Star Words: Episode VI, Part 19

[matril]

Han is, in his words, crazy. He's signed up to lead a likely suicide mission, even more dangerous Lando's choice. As if that weren't enough, he's decided to let Lando use the Falcon for the assault on the Death Star.

He's obviously conflicted about it, and Lando understands what a sacrifice it is. Doesn't even make any sly comments about how the Falcon used to be his ship. Promises it won't get a scratch. Of course, both men are still a little rusty at expressing genuine emotion. Their farewells express this combination of poignancy and bravado quite well.

"I got your promise -- not a scratch."
"Would you get going, ya pirate!"
"Good luck."
"You too."

Considering how long it takes Han to actually tell Leia I love you outright, we can't expect him to say much more than that. But it's a lot for him. For Lando, too. Heh, I seem to remember the old Expanded Universe books going a little too heavy on the "pirate" catchphrase as if that's all that Lando ever calls Han. That's the tricky thing of character development -- using a light touch with those quirks and foibles, without exaggerating them to the point of caricature. We've got two tough guys here, reformed rogues and scoundrels, exchanging wry salutes, making their best attempt at straightforward heroism.

Next, the perils of father-son telepathy....

Comments

[krpalmer]

"Han letting Lando fly the Falcon shows how far he's come" was played up back in the Return of the Jedi novelization, and remembering how far some people seem to dwell on "captain of the Millennium Falcon" (complaining "Han isn't shown flying it in this movie," too), I can certainly latch onto the idea "he's moved beyond possessions to people." Bringing up the Expanded Universe mostly reminds me of a line in "the Zahn trilogy" where Han pointedly reminds Lando about having to replace the Falcon's radar dish, but maybe there'll be the chance to bring that up later, given how much some people (the same people?) complain how Han's "funny feeling" just before leaving "wasn't accurate prescience, the way we thought it would be..."