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Did Han shoot first?
fxmatt
Posts: 78
Just wanted to shared a tidbit from a Heroescon panel I attended on Star Wars. Jason Aaron was talking about how what he is writing is now cannon and approved by Lucasfilm / Disney. This got me thinking to how Jason is perceiving Han's motivations and backstory, is he a scoundrel or was he just defending himself? So I asked him, did Han indeed shoot first? His response "No Comment....are you trying to get me fired?" So the debate continues.
Comments
Greedo had his blaster pointed at Han
Han was completely justified in surreptitiously drawing his blaster and shooting Greedo through the table.
And he apologized for the mess and overtipped the cantina's bartender.
Scoundrel-schmoundrel. It was self-defense. Case closed.
Greedo's lucky the Hammerhead guy didn't shoot him. :)
I think Lucas got confused when making the SE's and thought Han is a hero and heroes don't shoot first. Han's story is about how he becomes a hero and then in Empire how when his past catches up with him, he has changed so much that instead of being the guy who shoots first, he sacrifices himself for his friends.
(Also, this is why he should have died at the end of Empire. He's an entirely extraneous character in Jedi, almost a prop)
That's what Han does.
Lucas got confused. I hope this isn't an indication that Disney sides with George on this salient point.
We all saw it.
Everything else is moot.
I do not expect anyone else to comment on this thread.
@David_D , lock this down.
Full story here: https://washingtonpost.com/
So pleased to know that JJ Abrams is one of the faithful who believe Han shot first. There is hope for this new franchise.
If Han didn't shoot Greedo first, why did he begin shooting Darth Vader first on Bespin? Both were cold-blooded killers...
He was a runner at the point when we meet him. He preferred to avoid confrontation altogether.
Star Wars Honest Trailer pretty funny.
That said, even if you revise the shooting, he remains a self-interested criminal, with truly monstrous clients like Jabba, at a time when the galaxy needs heroes and upstanders, not guys whose interest in freedom stops at the line of their own skin (and, perhaps, the fur of his one friend). To be Chaotic Neutral at a time when the galaxy needs you to be Chaotic Good still leaves him with a big arc to play out.
I don't think the dramatic character question of Han is whether or not he is willing to be violent. Especially in a story when you barely notice when characters, including the good guys, kill. (I feel like that is a kind of grim trivia question-- who is the first man that our young hero, Luke, KILLS in this movie? It might take you a minute. Because that is the world they are in).
I think the bigger arc for Han is self-interest vs. sacrifice and risk taking for the good of others. It is the journey from 'what's in it for me?' to coming back into that Darth Star fight. Or, later, being the person that actually volunteers himself for the dangerous thing, and is now inspiring such bravery in others-- being the only one to go out into the snow to save Luke, when others have declared him lost; volunteering for the Endor mission. Lending, and potentially sacrificing his beloved ship to the cause of attacking the second Death Star. And, even, telling Leia that if she really loves and wants to be with Luke, he will step aside. To me, THOSE are the beats along the journey of his character that really matter.
I don't think his shooting Greedo after Greedo shoots really impacts that journey all that much. Because the journey is not about his relationship to violence. It is about his relationship to heroism and selflessness (and, to be fair, he had already drawn under the table... it is not like the revised version makes it seem like he was looking for a diplomatic solution THAT hard).
That said, do I think Lucas needed to change it? No. Because, again, there is so many other times that heroes in the movie kill when they might not have had to.
But, also, they are his movies. (Or, at least, they were when he made these changes). So, as far as I am concerned, they are his to revise.
[We remain a Han Shoots First household though, when it comes to our oldest daughter watching the movies. Because I know better than to try to argue the Special Editions with my wife!]
Han Solo: Over my dead body!
Greedo: That's the idea... I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
Maybe he'd have paid Greedo off if he had the money (maybe not), but given the situation, it's hard to look at Han as a bad guy for basically keeping himself alive.
http://www.newsarama.com/27042-boyega-and-abrams-han-shot-first.html