Summary
Star Warsfans have a reputation for explaining things the movies and shows likely never meant to explain, yet somehow making things more interesting. Now, one particularly clever member of the fandom has offered up a theory about why Han Solo managed to survive as long as he did, and it makes a shocking amount of sense.
Star Warshas always been a franchise that requires suspension of disbelief from its viewers. Fans regularly debate topics such aswhether Anakin Skywalker could defeat Luke Skywalkerwhile both in their prime, despite time travel shenanigans being required for such an experiment. Hilariously, that’s among the more tame subjects of discourse. Others include ideas like whether Jar Jar Binks is a Sith Lord and deceptively complex ones like discussing the perfect hand in a game of sabacc. Again, still mundane compared to the wild stuff out there.
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But now, Reddit user PhelesDragon has offered up an intriguing theory regarding Harrison Ford’s effortlessly lucky smuggler Han Solo: he’s invisible to the dark side of the Force. Posting on theStar Warssubreddit, the user laid out their evidence. “First, he successfully evades Imperial capture when leaving Tatooine with his extremely hot cargo. This isn’t Dark Side invisibility perse, but it is indicative of his ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ ability. Later, his ship is tractored into the Death Star and he manages to hide all his people from intensive scanners. Even Vader,Vader, can barely sense the presence of Obiwan, who we know isn’t fully cut off the Force at this point, having previously used the Jedi mind trick and starting Luke’s training. It’s as if Han generates a blind spot field that can partially encapsulate those around him. He then is the sole reason Vader doesn’t take down Luke in the trench run, popping in on the Dark Lord like a last minute zit before prom. [sic]”
The hilariously visceral comparison at the end notwithstanding, it’s not difficult to see what the user is saying here, and it all makes sense. Never minddiscussing the ins and outs of Kyber crystalsamong a bunch of diehardStar Warsfans. Anybody can get behind this theory regardless of their familiarity with the franchise. “InEmpire, he manages to evade Imperial claws so completely that they have to outsource the work to non-Dark Side affiliations,” PhelesDragon continued. “Only then can Solo be found. Vader was so set on not losing this guy again that he turned him into a lawn ornament.”
It also turns out thatDaniel Craig’s hilariousThe Force Awakenscameowasn’t the only oddly funny element in that film. The final evidence is a blatant blind spot in Kylo Ren’s intimidating aura. “Finally, inTFA, Han manages to sneak up on his son, who is both highly Dark Side adept and specifically looking for his parents to kill. Again, this is more thematic than hard sci-fi, but dude’s a Dark Side jamming field and he doesn’t even know it; no wonder we was a good smuggler.” Granted, Han did meet his end at the hands of his son in this movie, much to the delight and relief of Ford. But to be fair, Han wanted to be found.
Naturally, this sort of thing has never been confirmed by Lucasfilm or anyone involved with the franchise. But the fun thing aboutStar Warsfan theoriesis that they’re never debunked unless they’re directly addressed. So, the idea that Han Solo can’t be seen by the dark side is possibly the best explanation for his hilarious luck that fans are going to get. Frankly, it’s a pretty good one.
