Star Words: Episode IV, Part 32

[matril]

Obi-Wan's sacrifice provides the distraction our heroes need for their final escape. We're given just a few moments for Luke's stunned grief before the tone shifts into heart-stopping action once more. A thrilling sequence, but the triumph of their flight into hyperspace is immediately belied when an exchange between Tarkin and Vader reveals that they were allowed to leave. The Falcon is being tracked.

But then our dismay is flipped yet again to learn that Leia is fully aware of the Empire's ploy. At this point, she recognizes that the time to hide is over. Let the Empire come; it's do or die. She remains unimpressed by Han's bluster (he amazes even himself? That doesn't sound too hard) and acknowledges that the real battle is just beginning. "It's not over yet." To which Han retorts "It is for me." There is, he claims, only one thing that motivates him. He expects to be well-paid. Leia loftily assures him that he has no need to worry about that.

"If money is all you love, then that's what you'll receive."

This has the ring of many an old proverb. You reap what you sow. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Han's mercenary ways might make him rich, but they won't bring him anything else. They can't guarantee happiness; they certainty can't provide love or a sense of belonging. And if he has any conscience at all, a hefty reward will be a cold comfort for the guilt at abandoning a righteous cause.

Han might put on a front of indifference, but it's clear that Leia has rattled him. Of course this is partly because he's already started to toy with the possibility of a princess and a guy like me, but his overly defensive attitude here and later on reveal that he's not as heartless as he pretends to be. Money isn't enough. He needs something more.

Next time, the stage is set for the climactic battle.....

Comments

[krpalmer]

I'm pretty sure I was expecting this line, although the discussion "on either side of it" is also interesting. Remembering some old fan discussions of "they're tracking us" (and a bit of expansion on it in the "official radio play"), I did feel content with your interpretation of Leia's determination to "do or die." Seeing Han as already "rattled" might have given me a moment's more thought; perhaps I'm tempted to see "a princess and a guy like me" as him getting past that by trying to rattle Luke (although I could argue this "works" both for those who find transgressive and subversive glee in supposing "this movie hadn't intended Luke and Leia to be siblings when it was made" and those who can interpret Luke as now "devoted to Leia's cause"...)

[matril]

It's true that the state of Han's inner mind is a matter of interpretation, but seeing how he eventually comes around to taking the heroic course, it seems reasonable to retroactively assume he's struggling with some conflicted feelings. I'm sure he's also looking to tease Luke, of course. It's just too easy to needle him; Han can't resist. Luke is the opposite of Han in so many ways -- an artless farmboy; almost incapable of hiding his feelings, unable to suppress his violent disapproval of the "princess and a guy like me" proposal. Yes, this was before Luke and Leia were made into siblings, but I'm happy to interpret it as protective brother mode just as easily as jealous romantic rival.