Star Wars ABC's - The Letter I

Let's kick off week 2 of my Star Wars ABC's with the letter "I."

I is for "I know."

This is one of the most powerful lines in all the Star Wars, ranking up there with "I am your father" in terms of impact.

It was such a Han Solo Thing to say; such a definitive Han Solo Moment. The line was pitch-perfect in every way.

Except it almost never came to pass.

The story is legendary. George Lucas had originally scripted Han to say, "I love you, too" after Leia professed her love for him. Harrison Ford felt the line was out of character; that a rogue like Han Solo would not simply blubber "I love you, too."

He and Lucas haggled about it. When it came time to shoot the scene, Empire director Irvin Kershner told Ford to improvise.

Thus, "I know" became a part of Star Wars lore.

Can you imagine it any other way?

TOMORROW: He doesn't doesn't just hang smugglers; he hangs them on his wall!

H is for Hoth
G is for Galactic Empire
F is for Falcon
E is for Emperor
D is for Death Star
C is for Chewie
B is for Bespin
A is for Ackbar

Star Wars ABC's - The Letter H

We wrap up the first full week of my Star Wars ABC's with "H."

H is for Hoth.

There is cold, there is antarctic, and then there is Hoth.

A planet so inhospitable, its natives whither and die in the unrelenting conditions. So remote, it seems outside the infinite grasp of the Galactic Empire. So hopeless, everyone back at Echo Base thought the planet claimed the lives of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.

If there is one lesson to be learned from The Empire Strikes Back, it is that you shouldn't go to Hoth. Ever.

Because an Ice Wampa will try to eat you. Imperial Walkers will come knocking at your door. Walter Donovan from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade will be aboard one of these walkers and destroy the reactor powering your precious defense shield.

Some people like snow and ice. Did you ever see the Rebels sledding on Hoth? Building snowmen? Sipping on hot chocolate? (did you know hot chocolate exists in the Star Wars universe?)

The answer to all these questions is a resounding "NO."

Hoth isn't fun.

Don't go there.

MONDAY: The letter "I." Because love isn't in Han Solo's vocabulary.

G is for Galactic Empire
F is for Falcon
E is for Emperor
D is for Death Star
C is for Chewie
B is for Bespin
A is for Ackbar

Star Wars ABC's - The Letter G

Today, we celebrate the letter "G!"

G is for Galactic Empire.

I could've filed this under E for "EVIL" Galactic Empire (or simply "Empire"), but we'll relegate it to the "official" name.

The Empire, simply put, represents all things reprehensible in the Star Wars universe. We're talking idiotic bureaucracy, we're talking xenophobia, we're talking Dark Side of the Force. Totalitarianism, subjugation, slave labor, corruption, suppression of civil liberties.

The Galactic Empire is monolithic, seemingly made to last for infinite years, seemingly built to control everything.

Of course, these things never last.

People don't like having their freedoms erased. They don't enjoy it when regimes build weapons of mass destruction with the capacity to destroy entire planets. They don't enjoy it when certain a Grand Moff intimates that "fear will keep the local systems in line."

Thus, overly ambitious in its design and execution, the Galactic Empire was too big to rule, while the Emperor and his minions thought it was simply "too big to fail."

A big failure, instead.

TOMORROW: The letter "H." It's a cold one.

F is for Falcon
E is for Emperor
D is for Death Star
C is for Chewie
B is for Bespin
A is for Ackbar