This Iconic Han Solo Scene Was Recreated In 'Star Wars: Bounty Hunters'
**SPOILER WARNING FOR STAR WARS: BOUNTY HUNTERS IN EFFECT"
During the most recent issue of Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, character Beilert Valance makes a move similar to veteran pilot Han Solo in order to pull off an escape, much to the delight of fans.
The ability to travel effectively through space is not a skill your average Star Wars character has. However, there are several who have been shown to be exceptional behind the "wheel" of a spaceship. One of the most highly regarded is Han Solo. Famous for smuggling, he would later go on to fight for the Rebellion against the Empire in the original trilogy, then against the First Order in the sequel trilogy, proving himself to be a vital part of the operation, along with being a skilled pilot. Whilst his Jedi counterparts no doubt receive some help with flying through their connection to the Force, Han and Beilert are just highly skilled at what they do.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #12 finds Beilert and Dengar being pursued by the bounty hunters 4-LOM and Zuckuss. With other options lacking and their ship having suffered a fair amount of damage, Beilert makes the decision to steer the ship directly toward an asteroid field, much to the dismay of Dengar, who expresses his immediate concerns.
This specific brash choice calls back to a scene in The Empire Strikes Back, where Han makes the exact same choice in order to escape pursuit from the Empire. Much like Dengar, the crew aboard the Millennium Falcon are visibly distressed by the decision, with C-3PO even providing his statistics on the likelihood of survival, causing Han to reply with one of his many famous quotes, "Never tell me the odds." Threepio claims the odds of surviving are 3,720:1.
Whilst it may seem like a nice little nod to the films which started the ever growing franchise, it actually makes sense from a tactical point of view. Both Solo and Valance were trained by the Imperial Navy, so it's possible that they both received training specific to traversing an asteroid field and on both occasions, it paid off. Han was able to use the field to his advantage, with the four TIE fighters trying to engage them in space battle being destroyed upon following them into the field and the Star Destroyer having to abandon the chase, allowing Han and crew to land "safely" inside an asteroid, which would actually turn out to be the belly of a giant space slug. Valance and Dengar are also able to use it to their advantage and escape.
Valance shows himself as highly skilled with his ability to not only avoid the asteroids freely floating around in front of them, but he's also got to avoid the two bounty hunters in pursuit who are much deadly adversaries than your average TIE fighter pilot along with an infestation of exogorths (the same space slugs Solo and crew find themselves in the belly of). Even Dengar gets a chance to shine during this moment. After knocking Valance out to try and negotiate with the bounty hunters, he is the one to successfully navigate the field.
Despite everyone's concern with flying head first into an asteroid field and Threepio's statistics seemingly confirming it is an extremely dangerous move, these are not the only times we have seen characters take this concerning move. In Attack of the Clones, whilst pursuing the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett, he and Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi end up flying through an asteroid field and even engage in a battle with one another, suggesting it's not as unusual as one may think. Throughout the films and Bounty Hunters, a total of nine ships have been shown to enter an asteroid field and five have came out the other end generally unscathed.
Regardless of what we've seen, though, logic would dictate it's a move which only should be performed by the most skilled of pilots or someone with the Force behind them to help ensure a safe journey for all. After all, one false move or turn and there's a high chance your ship will sadly be destroyed, especially if the ship is already damaged beforehand.
Star Wars Bounty Hunters #12 by Ethan Sacks, Paolo Villanelli, Travis Lanham and Arif Prianto is on sale now.
Source(s): CBR