Solo: A Star Wars Story's Ending Explained

Spoilers forSolo : A Star Wars Story .

Solo : A Star Wars Story ’s ending is lot more complex ( and surprising ) than you may expect . As a canonical pitch , the youthful Han Solo prequel has a simple story - we watch how he forgather Chewbacca , acquired the Millennium Falcon from Lando , and set up himself up in a living of crime before that calamitous cantina meeting - but writers Jon and Lawrence Kasdan were n’t just content filling in big gaps in Han ’s story . The film span over three years of time during theEmpire ’s stranglehold on the galaxybetween the prequel and original Trilogy of the main Skywalker Saga , taking a young , surnameless Han from scrumrat on Corellia to Imperial cavalryman to offence syndicate stooge , and in the end , a smuggler making his own destiny .

The sand ofSolois a crime heist report - after losing a shipment of expensive ship fuel coaxium during a caravan stickup , Han , Chewie and new wise man Beckett must find a way to replace the lading , trump up an luxuriant gyp of the Kessel spiciness mines that regard him reunify with former flaming Qi’ra , risk taker Lando Calrissian , his feminist droid L3 - 37 and completing theKessel Run in 12 parsecs(if you round off down ) - but where thing really kick into gear is the last confrontation and self-aggrandizing ending .

Din Djarin and Ahsoka-1

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There ’s a lot of surprises that come so slurred and fast it can be difficult to keep up - specially when one of those shocker is the reappearance of a character who has n’t ornament the large CRT screen in almost twenty years - and have some major impacts on how you look at theHarrison Ford iteration of Han . We ’re die to reveal down everything inSolo : A Star Wars Story ’s ending - you might need to buckle up , infant .

Han’s Plan To Con Dryden Vos

The final conflict begins when Han and co. arrives on Savareen with the boosted coraxium ready for refinement . First , they come face - to - face with Enfys Nest , revealed to not be a vicious soldier of fortune as Crimson Dawn and Beckett believed , but a proto - Rebel cell fight back against the Empire - enable gangster who had eliminate their homeworlds ( include Warwick Davis’The Phantom Menacecharacter Weazel and one of Saw Gerrera ’s later allies fromRogue One ) . This pose a argumentation for Han , who has been looking for a way out of crime or Imperial rule his entire life history : giving up the fuel to Vos solves all problems but go forth him troubled while ply it to Enfys is the right matter but makes him a pronounced man .

The solution is to con Vos . Han aims to play into Dryden ’s lack of trust , pay him the coraxium but making him think it ’s a phony , thus calling out his top men to clutch the " real " fuel from Enfys , whose Rebels will promptly placate , leaving Vos totally unguarded for Solo and his smuggle - in blaster .

Beckett’s Betrayal

However , Dryden uncover he knows he ’s being played care of one of Han ’s confidant ; the quick defendant is Qi’ra , previously Dryden ’s deputy , but in step Beckett who had seemingly ran off to Tatooine for one last job . From very early on , it was set up Beckett was untrusty - he very nearly leave Han and Chewie behind on Mimban and pointedly told Han that he should " assume everyone will betray you , and you ’ll never be disappoint " - but here the extent of his ego - serve motive are see .

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The doubtfulness of how long this has been going on - if Beckett was always more in with Dryden than it seemed or if this was an opportunistic treason only after Han uncover his architectural plan - is n’t distribute with purposefully , but a clear answer would convert perceptions of Tobias . If he ’s always been on the take , then most of the picture is a play on Beckett ’s part and that warning of betrayal is a gleam of compassion coming through . If it ’s opportunism , then things are more about ego - preservation , with Beckett not wanting to be on the amiss side of the Crimson Dawn care of Han as he get into " one last Book of Job " ( although the indicant is he will never in reality go out the life ) . Either way , this second is a fundamental betrayal of Han ’s trust and the first of two parallel lessons he was already learning .

Indeed , while Beckett helped Vos out by clue him in on some of Han ’s plan , the trap was still recoil : Enfys wipe out Dryden ’s man and left him unguarded . Here ’s where Beckett ’s true nature comes out , with him conquer the opportunity to take the coaxium for himself .

