Han Solo kept the pair of dice that he used in the game of sabacc in which he won the
Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian, and hung them up in the cockpit as a symbol of
the ship’s good fortune.
Unfortunately, in The Force Awakens, we learn that Han lost the ship for a number of years
until he is able to recover it from Rey and Finn.
Rey informs him that she stole it from Unkar, who stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole
it from Ducain, who had originally stolen it from Han.
So today we’ll be talking about who these thieves are, and guessing at how long Han
held onto the Falcon after the Battle of Endor.
First let’s think about how long Han had the Falcon.
I’m guessing he lost it ten to fifteen years prior to the Force Awakens.
According to the Incredible Cross Sections for the Force Awakens, Han installed a kitchen
for Leia as a wedding present, and from the sound of things, he was ready to settle down
and quit the life of a scoundrel.
He mentions that after Ben’s fall to the dark side, he turned back to the only life
he knew.
Han sees his son as a full grown man for the first time in the Force Awakens, according
to the novelization.
Working backwards, Ben would have likely been in his late teens in order to A: not be an
adult, and B: still be strong enough to take down the new Jedi Order.
That would put Han’s return to smuggling at fifteen years after the Battle of Endor,
and he probably kept it for a little while until he lost it.
So that brings us to Gannis Ducain, the first link in the chain.
He has yet to actually appear in any canon material, but we do know a little about him.
He was a gunrunner and he actually upgraded the Falcon’s turret system while he had
the ship.
Now Han claims that Ducain stole the Falcon from him.
But based on the events of the book Smuggler’s Run, I’m more under the impression Ducain
took the ship to settle a debt Han owed.
In the book, Han is approached by some hired muscle that he assumes is with Ducain, and
they demand he hand over the Falcon.
Either way if Ducain had stolen or taken the Falcon as payment, it’s logical for him
to go to Solo first once it was stolen.
Ducain obviously thinks he has some right to the ship.
Han admits to not having had the Falcon for years, and mentions the actual ship thieves,
the Irving Boys.
The Irving Boys also have yet to actually be seen, but we do know that they were well
known pirates and ship thieves.
In Before the Awakening, the Resistance poses as the Irving Boys in order to steal a New
Republic senator’s ship.
It also sounds like the Irving Boys were very skilled at their craft, as Ducain didn’t
seem to know who had stolen the Falcon from him.
The last step in the chain is Unkar Plutt.
According to the Incredible Cross Sections, Unkar won’t say exactly how he came to acquire
the Falcon, but Rey seems to know that he stole it from the Irving Boys.
He also refuses to let the junkers tear the ship apart, claiming to have big plans for
it.
So in lieu of having actual information, I’m going to speculate that Unkar didn’t actually
steal the Falcon.
Maybe the Irving Boys gave or traded it to him, or maybe they just abandoned it.
I don’t see Unkar being capable of stealing the Falcon from professional thieves, but
I do see him as capable of spreading a rumor that he did.
And there you have it.
My theory on how the Falcon wound up at Niima Outpost on Jakku.
Again this is largely speculation, but based on canon evidence, so take it all with a grain
of salt.