The Official Star Wars Twitter Solves Decades-Old Empire Strikes Back Mystery
What began as a minor, almost forgettable moment of typical C-3PO humor in The Empire Strikes Back has recently become much, much more. A popular fan theory about the scene arose following the release of the legendary franchises’ newest spinoff, Solo: A Star War Story, and the people behind the Star Wars Twitter feed have all but confirmed it. The theory involves some plot spoilers for Solo, so proceed with caution if you haven’t yet witnessed the origin of the world’s favorite space cowboy.
During Solo, a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), and their crew of smugglers escape the mining planet of Kessel, but not before Lando’s beloved droid, L3-37, is torn apart by enemy blasters. In a last-ditch effort to escape the system, Lando uploads L3’s navigational system to the Millennium Falcon, allowing them to achieve one of Han’s most lauded feats, the Kessel Run. While this was an attempt at survival in the moment, it set some of the series’ hardcore fans to thinking: what if more of L3 than just her navigational systems became part of the Falcon? Could her consciousness have somehow merged with Lando’s (later Han’s) famed ship?
Giving even further credence to the theory is the moment in The Empire Strikes Back when C-3PO responds to the Falcon’s unusual communication. Finally, the heroes over at Star Wars tweeted this in response to the growing buzz:
MilL3nnium Falcon. #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/FVbkqCJIu5
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2018
So, there we have it. Not only does L3-37 live on as one of the icons of the saga, but the door is also open for all kinds of new theories surrounding the minds of droids and ships in the Star Wars universe. It’s not every day that storytellers confirm theories about their own work, but fans all over the galaxy were allowed this small victory before they got back to wondering how Episode IX will play out when it graces the big screen December 2019.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is L3-37 in SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY. Courtesy Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Studios.
