Take Care
At the end of A New Hope, the Empire discovers the location of the Rebels’ hidden base on Yavin IV and prepares to attack it. As the Rebels ready themselves for the battle, Han Solo prepares to leave, intending to pay his debt to Jabba the Hutt despite the protests of Luke Skywalker, who wants him to stay and fight for the Rebel cause. Chewbacca also objects to Han’s departure with a rueful growl, prompting Han to brusquely retort, “What are you looking at? I know what I’m doing.”
At the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, the Empire discovers the location of the Rebels’ hidden base on Hoth and prepares to attack it. As the Rebels ready themselves for the battle, Han again prepares to leave, intending to pay his debt to Jabba the Hutt despite the protests of Leia Organa, who wants him to stay and fight for the Rebel cause. Once again, Chewbacca stands in the way of Han’s departure – though this time he does so inadvertently, by slowing down repairs to the Millennium Falcon.
The fact that these sequences mirror each other so closely underlines the changes that have occurred in Han’s character and in his relationships with the other heroes, especially Luke. At the end of A New Hope, Luke angrily takes his leave of Han with the words, “Take care of yourself, Han. I guess that’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?” At the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke bids farewell to Chewbacca (and, by extension, Han) with the same phrase: “Take care of yourself, OK?” This time, however, it is not a sarcastic jab but an earnest expression of deep care between friends.
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Characters: Chewbacca / Han Solo / Luke Skywalker
Films: Episode IV: A New Hope / Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
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Concepts: friendship / selfishness
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