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While Han Solo was frozen in carbonite, Star Wars revealed that he was rescued thanks to one of his most personal enemies, and it’s not Boba Fett.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars #18, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, as much as it’s revered for Luke Skywalker saving Darth Vader’s soul and ‘killing’ Emperor Palpatine, one of the most iconic arcs involves them infiltrating Jabba the Hutt’s lair to rescue Han Solo. It’s a team effort with Princess Leia dressing up as a slave, Chewbacca pretending to be a prisoner, and Lando Calrissian also stealthily doing his part. However, as Luke also joins in, while it seems like Han was recovered by his friends, Star Wars #18 now confirms it was all due to his worst enemy setting things up — and no, this isn’t Boba Fett.
The bombshell comes in the War of the Bounty Hunters story, “Collision Course,” from Charles Soule, Ramon Rosanas, Rachelle Rosenberg and Clayton Cowles, as the Millennium Falcon’s trapped by Qi’ra’s Crimson Dawn flagship. She boards for a meeting with Leia, clearing the air on her mission and wanting to avert a firefight.
It’s testy, at first, as Leia hates how Qi’ra tried to auction Han off in his carbonite cell, but Qi’ra soon confirms it was all part of a long con. She was never going to sell him — it was meant to destabilize the Empire so her group could gain more ground in the criminal underworld. She wanted the rebels to rescue Han, while her Hutt forces, as well as the rebels’ fleets, put a dent in Palpatine’s legions.
It’s why she fought Vader, hoping to buy time for Leia’s crew to sneak Han away after Qi’ra got the casing by hiring people to steal from Boba Fett. She further reveals the Imperials that helped Leia were her people, as she’s got insiders everywhere. Leia takes it with a pinch of salt first but as Qi’ra sheds backstory into Han’s ambitions to be a hero in his youth, she can tell Qi’ra loves him still and isn’t lying.
At the heart of it all, Qi’ra confesses she could never be what Leia is to Han, ergo she just wanted the lovers reunited. It’s a bold statement, especially after she betrayed him in Solo: A Star Wars Story, opting to work under Darth Maul and gain power. This set Han off on his path as a rogue and smuggler, as it broke his faith in people and moral compass.
But Qi’ra seems to have matured, admitting she wanted him to be happy and not a fiend like her. Plus, she now knows if he’s aiding Leia down the line, he’ll be weakening the Empire’s grip on the galaxy. This happy ending would result in a win-win as Palpatine’s regime falling would allow Crimson Dawn to grow, which now culminates in Qi’ra slipping Leia intel that Han’s casing is in Jabba’s palace.
She’s got a tracker on, confirming Boba stole it back on Jekara and Han’s not dead, after all. Thus, Qi’ra sets them up to go grab him, even offering her services later on if an alliance ever becomes a possibility as she seeks to expand her own empire.
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