Welcome to part five in our Journey to Solo: A Star Wars Story series.
Today we’ll be going through the last book in the Han Solo Trilogy, Rebel Dawn by AC
Crispin.
Where the first book explored Han’s childhood and formative years, this book finishes bridging
the gap to A New Hope.
Today I’ll run through the basic plot, and discuss if any of it might be relevant to
the upcoming film.
If you haven’t watched the videos I’ve done about the Han Solo Adventures, the Paradise
Snare, and the Hutt Gambit, I’d watch those first.
Rebel Dawn picks up very shortly after The Hutt Gambit.
Having lost their ship and way of making money, Han and Chewie head to a high stakes sabacc
tournament on Cloud City.
They risk everything they have to enter, and they wind up winning it all against Lando
in the last hand.
As part of Lando’s wager Han won the right to choose any ship sitting in his friend’s
used lot.
Han claims the Millennium Falcon on a technicality that it was currently parked there, although
not for sale.
Lando isn’t happy about it, but gives in.
Han then makes good on a promise to Chewbacca, and once they pick up the Falcon they head
to Kashyyyk, and Chewie immediately marries Malla.
Meanwhile, Han’s first love, Bria, is involved in organizing the early Rebel Alliance, moderating
discussions between Corellia, Alderaan and more planets.
She is also the commander of Red Hand Squadron, who have attacked Ylesia and their slave trade
without mercy.
Her actions lead the Hutts to place a bounty on her head.
Boba Fett finds her, and she asks that he tell her father that she has died when the
time comes.
Fett agrees, but the Lando winds up saving her, foiling the bounty hunter for a second
time in two books.
Han and Chewie go back to Nar Shaddaa to modify the Falcon.
Han grows close with another smuggler named Salla, who has a brush with death and decides
to marry Han, whether he wants to or not.
To avoid a wedding that she is planning with or without him, Han and Chewie head to the
Corporate Sector, where the events of the Han Solo Adventures unfold.
Durga the Hutt learns that his father was murdered by Jiliac the Hutt, and challenges
her to single combat.
He kills her, leaving Jabba in charge of his Hutt clan.
Jabba immediately teams up with Bria and her group to arrange for the destruction of Durga’
Ylesia operation.
When Han returns to Nar Shaddaa he runs into Bria, and they are able to catch up.
Bria offers Han and the smugglers a role in her mission in exchange for their pick of
spice and treasure to sell.
Many agree and as they spend more time together Han and Bria admit they are still in love.
In a joint effort, Jabba hires bounty hunters to kill all the Ylesian priests right before
the Rebel attack.
Though they suffer some losses, they are victorious, and many slaves are rescued.
But Bria and the Rebels betray the smugglers, and deny them any claim to the valuables they
fought for.
The Rebellion had just learned about the Death Star, and desperately needed any resources
they could get their hands on.
The smugglers, including Lando, believe that Han is part of the betrayal.
Heartbroken by Bria for the second time in his life, Han leaves her.
Immediately after, Jabba offers Han a job picking up some spice from Kessel.
He is immediately chased by Imperials, and forced to dump the cargo.
After the Falcon is boarded, he and Chewie try to go pick it up again, but it’s gone.
The Imperials show up again, waiting for his return, and chase him through the Kessel Run.
Han escapes and wind up setting a new record for speed and distance, although Chewie believes
the instruments were disrupted and not reading properly.
Jabba is furious and Han travels to Tatooine to try to explain things.
Bria takes part in the Battle of Toprawa, which was just one part of the larger mission
to steal the plans for the Death Star.
She and her team are killed.
Boba Fett of all people tracks down Han to tell him that Bria is dead, and requests that
he contact her father.
He does, and then goes to the local cantina, where Chewie informs him that he may have
worked out a deal to fly an old man and a kid to Alderaan.
I really liked all three of these books.
I’ve said this every week, but again, this was my first time through them.
So was there anything in there that I think might be relevant in Solo: A Star Wars Story?
Well, first up we are almost definitely going to see the sabacc game in which Han wins the
Falcon from Lando.
I think that will play out very differently, because the whole used ship lot makes sense
for the book, having it all set up, but I bet it will be much more straightforward in
the movie.
In one of the Star Wars comics, Han pretty much confirmed that he cheated in the game,
and at least suspected Lando was cheating as well.
I think it would be great to see them both trying to outcheat each other.
The actual tournament in the book is written very well.
I knew how everything wound up already but my heart was still pounding.
If that scene is half as good as the book, we’re in for a real treat.
Lando and Han are great together in this book period.
