Star Words: Episode IV, Part 15

[matril]

One of my favorite aspects of the original trilogy is watching Luke and Han's relationship evolve. Eventually they will be the truest of friends, willing to risk everything for each other. But it starts with...a slightly less cordial dynamic. Both of them, it seems, have fragile egos and the intense need to prove themselves, even if Han tries to act like he doesn't care that much. Luke, meanwhile, is openly insulted every time his abilities are questioned. When Han sneeringly asks if Luke would be capable of flying a ship they bought themselves, Luke instantly insists that he could and prepares to storm off in disgust before Ben stops him. Then when Luke shoots back a jab in a similar vein in the midst of their escape from Tatooine -- I thought you said this thing was fast! Han retorts with an even snippier reply.

"Watch your mouth kid, or you're gonna find yourself floating home."

As a parent I can confess that variations on this line have come to mind on long car rides with whiny or bickering children. It's delightfully terse and snarky (though it doesn't really stop Luke from continuing to question Han's expertise right until they finally jump into hyperspace). It's an essentially Han-ish thing to say. And it makes it all the more delightful when Leia comes along and punctures his ego with a few of her own terse and snarky lines.

Next, a stand-off between a Grand Moff and a princess...

Comments

[krpalmer]

I'd been wondering just what line of Han's would feature this week, and was a little surprised to see we've made it off Tatooine. (We might have escaped my falling into indulgent theorizing over a moment or two left there.) It was sort of interesting to see "the first steps of Luke and Han's friendship" pointed out, though; I may not have thought too much about that before. Perhaps I've just looked at "group dynamics" with Obi-Wan as something of a mediator in between them.