Last Warning!
Spoilers Ahead!
After seeing The Revenge of the Sith I was inspired to write my first novel The Whisperer of Storms. After seeing The Force Awakens I was compelled to write letters but decided to blog about it instead.
I was ten when I finally saw The Empire Strikes Back for the first time. Han Solo was my first Hollywood crush. I fell and I fell hard. The reason he's one of the most popular characters in the saga is because of his charisma. He's an attractive, funny, bad boy with a big heart. No wonder Leia had a hard time resisting him!
I had a bad feeling when I heard Harrison Ford was reprising his iconic role of the smuggler. I knew he had wanted Han killed in the last movie. I kept wondering if he was coming back to finish him off. Since I hate spoilers, I made sure to stay off sites where potential spoilers could be lurking. That didn't stop the gears in my own head from turning. The pattern of the first episode in each trilogy had the loss of a mentor. I thought the mentor in Episode VII was Luke...but instead it was Han.
I cried when Han was frozen in Empire. I got angry when I realized Han's fate as he stepped onto that bridge in Episode VII. I was shocked. I couldn't cry. I actually considered walking out! The worst part about losing this beloved character, besides that his death was partially in vain, was he didn't receive the proper farewell. There was no memorial or tribute to him of any sort. Didn't the fans deserve a proper goodbye? Even youngling-killer Darth Vader got a funeral! Han was a war hero! I'm sure they could have made up a Corellian tradition or had a drink in his honor or had Chewie do a Falcon fly-by. Nope. All we got was seeing him run through, falling into an abyss, and having his remains incinerated when the Starkiller blew. I guess I have to placate myself by watching YouTube tributes to Han Solo because the filmmakers couldn't even give us one!
You want to see a proper hero's sendoff watch this clip from (SPOILER ALERT) How To Train Your Dragon 2. I'm borrowing it for Han. I found quite a few similarities between the two films.
Now I hear they're planning Indiana Jones 5. Of course Harrison Ford is going to jump at the opportunity to sport the fedora again. Indy is his baby. He doesn't have to worry about being bothered ever again about Han Solo. That ship has sailed. Now imagine how his fans would have felt if Harrison had died in the plane crash. The Force Awakens would have been his last movie. Think about that.
I will give credit to the filmmakers for the cliffhanger ending. I left the theater wanting to see Episode VIII. It will be bittersweet without Han. At least we'll always have Empire.
In closing, I loved the relationship between Han and Leia and borrowed a little from them for my own characters in The Whisperer of Storms. She even refers to him as a scoundrel!
Happy New Year,
Veronica
