How Han Solo's Paranoia Saved The Heroes In 'A New Hope'
"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, farm boy!"
-Han Solo (A New Hope)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, the one that started it all, had several points in its story where, had things gone differently, the adventure could have ended disastrously for our heroes. Arguably, all the Star Wars movies had these kinds of moments, but the stakes somehow seem at their highest in A New Hope, when the Empire could have dealt a fatal blow to the nascent Rebel Alliance, ending the hope of freedom in the galaxy, at least within the short term.
For instance, the Empire could have captured R2-D2 and C-3PO on the Tantive IV before they could escape. R2-D2 and C-3PO's escape pod could have been shot down by the Empire as soon as it was launched from the captured Tantive IV. Luke could have been at home with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru instead of with Obi-Wan and been killed by stormtroopers along with them, and the droids would have been captured or destroyed as well. Han could have been killed by Greedo and not even gotten Luke and Obi-Wan offworld. Our intrepid heroes could have been killed in the detention area while rescuing Princess Leia or crushed to death in the Death Star's trash compactor. Han could have taken his money and ran, allowing Darth Vader to successfully shoot down Luke's X-Wing before he made his one in a million shot, allowing the Death Star to vaporize Yavin 4 just as it had Alderaan. There are literally an infinite number of possibilities in Star Wars that it really deserves its own What If...? series, although prior to the Disney Lucasfilm acquisition, there was previously a comic book series like What If...? titled Star Wars: Infinities.
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However, there is one such moment in A New Hope that could have instantly ended our heroes' adventure that nobody really thinks of, nor would anybody probably think of it unless they were familiar with the novelization of A New Hope (titled just as Star Wars at the time), penned by early Star Wars co-scribe Alan Dean Foster. That moment is when Han brings the Falcon out of hyperspace at Alderaan's coordinates, only to discover nothing but an asteroid field, remnants of Princess Leia's vaporized home planet.
Although virtually unremarked by Han in the movie, it is noted in the novelization that the Falcon thankfully doesn't get blown to bits by the asteroids upon exiting hyperspace, because Han already has the deflector shields up when he takes the Falcon out of hyperspace. The passage in the book specifically reads, “Only the fact that the cautious Solo always emerged from supralight travel with his deflectors up – just in case any of many unfriendly folks might be there waiting for him – had saved the freighter from instant destruction.” The survival of the Falcon as it exits hyperspace seems meant to be taken for granted by the film audience, but, according to the novelization, it was actually quite significant.
It was significant because Han never exits hyperspace without his ship's deflector shields up, which, apparently, is not a common procedure among pilots. Over the years, however, Han has made lots of enemies and knows how dangerous his line of work is in general and has learned to always keep his deflector shields up when exiting hyperspace to prevent anybody (or anything) from getting the drop on him. This may make Han seem a bit paranoid, although, given his line of work, rife with backstabbing and betrayals, as well as simply living in a chaotic universe, to me, it just seems like good common sense.
In the movie Solo, Han begins to learn the need to be ready for a surprise encounter and betrayal by supposed allies, lessons that help him survive his first few adventures in the larger galaxy. His earlier surprise encounter with Greedo and Jabba earlier in A New Hope seems to also validate his desire for caution, although there are also examples in the film and others that find him being a little more reckless and winding up in trouble because of it.
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Source(s): CBR