They’re friendly, but there is a competition to them.
Donald Glover said that Han and Lando have very similar personalities, just different
styles.
Of course he’s talking about the movie, but it works for the book as well.
I can’t wait to see their interactions on screen.
I’m expecting we’ll get an explanation for Lando’s possible anger towards Han in
The Empire Strikes Back.
The book gave a good reason, but again I think it’ll definitely be changed for the movie.
Maybe it has to do with Han cheating to win the Falcon, or maybe it’s something during
the heist, I don’t know.
I just think Han will do something to make Lando very angry.
Han mentions his dreams of fixing up the Falcon in the book, and that made me laugh, since
we know how much dirtier the ship looks under Han’s care.
But he of course means fixing up the Falcon’s internal systems.
We get to see Han make a number of modifications, like turning a single cannon turret into quad
cannon turrets, and it looks like that’s a change that will be made in canon too.
We might not see it on screen, but the ship definitely gets a weapon upgrade.
Also, Han specifically says that, “The Millennium Falcon’s beat up appearance was one of her
strongest assets in catching opponents unaware.”
A piece in Entertainment Weekly said something very similar about the canon Falcon and the
reasoning behind Han letting it turn into a quote unquote piece of junk.
Lando wanted a stylish place to entertain guests.
Han wants a smuggling ship, and he wants people to underestimate it.
I like that reasoning a lot.
Jumping over to the Kessel Run, we have plenty of evidence to guess that we’ll see Han’s
famous twelve parsec run.
I’ve said before that I was always a fan of the idea that Han was just trying to sound
impressive, and failed, and caused Obi-Wan to roll his eyes.
I think we’re going to see Han actually pull off a twelve parsec run, but I hope there
is some twist to it.
I don’t want it to be that simple, and I actually really liked what the book did.
The whole thing is ambiguous.
The instruments may have actually been messed up, and Han saw twelve parsecs and was like
yep.
I totally did that.
And Chewie is sitting right there like dude I don’t think so.
Han is just stubborn, and it’s funny to me to think that only a few days later Han
brags about doing the Kessel Run and twelve parsecs, and not only does Obi-Wan roll his
eyes, but Chewie is right next to him going, oh really?
This again?
Shifting gears a bit, Bria’s betrayal at the end of the story is rough.
We don’t know much about Qi’ra in the movie right now, but she has been described
as a femme fatale.
I think we could expect a betrayal from her as well.
Whether or not she and Han were ever lovers is up for debate, but either way I think something
like that would shatter his ability to trust.
Speaking of Bria, I loved seeing her Red Hand Squadron and her part in the theft of the
Death Star plans.
Her soldiers and her attitude reminded me a lot of Saw Gerrara and the Partisans, and
seeing her final mission was very reminiscent of Rogue One.
They were stranded on the planet Toprawa after transmitting the plans to the Tantive IV in
orbit.
And now for something I hope we don’t get in Solo this May.
I don’t want it to end mere moments before Han is introduced in A New Hope.
That ending mostly works for the book, but I feel like the stuff with Bria should have
taken place much earlier.
He should be reeling from betrayal and loss when he meets Leia.
Assuming Han is shaken by some betrayal and loss in the movie, I want him to have some
recovery time before meeting Luke.
Not to mention I just want this to be a standalone film like Rogue One.
Han and Chewie and Lando are the only familiar characters I really want.
I will get behind Boba Fett or Jabba playing some sort of role, but used sparingly.
I hope there are a good five years or so between Solo and A New Hope.
The last thing I want to mention about this book that I thought was cool has nothing to
do with the movie, but I loved how the Han Solo Adventures were incorporated into the
story.
They were summarized and referenced in interludes that built on those stories and treated them
with respect.
It was really nice, and I’d say it’s a strong argument for why I always recommend
stories be read in order of release and not chronologically.
The whole trilogy had little easter eggs from the Han Solo Adventures that you don’t need
to catch to enjoy the stories, but are really fun and rewarding to notice.
The entire Han Solo Trilogy was just a fun ride.
AC Crispin wrote some great stories, and I’m kicking myself for not reading them twenty
years ago.
I think Solo: A Star Wars Story will show us some dramatically different events from
Han’s past, but I hope the tone is similar to these books.
They’re just fun and lighthearted with some heavy turns scattered throughout.
Funny but occasionally sad.
It’s just a good balance that I hope the movie can replicate.
But that’s it for today!
Next week we’re going to cover the Lando Calrissian Adventures now that we’ve gone
through most of Han’s Legends history!
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As always, thanks for watching, and may the Force be with you!