Would Han still shoot first?

[lyore]

Squeezed in a little writing time today, around work and other things. Only about half an hour, but at least it's something. Trying to get the motivation and time to write to line up together has been an exercise in futility for the longest time, so I'll take what I can get, even if it does happen when I really should be getting reading for bed, and I have to stop because I really do have to get up the next morning and go to work. And Darth Vader and Han Solo are still trapped in the turbolift, but at least they are threatening each other talking. This is a start.

Anyway, this got me thinking about Han Solo's character, and how he's changed/not changed through the saga. And since I know my flist are all intelligent and discerning people, who understand that Han Shot First, I have a question for you all.

Would Han still have shot first, if the Greedo scene had occurred at some other time in the Saga? Would he still have shot first if it had happened between A New Hope and Empire, for instance, or just after Jedi? 10 years after Jedi? At what stage (if ever), would the respectible-isation of Han Solo stopped him from shooting first? We all know that he'd still shoot last, but would the changes in his values (the reaffirmation of the value of friendships, standing up for your beliefs, true love, all that jazz), change his instinctive response to the situation?

Feel free to include or ignore the EU in your responses - whatever floats your boat. I'm just interested in other people's thoughts.

And now I really, really need to go to bed.

Comments

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Even though Han Shot First (of course he did) Greedo had threatened him. I had the impression Greedo might have killed him right then and there anyway.

Maybe it's just my own stubborness, but I can't see Han changing in that regard. I always foudn him respectible deep down. It's just now he has to hold that more on the outside than the inside because of Leia. But if he was threatened or his family was threatened, I can see him doing what he's always done. He might just struggle with it a bit more as time passes.

[lyore.livejournal.com]

But if he was threatened or his family was threatened, I can see him doing what he's always done.

I think he would definitely still shoot first if his family was threatened, and probably still if people were threatening him.

He might just struggle with it a bit more as time passes.

It's odd - I don't really see him as struggling with it more, mostly because I see any potential hesitation arising from the practicality of the situation (impact on Leia, her political career, etc), rather than the morality, which like you, I don't think really changed - just surfaced, I guess.

[threnody.livejournal.com]

I think, in that very situation (ie, kill or be killed), he'd still shoot first. No matter what. Because that's who he is. I don't think he'd be quite as likely to do it with so many witnesses (and that would bother him, because he would be in the right and doing it quietly would be too much like admitting it's wrong), but yeah. He'd still shoot first.

[lyore.livejournal.com]

I don't think he'd be quite as likely to do it with so many witnesses (and that would bother him, because he would be in the right and doing it quietly would be too much like admitting it's wrong)

That's a good point. And I agree - I think he'd always shoot first when it came down to kill-or-be-kill, especially if his family was involved.

[amethyste5.livejournal.com]

Well, this is actually a two parter for me. (I know, waaaay overthinking it)

Part one: Han alone. Han, on his own, would still shoot, whether or not he was first would depend on the condition of his reflexes, you set it too far post Jedi and he's gonna be slowing down a little bit from both age and all the millions of other things on his mind.

Part Two: Han with the world. For starters, post Jedi he is not going to be alone very often, the further post Jedi you get the less often he will be entirely alone. Companions, family, even bodyguards (the noghri frown on harming Leia's hubby) have become a part of his life, and that changes the equation drastically. If he's with family he is far less likely to shoot for two reasons, the first being the preponderance of Force users in his family making a blaster redundant and the need to shoot unlikely, and the noghri wouldn't let a threat get that close to begin with. The second reason is how it will impact those around him, his first thought will always be to protect them, but he also has to consider Leia's political image and Luke's non violent stance when deciding to commit murder, not to mention how it will affect his kids to see that kind of violence coming from him.

Time to stop and feed the Munchkin!

[lyore.livejournal.com]

Way overthinking is goodness! :)

Yes, I think that later on, Han would stop (well, pause) and consider the consequences of his actions on his family. Still, I think he'd still shoot, unless he could clearly and instinctively see that Luke, Leia or the bodyguards had matters in hand. As you say, that number of force-users has a way of making blasters unnecessary :)

[cloverfizz.livejournal.com]

Interesting question... Not ever having been a Han fangirl (left that to just about every other girl I knew who was into SW :P) my answer might be a bit shonky, but anyway.
I think that yes, Han would still shoot first at the end of RotJ. At this point he's starting to become more aware of galactical politics and consequences but at the core, Han is one of the characters who changes least through the OT. His reaction in ESB when Vader is revealed on Cloud City is to instantly shoot - doesn't matter that he knows blasters are useless in the situation, that Leia is right next to him, etc, his instinctive first reaction puts that blaster in his hand. Given that in essence next to no time passed for him while frozen in carbonite, his character hasn't gone through any major changes between this point in Empire and the end of Jedi.
I think that as the EU goes along, his reactions would still put the blaster into his hand... Han is always far less trusting than either Leia or Luke. And Han is in essence still a shoot first and ask questions later kind of guy, especially if it came to his safety or that or his family.
Hopefully this ramble makes some sort of sense... I think the situations in which he might have the opportunity to fire first (without intervention from his force weilding relatives or bodyguards, etc) lessen as the EU timeline keeps going, but I still think that if such a situation arose, he's still shoot first.

[lyore.livejournal.com]

My Han-fangirlness comes second to my Luke-fangirlness (and probably also to my Darth Vader-fangirlness, but it would be close) :)

Good point about ESB, and there really being no relative time for Han in between there and RotJ - I hadn't thought about that.

I'm a bit divided on the actions of EU!Han, but I think I shall blame that on the inconsistent characterisation and not my inability to make up my mind (although I think he probably still would, all things considered).