Han Shoots First

There ’s somebigstuff still to go down in Dryden ’s ship , but as part of whySolo ’s ending winding up so mussy is its thread juggle , countenance ’s first attend at the resolution Han and Beckett ’s relationship . Tobias takes Chewie and plan to get away with all the fuel , only to be confronted by Han . Beckett attempt to lecture his direction out of it and engage Han in a gunfight - a smart move given how well - established his blaster acquirement have been throughout the motion picture - but Han is n’t listening this time and dart him straight up .

This is the picture show ’s rather pointed nod towards the infamous " Han Shot First " argument that ’s raged inStar Warsfan circle for over two decades : in the 1997 Special Editions , George Lucas redid the cantina showdown between Han and Greedo to have the H.M.S. Bounty hunter fire at his prey before Han land the cleanup blow , thus signal the soon - to - be - hero was only shooting in revenge ( it was afterward changed for the 2004 DVD release to be simultaneous shot , but the core issuing continue ) . The move was view as fag out by some of Han ’s unlearned criminality and lash out off his mild edges , and promptly became an emblem for all of Lucas ' alterations .

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directly , this scene not only atones for that but also fetch back some long time - erstwhile Han trickery ; he ca n’t bunk Beckett in armed combat , so uses clever and knowledge of his adversary to scoop him another way , linking the deterrent example he ’s learned about thinking ahead inSolo : A Star Wars Storyto his actions in the original photographic film . However , as Han ’s first military action after go off the shooting is to hold Beckett as he dies , somewhat sorry that he ’s plume him of retirement , we still get that same gumption of a human conscience , reverberate what Qi’ra said about him at long last being a good Isle of Man . And , speaking of Qi’ra …

Page 2:Qi’ra’s Final Betrayal & Maul’s Return

Qi’ra Betrays Han

After Beckett leave , Dryden and Han get lock in a blaster / laser - knife engagement that ’s broken up by the only other person in the way : Qi’ra . Both think she ’ll side with them , and that ’s ultimately to her advantage : she agnize that faith in her is a divvy up weakness between Vos and Solo , and utilise that to lead astray them both .

First , she turns on Dryden , lull him into a false sense of security by lording it over Han before engage in armed combat with her boss , after a fraught battle poke him in the dresser with his unpowered - knife . Then , just as over 40 years by and by Han ’s Logos and mysterious quasi - love interest Rey will likewise have a moment of shared dry land after one of them has killed their former passe-partout before being splintered , Solo and Qi’ra ab initio seem to conjure to work together : he will get the coaxium back from Beckett while she informs the Crimson Dawn of what befall in their favour .

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However , while Han face Beckett , she instead moves to will him behind . In the three years they were apart , Qi’ra has become hardened to the galax ; she escape Corellia but not a life of offense , and thus all she knows is cheating your direction to the top . Qi’ra obviously still has feelings for Han - she lets him live - but sending him to face Beckett is really just another course of her playing with her opponent ’s weak spots ; in this case , his congenital good . This turn was hinted at throughout , by mode of her branding most overtly , but also how the photographic camera centered on Qi’ra over Vos in earlier scenes , framing her as the on-key villain .

Maul Is The Real Big Villain

Of course , that ’s not the most shocking part of Qi’ra ’s treachery ( in fact , if anything , what comes next overshadows the emotional resolution for Han ) . Qi’ra touch the leader of the Crimson Dawn and , after a lengthy hologram tease , his hood is remove to unveil none other than Maul , the former Darth last seem on the big screen inThe Phantom Menace19 years ago .

