"Yes, I'll bet you have..."

   Those famous words were spoken by Corellian smuggler Han Solo before he blasted Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina.  The laconic (up 'till that point, anyway) Solo tosses a coin to the bartender, makes an ironic apology for the mess left at the table, and departs for docking bay 94, where the Millenium Falcon awaits.  The Falcon and its captain, along with the Wookie, Chewbaca, had just been contracted by an old man (little did we know the impact said old man, Obi Wan Kenobi, would have on that galaxy far, far away) and a farm boy whose cargo was themselves, two droids, and no questions asked.  So began a journey that would introduce us to countless worlds and species while renewing our hope in ourselves and our ability to be redeemed no matter how lost to the dark side we believe ourselves.  But, such is not my point.

   In the original classic from the 1970s, Greedo confronts Solo as he is leaving the cantina.  He tells Solo that there's a bounty out for him that no bounty hunter will ever be able to resist.  Solo distracts the Rodian thug while he surreptitiously unbuckled his own blaster holster under the table.  While the green-skinned bounty hunter goes on about his luck in stumbling across Solo, our reluctant anti-hero draws his weapon and then, when Greedo makes a comment about Jabba taking Solo's ship, Han blasts him, leaving a smoking corpse on the other side of the table.

   Now, here's the thing, in the special edition, Lucas' special effects wizards at Skywalker Ranch add an errant laser blast from Greedo's pistol that craters the wall behind Solo before the Corellian pilot blasts him.  Soooooo...why?  I have my theories; well, theory.  See, when George Lucas originally directed/producer Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope, he was a free-wheeling bachelor.  He didn't have a care in the world, didn't have any young lives to be concerned with as far as parenting.  When he decided it was time to re-release the films with some additional footage, he had three foster kids and perhaps the character of Han Solo needed to have a different kind of entry into the Star Wars story arc than as a cold, calculating killer.  I mean, now he had his own kids to think about and maybe, just maybe he didn't want them idolizing a killer.  Of course, the other possibility is that Lucas was thinking that Han Solo, in general, was a much different character by the end of Return of the Jedi than he was at that cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport.  Maybe Solo's evolution was simply too great for Lucas, the kinder, gentler filmmaker.  Or maybe he did it to make blogs like this one wax thoughtful about the change.

   The question had been asked many times, who shot first, but in the first release, there was only one shot fired, a "solo" shot, if you'll pardon the pun (I wouldn't pardon a pun that bad, actually).

   If you want to consider this and more Star Wars musings, I suggest you check out the documentary Jedi Junkies.  I thought I was into Star Wars trivia and memorabilia, but learned I am a mere Jawa among Stormtroopers.

   The wagon rolls on, thanks for riding shotgun; strap yourselves in, I'm making the jump to light speed.