Star Wars prides itself on its ability to create complicated characters. Sure, Emperor Palpatine is evil for evil’s sake, but his underlings, Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and Darth Vader, all have fascinating stories that see them struggle with their moral compasses. The bad guys don’t get to have all the fun, though, because more than a few heroes in a galaxy far, far away lose their way and have to find their way back to the light. Luke Skywalker is in a dark place in Star Wars: The Last Jedi after allowing Ben Solo to fall to the dark side. Ben’s father, Han Solo, also shares part of the blame, but, unlike Luke, he screws up plenty before the sequel trilogy.
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As soon as Han appears in the cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope, it’s clear that he’s a morally dubious character. He hangs out with shady characters and likes to shoot first and ask questions later. However, even when Han is trying to do the right thing, he can do the wrong one, which is never more evident than in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Han Backs the Wrong Horse in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Rebellion is on the run at the start of The Empire Strikes Back due to the Battle of Yavin. They set up shop on Hoth because they don’t believe the Empire will visit a planet with such extreme conditions. Unfortunately, an Imperial probe makes its way there, and it’s not long before the Empire attacks. While Han, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and C-3PO are able to escape aboard the Millennium Falcon, they have trouble figuring out a place to go. Han suggests Cloud City on Bespin because his old buddy, Lando Calrissian, runs the place and may have a place for them to lay low.
What Han doesn’t know is that the Empire is already on Bespin and has a deal in place with Lando to turn him over. Leia starts feeling uneasy after arriving, so she takes her concerns to Han, who doesn’t think anything of the strange occurrences in Cloud City. He tells Leia that Lando is his friend, but after sitting down to get on her level and continue the conversation, he mumbles something that’s hard to make out. Turning on closed-captioning reveals that he says, “Besides, we’ll soon be gone.” While it’s not the most important line of dialogue in The Empire Strikes Back, it drives the point home that Han is being naive, which comes back around later in the movie.
Star Wars Fans Have Been Trying to Figure Out What Han Said for 45 Years
A video posted on TikTok by Star Wars superfan Jen Markham reveals that a portion of the fan base didn’t know what Han muttered to Leia until the movie was available on the Disney+ streaming service. The comments are full of people either finally putting two and two together or being overcome with joy that they weren’t the only ones who had a problem understanding the scene. While the culprit could be a bad ADR session or a faulty boom mic on the set, there’s no denying that The Empire Strikes Back failed to deliver a small portion of Han’s story.
The only reason the line doesn’t get more attention all these years later is that Han says something so memorable a few minutes later that it’s easy to forget about his mumbling. After the Empire announces its presence, Darth Vader allows Boba Fett to freeze Han in carbonite and take him to Jabba the Hutt. Before the process is complete, Leia reveals to Han that she loves him, to which he replies, “I know.” It’s one of the most iconic lines in Star Wars, but it’s also not the easiest to understand because it’s clear that Han feels the same way. He just can’t utter the words, and while it’s clear now that, at the moment, he’s struggling with opening up, having that line of dialogue earlier in the movie be clearer would have been helpful because Leia drops the bomb right after he takes a knife in the back from Lando.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is streaming on Disney+.
Did you catch what Han was saying during your first watch of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back? Do you think that conversation with Leia changes Han’s attitude later in the movie? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of Warner
