Han Solo Did Not Deserve A Medal in 'Star Wars'
Han Solo is a fascinating character (yes, I know, Harrison Ford¹ would disagree), which is why I love writing about him so much. Not so much his character traits, but more his relationship to the Rebel Alliance in the Original Trilogy and why he's even there in the first place. Knowing only what we know when each movie is released (which means using no canon that was filled in later), did he even officially join the Rebel Alliance? In The Empire Strikes Back he seems to be able to come and go as he pleases. He's referred to as Captain Solo, but this is because he's the captain of the Millennium Falcon. Not many military captains can just say, "I have to leave and not come back because I have to pay off my mob bookie," then get a hearty handshake. In Return of the Jedi he does officially join, being made a general for no good reason, which I'm sure the rank and file rebel soldier, who has been working his or her way up for years, just loved. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. This all starts in the first Star Wars. Han Solo did not deserve a medal at the end of the movie.
¹Speaking of Harrison Ford, my former editor Keith Phipps and I have a new episode of Ford Focus: A Harrison Ford Podcast out today. It's a good one! We are joined by writer/producer Eric Haywood to discuss everything Patriot Games. Here's the link to the Patreon page, Spotify, and Apple.
It always annoys me when people point out that Chewbacca didn't get a medal at the end of Star Wars, which, by this point, has become cliché. Then Chewbacca finally gets the medal at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, just to somehow make that movie even worse. In Star Wars, Chewbacca got what he deserved, no medal. The mistake here was giving Han Solo a medal. Han Solo did not deserve a medal. Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star. Luke Skywalker deserved a medal. If we are handing out medals to other characters in Star Wars who are not Luke, Han should get in line because he is not the most deserving.
Let's take a look at what Han Solo actually did in Star Wars and decide if any of his actions are actually deserving of the same exact medal Luke Skywalker was given for blowing up the Death Star...
(This is a free post for "free tier" subscribers. But, The Hard Pass can't continue existing without paying subscribers. Paying subscribers can read the story I was told about Tom Cruise that is now my favorite Tom Cruise story, the time I accidentally tricked a Lost actor into spoiling the ending, and asking cast members from Ocean's 12 if their characters all know they look like famous people since Tess knows she looks like Julia Roberts.)
