‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’: How Holdo’s Sacrifice References Han Solo

There was no shortage of epic moments in the newest Star Wars movie, but one in particular had some fans questioning if their movie theaters were making a mistake.

But Admiral Holdo’s sacrifice in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was an important moment for writer and director Rian Johnson, and he recently revealed on the Empire Film Podcast that it actually serves as a reference to something Han Solo said in A New Hope.

“I’m sure that a lot of fans had thought ever since Han was talking about how if you don’t get the calculations right you could go through [a star],” Johnson explains. “I always wanted to see what that would look like and the guys at ILM at some point, somebody hit upon that exposure idea of everything going silent. Because we were struggling with how do we make this visually impressive and when somebody hit on that, and that came up on the screen, we were just like, OHHH, this is going to be cool.”

In the Star Wars universe, light speed calculations have always been a significant burden for those piloting starships. Solo stressed as much in the first film George Lucas made in the franchise, setting the bar right then and there for how people could be hurt if they aren’t careful.

While it seemed to go somewhat unused to varying degrees, with light speed jumps being used as a means of escape or damaged hyperdrives keeping ships trapped, Johnson used that first piece of exposition to create a stunning visual moment.

When DJ betrays Finn and Rose with a piece of information he picked up during a transmission with Poe Dameron, the First Order fleet starts firing upon the cloaked vessels attempting to escape the Resistance’s transport ship.

Admiral Holdo, attempting to save the fleet, decides to sacrifice herself and jump to light speed right through the middle of the First Order’s assembly of Star Destroyers, cracking Supreme Leader Snoke’s Supremacy right in half.

It’s one of the most epic moments in the film, and a fitting end for a character who was portrayed as an antagonist for the first half of the film. It’s interesting that the moment was inspired by Han Solo dialogue from the first movie in the Star Wars saga.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now playing in theaters.