Why did GL make Greedo shoot first?

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2002-12-25 11:13pm

At the risk of daring to have an original thought, has anyone considered what it means for someone to actually sit back and let the other guy take a shot? Would it be supreme arrogance? Why yes, it would. Could this be a trait Han had in other occasions leading up to his heroism? Why yes, it would. Has anyone thought of this? No, they haven't.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-12-26 01:01am

SirNitram wrote:At the risk of daring to have an original thought, has anyone considered what it means for someone to actually sit back and let the other guy take a shot? Would it be supreme arrogance? Why yes, it would. Could this be a trait Han had in other occasions leading up to his heroism? Why yes, it would. Has anyone thought of this? No, they haven't.

Han's arrogant, not stupid. Even he couldn't have forseen Greedo's utter incompetence with a blaster to miss at less than a meter away, nor would he have been stupid enough to risk his skin on that.

Joe Momma · Post by **Joe Momma** » 2002-12-26 03:04am

SirNitram wrote:At the risk of daring to have an original thought,

Oh, Jesus. Dare I ask whether you're a misunderstood genius

or if you just had one of your sacred oxes gored here

?

has anyone considered what it means for someone to actually sit back and let the other guy take a shot?

Yes. It means that either he's an idiot or he's got a death wish, when the gun's in his face.

Would it be supreme arrogance? Why yes, it would. Could this be a trait Han had in other occasions leading up to his heroism? Why yes, it would.

Which is why he...

took on the Imps that intercepted him instead of erring on the side of caution and dumping Jabba's spice...

immediately ran into the detention center on the Death Star with guns blazing instead of having to be cajoled into it with a big reward and then trying to do it in disguise...

signed up for the Death Star run right away instead of being nagged by his conscience at the last minute...

...and generally acted as if he had a character shield. But hey, it's easier to write off working your way through a battle station's defenses and making a difficult shot as suicidal than it is to make the same judgment about letting someone get the first shot when the barrel of their gun is pointing at your head.

Furthermore, even accepting the above, it still doesn't change the basic contention that Han's an idiot for letting Greedo shoot first. All it does is suggest that the idiocy sprang from overconfidence (which he certainly has, but arguably not to the suicidal/delusional degree you're suggesting), rather than Han being a bit too much of a nice guy.

No, my bad. The actual premise was that George Lucas was an idiot for changing it, especially for the reasons he did. Han being an idiot just became the "in-story" rationale.

Has anyone thought of this? No, they haven't.

And now you know why.

I could see the possibility if the circumstances were slightly different, such as both of them having holstered guns and Han letting Greedo draw first before shooting him. But it is what it is. An argument could also be made that Han just doesn't care if he gets shot or not, i.e. having some sort of death wish, though that's refuted about as easily using the same points.

If you want one where Han's not an idiot, try this: Han really didn't expect Greedo to shoot. He just drew his gun as a precaution and when Greedo let fly, so did he. Then he's not an idiot as the above ideas suggest, but simply a bad judge of character.

-- Joe Momma

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2002-12-26 11:13am

Durandal wrote:
SirNitram wrote:At the risk of daring to have an original thought, has anyone considered what it means for someone to actually sit back and let the other guy take a shot? Would it be supreme arrogance? Why yes, it would. Could this be a trait Han had in other occasions leading up to his heroism? Why yes, it would. Has anyone thought of this? No, they haven't.
Han's arrogant, not stupid. Even he couldn't have forseen Greedo's utter incompetence with a blaster to miss at less than a meter away, nor would he have been stupid enough to risk his skin on that.

I dunno, I can't see those bugeyes being good at aiming.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-12-26 12:25pm

Does that Luke scream really mean that it was Luke that screamed? If it was the Emperor's scream taken from RotJ, and it was heard when Luke fell off the platform, how do we know that it really was Luke that screamed? MAYBE......it was the Emperor screaming because he lost Luke? Pathetic cover-up, but maybe it was like when Qui-Gon was speaking to Yoda, Palpatine was screaming at Vader.

"You fucking dolt! You let him get away! AAAAAEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!"

(Not to be taken seriously.)

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2002-12-26 01:06pm

Greedo was a prefessional Bounty Hunter. Even if he was dopy enough to let Han place his hand under the table he was never gonna miss from that distance. If was very insulting to SW fans.

Kon_El · Post by **Kon_El** » 2002-12-26 08:55pm

SW Tales #14 by Darkhorse has a joke comic sequence with Han being sued "In the Emperors Court" by Greedo's mother for cold blooded murder. Han introduces holo film of Greedo shooting first, but it is dismissed as clearly doctored evidence. The Emperor claims "No one should have the ablity to re-write history (except for me)". The whole thing is very funny. Vader to Palpatine, about Han "Not the kind of guy you's want to date your daughter"

that comic is so funny. love the first story where the stormtroopers meet the Ewoks for the first time.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-12-26 09:52pm

Darth Pounder wrote:Greedo was a prefessional Bounty Hunter. Even if he was dopy enough to let Han place his hand under the table he was never gonna miss from that distance. If was very insulting to SW fans.

It's been a while since I've read Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, but I remember that Greedo was a wannabe professional bounty hunter, and quite incompetent.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2002-12-28 07:21am

Durandal wrote:
Darth Pounder wrote:Greedo was a prefessional Bounty Hunter. Even if he was dopy enough to let Han place his hand under the table he was never gonna miss from that distance. If was very insulting to SW fans.
It's been a while since I've read Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, but I remember that Greedo was a wannabe professional bounty hunter, and quite incompetent.

Even so it would take you to be cross eyed and retarded to miss from that range.

Joe Momma · Post by **Joe Momma** » 2002-12-28 07:50am

Darth Pounder wrote:
Durandal wrote:It's been a while since I've read Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, but I remember that Greedo was a wannabe professional bounty hunter, and quite incompetent.
Even so it would take you to be cross eyed and retarded to miss from that range.

So Greedo is Darkstar?

-- Joe Momma

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2002-12-28 08:19am

I actually have no idea.

Post by **Vympel** » 2002-12-28 08:22am

Simon H.Johansen wrote:I actually have no idea.

Well now that's just spam

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2002-12-28 09:52pm

Joe Momma wrote:
Sidious wrote:
Let's go back for a moment and look at Han's head movement. I mean, Jesus fucking Christ, did he dislocate his neck to move like that? Forget that shooting first bullshit, watching Han's head flop around like a fucking windsock would have screwed me up a hell of a lot more as a child. Hell, it gives me bad Joe Theissman flashbacks as an adult.

Hilarious.....