Being slice in half by Obi - Wan Kenobi and whirl down a Naboo reactor shaft did n’t vote out the zarabak , who was resurrected inStar Wars : The Clone Warsback in 2012 ( which remain canon after the Disney leverage of Lucasfilm).Darth Maul survivedhis bisection thanks to lightsaber cauterization and spent the following decade in isolation , feeding off thoroughgoing rage before being brought back into the affray by brother Savage Opress . Together , the pair hold the fight against the Sith and Jedi , with Maul getting a rematch with both Sidious and Kenobi . Crucially , he formed the Shadow Collective , an alliance of criminal organization purport to destabilize astronomical rule . He subsequently come back inStar Wars : Rebels , coiffure in the class lead up toA New Hope , where he interchangeably worked and collide with the crowd of Ghost , all build to one final replay with Kenobi , who bested him effortlessly in combat . While controversial at first , many fans have roundly accept Maul ’s income tax return , with his tragic decease - he dies demand Obi - Wan ifLuke really is the Chosen One- cement him as a saga icon .

Maul’sSoloappearance read place between his time onThe Clone WarsandRebels . He ’s now based on his homeworld of Dathomir , presumptively having evolved the Crimson Dawn ( likely make after the planets red sky ) from the remnants of the Shadow Collective . Yes , Maul ’s the straight head of the mysterious arrangement behind every event inSolo , and after Qi’ra read over Dryden ’s part of the process ( couch the now - deceased Beckett and Han for the murder ) , she becomes one of his key underlings .

George Lucas with A New Hope imagery v3

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Solo : A Star Wars Storyis intelligibly lay up more story for Maul and Qi’ra , but whether it ’s in book , TV show or motion-picture show var. is presently unclear . If they ’re part of the film gameplan , though , there ’s rich opportunity for a return ; Crimson Dawn could have a berth in any of adirectSolosequel , the long - mooted H.M.S. Bounty hunter movie , anObi - Wan Kenobi filmremaking theirRebelsshowdown , therecently - confirmedBoba Fettor even a full - on Maul standalone .

Page 3:Winning The Falcon And Meeting Jabba

Han Wins The Falcon “Fair & Square”

AlthoughSolois wedge full of moments that explicate the backstory of key original trilogy moments - from how Han sire his last name to where " I know " was first used - the biggest is saved for last : Han winning theMillennium Falcon . This has been an established part of Han ’s past sinceThe Empire Strikes Back- " Your ship ? Hey , retrieve , you lose her to me clean and straight ? " - and despite much of theLegends continuitybeing altogether overwritten , the originally stated method - Lando lost it in a board game - has been retained in the new canyon .

Soloactually play something of a fast one on the hearing with this look ; Han and Lando ’s first confrontation , which bears all the hallmarks of the classic Sabacc secret plan , has Han turn a loss - reasonably expectedly given how early on the film it hap . However , the reason why is that Lando cheats . This makesEmpire ’s " fair and square " barb even more pointed , and the eventual winning of the ship in one of the flick ’s terminal vista all the more victorious .

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Lando had a smaller function inSolo : A Star Wars Storythan expected , and base on how he and Han will things , it ’s not inconceivable they wo n’t see each other again until Cloud City . Although that does n’t stand for this is the last we ’ll see of Donald Glover ’s Calrissian : Kathleen Kennedy has already hinted that aLando standalone filmis on the elbow room , and with so many different aspects crossing over in the anthology films - both aBoba FettandObi - Wanmovie would dwell a exchangeable era - there ’s plenty of other ways he could turn over up .

Han & Chewie Fly To Tatooine - And Jabba the Hutt

Speaking of where thoseotherStar Warsspinoffsare going , everything face to be meet on Tatooine . Before his betrayal , Beckett tells Han there ’s a mobster on Tatooine looking to put together a crew for a job , one he alleges will be his last grievance before maneuver home . Han initially turn it down , but after both Beckett and Qi’ra reveal their true semblance , he and Chewie decide to take up the opportunity .

To near certainty , this mobster isJabba the Hutt , who has already been alluded to throughout the film via the Hutt Cartels and their competition with Crimson Dawn . Of naturally , there are many Hutts in that recession of the galaxy , so there ’s a little chance it ’s another giant bullet - perhaps Gardulla , former owner of Anakin Skywalker glimpse in the background ofThe Phantom Menace- but the obvious mesmerism is the criminal offense lord Han has a long tussle with .

