STAR WARS INSIDER / 67FATHER FIGURES“I trustnoone.Assumeeveryone
will betray you and you will never
be disappointed.” Tobias Beckett’s
grim advice to Han Solo perfectly
captured the mercenary’s take on
the galaxy. A resourceful thief by
trade, Beckett expected his crew to
obey orders without question. Gruff
and selfi sh, Tobias nevertheless
shared wisdom with Han and
Chewbacca throughout Solo: A Star
Wars Story (2018). Unfortunately
for Beckett, he assumed that Han
hadn’t listened to his criminal
lectures—a mistake that cost him
his life on Savareen, where Han
defi nitely shot fi rst.
Beckett admitted Han and
Chewie into his outlaw band just
as Solo offered Rey a position on
the Millennium Falcon in Star
Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
However, while Beckett enlisted
the Imperial deserter for his own
benefi t, Han’s motives were truer,
hoping to provide a home for the
young scavenger.
It was after the failure of
the Vandor gig that Beckett
revealed how crime syndicates
placed bounties on people. This
knowledge stuck with Han, who
years later eagerly sought to clear
his debt to Jabba the Hutt in
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977),
although Solo would playfully tease
the gangster, “You didn’t think I
was going to run, did you?”
The many similarities between
Han’s approach to situations and
that of his one-time mentor run
deep. When Solo recommended
that Rey and Finn not stare at
anything in Maz Kanata’s castle, it
was reminiscent of Beckett’s tip that
Han should keep his eyes down
on Dryden Vos’s yacht. Then there
was Han’s reckless commitment
to chasing Imperial troops
through the corridors of the Death
Star, which resembled Beckett’s
desperate charge on Mimban’s front
lines—but it was Beckett’s speech
about thinking ahead, anticipating
opponents, and predicting various
outcomes, which prepared Solo for
his mentor’s inevitable double-cross
and convinced the Corellian to use
such maneuvers in the future.
Beckett’s treachery had a long-
lasting impact on Solo; his distrustand skepticism rooted itself in
Han’s psyche, leaving him hesitant
to join the Rebellion or form any
lasting friendships—with the
exception of one. Han’s love for
Chewbacca clearly broke Beckett’s
solitude theory, and, as Qi’ra
astutely observed, the smuggler
had a golden heart. Yet, it was
hard not to recognize vestiges of
Beckett’s self interest after Han,
Luke, Leia, and Chewie escaped the
Death Star’s trash compactor and
he snarkily declared, “I take orders
from just one person: me!”