have a little something going there, and we don’t know what and for how long!
Voiced by actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge of the Fleabag fame, L-3 is a no-nonsense droid with a not-so-shiny and way-too-unkempt look for a Star Wars bot. Termed “a self-modified droid” by the Solo co-writer Jon Kasdan, L-3 is not new to the Star Wars canon.
In Last Shot’s flashback sections, readers learn that L3-37 is both a committed droids’ rights activist and deeply spiritual. According to L-3, droids are sentient beings who should be treated with respect and given freedom.
But what remains a mystery is how exactly things work for Lando and L-3? Hey, we aren’t any modern prudes; Qi’ra has that question too. In the only girl-talk moment Qi’ra and L-3 share, they talk about how Han and Lando have feelings for them, respectively, albeit one-sided.
To which Qi’ra asks, if Lando and L-3 could get together, how would it work? In what is the cheekiest thing I have heard from a droid, L-3 replies, “Oh it does. It works.”
I guess it is left to the viewer’s imagination for now, but here’s a little something about L-3 which should help understand her profound self.
“Some guy in a factory probably pieced me together originally, and someone else programmed me. But then the galaxy itself forged me into who I am. Because we learn.
When droids say “Thank the Maker,” they’re not talking about the physical beings who manufactured them. They’re referring to the experiences that shaped them into who they are. Maybe we’re our own makers, no matter who put the parts together”
L3-37 says in Last Shot
8How Exactly is Sabacc Played?
Now we know that Sabacc is a Star Wars version of poker, but the movie doesn’t reveal the actual rules of the game.
Viewers are left to fend for themselves, looking at expressions and listening in on dialogues to make sense of what happens when the cards are shown. So here are the actual rules as revealed in Claudia Gray’s Bloodline novel.
The typical sabacc deck has 76 cards; 60 of those belong to one of four suits, with values from one to 11, plus four face cards (the Commander, the Mistress, the Master, and the Ace) valued at 12 through 15.
The final 16 cards consist of eight pairs of special cards, each of which has its own unique, negative values. The goal is to compile a hand as close to positive or negative 23 as possible without going over.
If you want to play sabacc at home, you can. You can print your own cards, and there’s an unofficial app that replicates the game in its entirety, too.
9What is the Story of Han’s Lucky Dice-Pair?
Until Solo came out, Star Wars fans had a whole other theory of the golden pair of dice hung in the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit.
They were supposed to mark the Sabacc game in which Han won the ship. But in the movie, we learned there were no dice used in Sabacc at all.
Now we know that just like poker, Sabacc too comes in many different forms.
According to The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, for example, Han actually won the Falcon in a game of Corellian Spike, which adds dice to the proceedings to make things even more random.
After he won, he is said to have dipped those dice in gold and hung them from the Falcon’s windshield.
The dice were especially important in The Last Jedi when Luke hands them off to Leia in tribute to his dearly departed friend, Han.
However, Solo, the movie has brought back the question mark on the story behind Han’s lucky dice pair. The dice pair is already very important to Han when the movie begins. He has it on the windshield of his beautiful matt blue M68 and also gives it to Qi’ra for luck soon after.
10Did We Just Meet Rey’s Parents?
Okay, so this one is not exactly a mystery as it is a rumor and a bit surprising one at that. There is a word online that Rey may be Enfys Nest’s child.
It may be noted that the sequel trilogy definitely gave the impression that Rey was “dumped on Jakku because she was another mouth to feed that her folks couldn’t afford.”
Kylo Ren is seen spitting with the contempt that Rey’s parents sold her off for “drinking money.” This seems unlikely because, by Kylo Ren’s logic, Beckett and Val are more likely candidates.
Besides, Enfys Nest seems too virtuous to dump a baby in the desert. She went on and on about how she was carrying forth her mother’s legacy after all. But some believe that if Lucasfilm is looking to add a little nobility to Rey’s origins, a badass rebel mom could be just the right fit.
(If you ask me, Qi’ra would be a better candidate for Rey’s mom. She is the epitome of balancing the dark and light sides of her personality – a true balance of the Force!
Besides, that would also explain the Force dyad between Kylo Ren and Rey. They will both be Han’s children, one from Leia and the other from Qi’ra. Okay, now I am probably just coming up with some fan fiction of my own!)
What do you think? Do let us know in the comments below.
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