***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS***
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Judging by the record-setting box office numbers of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, most of you have already seen the highly anticipated film. If you haven't, stop reading now because I'm about to spoil part of the ending.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was full of thrilling twists and turns, but perhaps the most surprising moment came towards the end when Han Solo died at the hands of his son Kylo Ren (Ben Solo). While some had already predicted the death of Solo, especially given Harrison Ford's previous wish to have the iconic character killed off in the original trilogy, the execution of the scene still resulted in what was perhaps one of (if not the) best moments in Star Wars history.
So how did the emotionally charged scene come to fruition? Well, according to director J.J. Abrams, co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, and screenwriter Michael Arndt, the decision to kill Han Solo didn't come right away. Participating in a Q&A at a WGA screening (via Entertainment Weekly) of the blockbuster film, the three addressed the climactic scene by first talking about the thematic draw of the Star Wars saga as a whole:
“People always say, ‘Why do you think this saga is so popular? I really do believe the underlying theme is recognizing your potential and understanding what you’re capable of. It doesn’t end. To understand what you’ve inherited, and what you like about that and what you don’t like about that. Have you fulfilled yourself completely — or is it too late. What is dormant? That’s a very real and tangible thing for people every day.”
As Abrams said in the past, he always wanted to craft a story that was as much about the evolution of the villain as it was about its heroes. To that end, this scene was important in Kylo Ren's evolution as he's realizing his full potential in killing his father — it just happens to be for the Dark Side.
“Long before we had this title, the idea of The Force Awakens was that this would become the evolution of not just a hero, but a villain. And not a villain who was the finished, ready-made villain, but someone who was in process.”
But for as well-written as Kylo Ren may be, there's no getting aroundt he looming shadow of Darth Vader — perhaps the most iconic villain in cinema history. As explained, the only hope of having a villain that could feasibly top Darth Vader is to do something bold and potentially risky — kill a fan-favorite character from the original trilogy. But it didn't start off this way.
As Arndt revealed, the originaly early drafts, The Force Awakens ends with the reconciliation between Han and Leia. It was Abrams who pointed out, however, that this sort of story made Han Solo a superfluous character.
“I had thought Han’s story and Leia’s story was just about them coming back together. At the end of the movie they would have reconciled and gotten over their differences. And you would have said, ‘Okay, bad stuff happened, but at least they’re back together again. J.J. rightly asked, ‘What is Han doing in this movie?’ If we’re not going to have something important and irreversible happen to him, then he kind of feels like luggage. He feels like this great, sexy piece of luggage you have in your movie. But he’s not really evolving. He’s not really pushing the story forward.”
As Abrams admits it was a tough decision to make, but ultimately it was the right one for the story and overall trilogy. "[Han Solo’s death is] this massive tradeoff," Abrams acknowledged. "How can we possible do that!? But… if we hadn’t done that, the movie wouldn’t have any guts at all. It felt very dangerous.”
It's hard to say what the response to Star Wars: The Force Awakens would have been had Solo survived. Surprisingly, it seems like most who have seen the film are okay with the death, as it sort of acts as a passing of the torch from the original cast to the newcomers Daisy Ridley (Rey), Jon Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), all of whom have been very well-received.
While I was saddened to see Solo die, it certainly makes for a more interesting story arc with Kylo Ren, who I found to be the most interesting of all the new characters. Daisy Ridley may have been the hero of The Force Awakens, but Kylo Ren certainly has the more interesting character arc of all the newcomers thus far.
Ultimately, the scene may have been predictable, especially for those who kept up with all the Star Wars news, but it was emotional nonetheless. You have this moment where you clearly seen Kylo Ren struggling between good and evil, only to witness his full birth as a character destined for the Dark Side. And through it all, you still have this tender father-son moment as Ford gently touches Ben's face in the final moments. It's a brilliantly complex scene that gives a sense of character to Kylo Ren.
The good news is the wait for Episode VIII isn't too long. The next installment in the core Saga is set to hit theaters on May 27, 2017. Filming is said to begin in a few weeks.