However , that does n’t mean Han and Chewie are flying off to head straight to the Mos Eisley cantina . Soloends approximately ten years before the originalStar Wars(give or take ) , meaning there ’s a lot of ground to be traverse before we get to their reintroduction inA New Hope . Han has to earn his reputation as " a just smuggler " ( Jabba ’s give-and-take ) and then undo all that goodwill by dumping a spicery load when getting pinned down by imperial , directly leading to a death contract being put out on him . All of that is pure fodder for aSolo 2(along with how the Falcon reach her final state ) .

Page 4:How Solo Changes Han Forever

Han Is The Same Person At The End Of Solo - But His Worldview Has Changed

Solo may have a sprawling galactic story that involves more double - crisscross bend than anOcean’smovie , but it is from the first shape to last fundamentally about exploring who Han is . Indeed , one of the most striking pieces of imaging in the photographic film is the bookended focus on thegold dice : present in theStar Warsmovies since 1977 and render emotional weight byThe Last Jedi , we unfold with Han give ear them on the dashboard of his boosted speeder and end with them placed in their destined smudge in the Falcon cockpit . Right here is a visual cue that for everything he ’s been through , our protagonist is in basically the same place as he was at the get-go … although that ’s not quite genuine .

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What Hanwantsis by all odds the same . Fitting of a picture show calledSolo , he is looking for somewhere to go : a house or kin group to call his own . What ’s modify is his understanding of that object glass . ahead of time on , when beseech his key desire are to escape the slums of Corellia and vaporize across the galaxy with Qi’ra - upstanding , clearly define representations of the greater feeling - but through his experiences in a used - hereafter coltsfoot ruled by an authoritarian dictatorship on the verge of warfare and infect with tainted gangster , he check that such idealism - even high-mindedness of a scoundrel ’s room of life - ca n’t be viable . He attain through bad experience and betrayal that the correct place was n’t with Qi’ra or Beckett ( a stereotypical love interest and mentor figure severally , yet ones who both betrayed him ) .

It was his unexpected , improper friendly relationship with Chewie that really matter - they helped each other out of pure compassion , and later the wookiee will his people to be with his rasping - and - tumble young friend - and in recognizing that is how he regain his contentment in himself . The Han we met at the startle ofSolois very much the same someone with the same purpose we leave at the goal , but how he ’s achieving that has been alter by the journeying .

Solo: A Star Wars Story Changes Han - For The Better

All of this is part of a big work shift made bySoloin the perception of Han . This was inevitable from a storytelling viewpoint to a degree , sure - whereas for the original trilogy he was a coolheaded guy cable to Luke ’s ever - relatable virginal paladin and inThe Force Awakensthe done - good mentor , here he ’s the closest he ’s ever been to a true admirer - butSolo : A Star Wars Storydoesn’t just have the modification be a perspective one . Ehrenreich ’s Han is more relatable in an ingrained level than Ford ’s establishing appearance was , with clean fallibility and want not - yet - hidden by a veneer of coldness , and a heart all too promptly bared .

We see this estimable in the calm conversation with Qi’ra before make the move against Dryden , the deciding point in their relationship where the unadulterated unfeasibility of a futurity together - to this point Han ’s prime motivation - falls apart . She is , as already discourse , lose to a life of crime - she never escaped it - but also recognize that Han would never be able-bodied to do what she ’s live to because he is , at heart , a good man . He ca n’t quite go for that reading , endeavor to make out that he really is as animalise as those who ’ve surround him on retiring adventures , but this theory is proven unavoidably reliable when she grass him - the only room she break loose is by taking advantage of Han ’s better sound judgement .

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Right here is both the core of Han ’s discharge and why it does n’t negate what fall before : the constant doublethink of the " Han Shot First " backlash . Han has , and indeed always has had , a balanced callosity and wholesomeness to him . That ’s what wee-wee him a cool hero rather than embittered anti - paladin . He will both shoot and require questions first look on circumstance , and it ’s why Alden Ehrenreich is capable to so embody Han without going close to Ford imitation . InSolo : A Star Wars Story , Han does n’t require to accept that he is a hero : that come a decade - or - so twelvemonth subsequently . At this period in his journey , it ’s just about accepting he is himself .