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While Han Solo was frozen in carbonite, Leia reluctantly agreed to meet Qi’ra, bringing the galactic Star Wars leaders together for the first time.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #18, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
For the first two Star Wars movies, Han Solo was a character with singular interests. He was concerned with saving his own skin from the many people that wanted him dead while making as much money as he could along the way. That made the final act of The Empire Strikes Back, which showed that he and Princess Leia were meant to be together, fairly shocking.
It was even more surprising when Solo: A Star Wars Story introduced Qi’ra as a former love interest of the smuggler turned Rebellion hero. During the events of The War of the Bounty Hunters, Leia finally learned about Han’s old flame from Lando. Now wn Star Wars #18, by Charles Soule, Ramon Rosanas, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC’s Clayton Cowles, Leia and Qi’ra come face to face for the first time.
Aas the catalyst behind The War of the Bounty Hunters, it’s clear that Qi’ra was busy since Solo, even if she’s been off-screen. While orchestrating the resurgence of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, Qi’ra stole Han Solo’s carbonite-frozen body and put him up for auction. A bounty was placed on Boba Fett as a result, and chaos ensued as almost everyone in the galaxy tried to acquire Solo by either the auction or just old-fashioned thievery.
Ultimately, none of it mattered because Darth Vader walked away with Solo’s body. While Bokku the Hutt attacked the Executor, Leia, Lando and Chewbacca boarded the Imperial flagship. Meanwhile, Boba Fett and Valence did the same. Meeting in front of Solo, there was a brief standoff before Boba blasted a hole in the ship and sent Han off into space. Having seen Solo fall, Leia and her group made their way back to the Millennium Falcon thinking that Solo was gone forever, likely fallen to his death on the frozen planet of Jekara.
In Star Wars #18, Qi’ra made contact with Leia and wanted to talk, specifically noting that they loved the same man. The Revel heroes tried to get away, but Qi’ra had disabled their hyperdrive so that Leia had to let her aboard. Expecting a trap and threatening to arrest her, these two galactic leaders have a conversation that hit on a number of different topics.
First off, Qi’ra apologized for what had happed to Solo. Appalled at her audacity, Leia blamed her for everything. After all, Qi’ra was the one who stole Solo’s body in the first place. However, Qi’ra maintained that she never meant for Solo to get away from her. She fought Vader, sent Bokku at the Imperials and allowed Leia to board the Executor all in attempts to regain possession of him. Specifically, though, Qi’ra didn’t want Solo back for herself or another scheme. She had wanted her former lover to be with Leia. She knew that Han was better off with Leia that he would ever have been with the leader of a crime syndicate.
Leia wasn’t having any of it until Qi’ra dropped the bomb that Solo was alive and at Jabba’s palace. Leia immediately changed her tone, and the two of them almost made a loose alliance. Leia allowed Qi’ra to go free, and she promised to offer contacts and resources when Leia decided to try and rescue Han from Jabba. There are even hints of a Crimson Dawn and Rebel Alliance team-up against the Empire.
While this plot point will likely be revisited in the coming Crimson Reign comic book series, it also raises questions about what happened to Qi’ra long-term since she goes unseen and unmentioned by Leia and the rest of the core heroes after Han’s revival.
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