Star Words: Episode VI, Part 10

[matril]

The battle of the Sarlaac pit is a fantastic spectacle, a perfect showcase of Luke's extraordinary Jedi skills (the first time we really see how a lightsaber is effective even against projectiles like blaster bolts) and marked by bits of humor as well. I'm personally quite happy with Boba Fett's end and find the attempts to resurrect him quite silly, but I know people have built up a lot more around his character than Episode V, or even Episode II, ever offered.

The best part aside from Luke is Leia the Hutt-slayer, taking out Jabba with her own chains. That's a marvelous symbol of empowerment, and a much better assessment of her condition than "slave Leia." None of this has much to do with dialogue, though, so we'll get on to our heroes' departure from Tatooine. We're going to look at what Han says to Luke just before they part.

"I owe you one."

From a purely mathematical standpoint, does he really? Last time, Han claimed that Luke owed him "two," presumably referring to the two times he save his life. So Luke should still owe him one, right? But that's not what Han is really saying here.

He's a new man, reborn after the carbonite freeze. I know I harp on this point a lot, but it's crucial to me regarding his character development. Han no longer sees things in terms of what's in it for him, in transactions and debts and pay-offs. He recognizes that his friendship with Luke is worth more than anyone could calculate. Of course he's not going to say that in straightforward terms, because he's still Han and feelings are still hard for him to express. So this is his best approximation of saying how much Luke means to him; his gratitude and admiration and everything Han was too proud to experience before.

Next time, cackling confidence from the Emperor....

Comments

[krpalmer]

Factoring Episode II in brushes away "Boba Fett should have had a grander demise, so we'll bring him back instead!" for me. I can suppose he's intent on killing off one last Jedi for his father's sake to the point of ignoring the half-blind Han, which might even prefigure "Imperial disdain for the Ewoks" later in the movie. (Given I know Fett's returned in three different post-Episode VI continuities, even if the first return wound up plunging straight back into the Sarlacc, this interpretation somehow works particularly well for me.)

Your analysis of the actual line of dialogue is a good one. I suppose I'm remembering antique days of reading the Star Wars Usenet newsgroup and a post of (ostensibly) joking twists on familiar lines, one of which made a big deal of "he's still owed one." "He doesn't see things transactionally any more" as one example of "changing for the better" is an appealing idea for me.

[matril]

I like that interpretation of Boba Fett's death. His obsession with killing Jedi was his downfall!