Han's death at the hands of Kylo Ren totally tore me apart. I cry pretty easily at movies, but I was absolutely sobbing when he died.
Once Han yells "BEN!" to Kylo on the bridge, that's when it hit me that, as much as I wanted him to, our favorite smuggler wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Everything about that scene was extremely emotional to me. Chewie's roar of grief, Leia feeling a disturbance in the Force, even Finn and Rey's expression once they witnessed this Rebellion hero get impaled on the lightsaber of his own son, but this entire scene has so much more emotion than even I thought possible.
To clarify, I've seen TFA around 8 times. I know the film inside out by now, but the one scene that ALWAYS sticks out to me as the most emotional was Han's death. First off, Han's death wasn't just used as a way to kill off a beloved character and make people care about he film, it was used as a way to advance Kylo Ren's internal struggle. Throughout the film, he says things such as "Forgive me. I feel it again... the call from light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness, and I'll let nothing stand in our way." and " I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." Kylo Ren is clearly conflicted about his stance. He's scared, he's afraid, but he still feels Ben Solo, the Jedi he once was, inside him. Han takes this jump in basically allowing his son to kill him, but does so in a way that will cause further grief inside of Kylo. In his final moments, he brushes the cheek of his son before falling off the bridge, showing that he still cared about his son. On one hand, he did what Supreme Leader Snoke asked and killed his father to advance in his Dark Side training, but on the other, he's sure to feel guilt after a moment like that, and it's sure to rip apart Kylo in future installments.
In the junior novel adaptation of TFA, this scene is from the point of view of Han, showing what he saw in his final moments. Among the pieces of his life that flashed before his eyes, he clearly remembers the Millennium Falcon, his best friend Chewbacca, the love of his life Leia, and finally, his son. He doesn't see the horrible things Kylo Ren has done. He doesn't see the Dark Side warrior before him. He sees his son, Ben Solo.
The final moment I want to explain here is Chewbacca's reaction. While the the reactions of Leia, Rey, and Finn are pretty much exactly what they seem, Chewie's is different. Of course he lights out a Wookie roar of rage and loss, but it's what comes after his heartbreak that's important. Chewbacca just lost his best friend in the entire galaxy. The friend that helped him out of slavery, the friend that stood beside him during the Galactic Civil War, and the fiend that went on countless adventures with him afterwords. In the film and in other media, we've seen that Chewbacca's Bowcaster packs a punch; an explosive punch. A punch that has been shown to make stormtroopers fly into the air. Chewbacca had the perfect shot to kill Kylo Ren, but he ended up shooting his leg instead of his chest or head. This can be taken one of two ways: 1. Chewie doesn't want to kill Kylo, the evil man that came out of the boy he once knew, the son of his best friend, or 2. Chewie WANTS Kylo Ren to pay, he wants him to feel bad about his actions, he wants to cause the same kind of conflict in Kylo that Han did in his final moments.
There's a lot more at play in that scene than you initially see, and a lot more to cause grief in the villain that's already feeling the call from the Light.
Once Han yells "BEN!" to Kylo on the bridge, that's when it hit me that, as much as I wanted him to, our favorite smuggler wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Everything about that scene was extremely emotional to me. Chewie's roar of grief, Leia feeling a disturbance in the Force, even Finn and Rey's expression once they witnessed this Rebellion hero get impaled on the lightsaber of his own son, but this entire scene has so much more emotion than even I thought possible.
To clarify, I've seen TFA around 8 times. I know the film inside out by now, but the one scene that ALWAYS sticks out to me as the most emotional was Han's death. First off, Han's death wasn't just used as a way to kill off a beloved character and make people care about he film, it was used as a way to advance Kylo Ren's internal struggle. Throughout the film, he says things such as "Forgive me. I feel it again... the call from light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness, and I'll let nothing stand in our way." and " I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." Kylo Ren is clearly conflicted about his stance. He's scared, he's afraid, but he still feels Ben Solo, the Jedi he once was, inside him. Han takes this jump in basically allowing his son to kill him, but does so in a way that will cause further grief inside of Kylo. In his final moments, he brushes the cheek of his son before falling off the bridge, showing that he still cared about his son. On one hand, he did what Supreme Leader Snoke asked and killed his father to advance in his Dark Side training, but on the other, he's sure to feel guilt after a moment like that, and it's sure to rip apart Kylo in future installments.
In the junior novel adaptation of TFA, this scene is from the point of view of Han, showing what he saw in his final moments. Among the pieces of his life that flashed before his eyes, he clearly remembers the Millennium Falcon, his best friend Chewbacca, the love of his life Leia, and finally, his son. He doesn't see the horrible things Kylo Ren has done. He doesn't see the Dark Side warrior before him. He sees his son, Ben Solo.
The final moment I want to explain here is Chewbacca's reaction. While the the reactions of Leia, Rey, and Finn are pretty much exactly what they seem, Chewie's is different. Of course he lights out a Wookie roar of rage and loss, but it's what comes after his heartbreak that's important. Chewbacca just lost his best friend in the entire galaxy. The friend that helped him out of slavery, the friend that stood beside him during the Galactic Civil War, and the fiend that went on countless adventures with him afterwords. In the film and in other media, we've seen that Chewbacca's Bowcaster packs a punch; an explosive punch. A punch that has been shown to make stormtroopers fly into the air. Chewbacca had the perfect shot to kill Kylo Ren, but he ended up shooting his leg instead of his chest or head. This can be taken one of two ways: 1. Chewie doesn't want to kill Kylo, the evil man that came out of the boy he once knew, the son of his best friend, or 2. Chewie WANTS Kylo Ren to pay, he wants him to feel bad about his actions, he wants to cause the same kind of conflict in Kylo that Han did in his final moments.
There's a lot more at play in that scene than you initially see, and a lot more to cause grief in the villain that's already feeling the call from the Light.
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