In the Navy

[4thofeleven]

I found one of the Ann Crispin Han Solo novels while going through my books, and it reminded me of something I’d been meaning to post about.

There’s one aspect of Han’s EU background that’s never quite worked for me – the idea that Han was in the Imperial navy. It just doesn’t seem in line with Han’s background – why would he want to join the navy? How would he get into the academy in the first place? Crispin’s novels end up having to work around this by having a major plot in the first novel being Han trying to get enough money to have a fake ID made that’s good enough to get past Imperial background checks, but that just emphasises that it’d be a lot of effort for Han to get in, let alone graduate, and he doesn’t seem like the sort that would see becoming an officer as a goal worthy of that sort of effort.

It occurred to me that it would make much more sense if *Lando* had served a tour of duty in the navy. Lando’s a lot closer to the respectable end of the spectrum – or at the very least, he’s a lot better at faking it – and I can see him growing up in an environment in which he’d pick up the idea that being an officer is something to aspire to… and being a dashing young lieutenant seems like something more in line with Lando’s self-image than Han’s. Plus, Lando clearly has some sort of previous military experience – him and Han both end up rebel generals, but it’s Lando who’s actually commanding forces in large scale battle, while Han gets the commando part of the mission.

Obviously Lando didn’t stay with the military – probably quit as soon as possible after deciding that sort of discipline wasn’t for him. Maybe there was some sort of scandal that let him temporarily ending up travelling in the same seedy circles as Han. Still, he worked his way back into a position of power, and his Imperial officer background was enough that Vader was willing to at least initially pretend to deal fairly with him, rather than just seizing Bespin outright from the start.

As for Han and Chewbacca – well, he doesn’t need to be an officer to rescue Chewie. He could just have been temporarily at an Imperial base, completing one of his few legitimate shipping assignments. Or he broke Chewie out of jail on Kessel in the middle of a deal turned fiasco. Lots of possibilities that I think fit much better than Han being an officer kicked out after an attack of conscience…

Comments

[nic]

I don't have much to add, but just wanted to say that this is a great post. I'd always accepted Han's background without question, but you're right, it doesn't fit with the Han we know.

[sunnyskywalker]

Good points. I can see the appeal of the idea - Han's one attempt at going respectable failed, he got burned and distrusts governments even more forever, etc. - but I have a hard time seeing him and military discipline working out. (Besides, assuming he left the Navy in his early 20s, that only gives him and Chewie a few years to get established as smugglers good enough to be "the best" in major crime boss Jabba's opinion before falling from his graces. They must be awfully good.) Shipping something or flying a transport on contract probably works lots better.

But this brings up another point I don't think the EU addressed well: everything I read in the EU had Han and Chewie pegged as being extremely anti-slavery. Yet they worked for Jabba, and as we saw, Jabba keeps slave women chained up and ready to feed to his pet rancor if they don't dance to his liking. So... how desperate were they to work for him? Is he the best of a bad lot? Did their scruples erode over time as they got sick of being broke? Did they not have such strong scruples to begin with? What gives? Maybe they really didn't like him much, and that's why they were so quick to dump that shipment - and to stay with the Rebellion instead of using that reward to pay Jabba back (at least, until it got too nearly-fatal to ignore him anymore).

ETA: Lando having been in the Navy neatly provides an explanation for the "little maneuver at the Battle of Tanaab." (I know there's an EU explanation involving pirates vs. the Empire or something, but this works just as well if not better.)

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the years not quite adding up were what got me thinking along these lines... I assume the Imperial Starfleet isn't meant to work like the Star Trek Starfleet in the new film, where you can be a captain before you've, technically speaking, graduated.

I'm fine with the idea that Jabba's just that big a player that you can't realistically ignore him entirely. And maybe Jabba doesn't go into the large scale slaving operations the Empire does; he buys dancers from slavers, but he feels actually running slave raids himself is a little too risky, and draws too much official notice. Maybe the Rancor's a new addition to the palace, and slave dancers normally have a longer lifespan - Jabba's just a little obsessed in RotJ with showing off his new pet.

[sunnyskywalker]

The Empire doesn't seem quite as lenient as Starfleet, no. I suspect their reaction to some young punk talking back and disobeying orders would not be, "Well, it kinda worked out, so... promotion!" (Unless the young punk was very well-connected. But then, I think a lot of Kirk's promotion was political too, so.)

Hm, I guess Jabba could be the guy you just can't say no to if he asks you to run this teeny little shipment, because otherwise you suddenly can't find work or have a mysterious accident. I don't know about the Rancor, though - I mean, the Rancor itself might be a new addition, but Jabba clearly has a thing for feeding people to monsters (see also: Sarlaac). So I doubt this is a new trend. He could have stepped it up lately with the added convenience of an in-palace monster, I suppose.