12

A trailer for the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story shows at 1:28 the Millennium Falcon having quite the streamlined front end:

Image of a diving Millennium Falcon showing a continuous front profile

When it is seen in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, it clearly has a more distinctive gap in its front:

Image of the Millennium Falcon in the Death Star docking bay, showing the distinctive notched front profile

When and why is this modification made?

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    Have you read this?
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Apr 9, 2018 at 17:45
  • 1
    Or this? It implies that explaining it would be a spoiler, which would make this closeable under the future works policy. (But that it will be explained).
    – JohnP
    Commented Apr 9, 2018 at 17:49
  • 1
    @JohnP and MrLister: Had not seen either of those, and the second link certainly sounds like the movie universe will provide an answer in the Solo movie, but is it certain that nothing like this is discussed in written canon?
    – ScottS
    Commented Apr 9, 2018 at 18:16
  • 3
    @Machavity This answer to another question seems to show some configurations of the YT-1300 Corellian Freighter that match closer to the Solo movie version, so while that does not answer the when/why, it does imply a form of customization.
    – ScottS
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 1:40

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
13

In Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Millennium Falcon begins with the front center piece in place. However, during the course of the movie, they fly through

the maelstrom around Kessel, a hazardous electrically-charged swirling cloud of dust and rocky debris, in order to circumvent an Imperial blockade and get their coaxium refined before it goes unstable. They are chased by TIE fighters, a large beast living within the maelstrom, peppered by rocky debris, struck by lightning, and fight against the immense pull off a gravity well within know as the Maw.

It is during these events that

the Millennium Falcon takes extensive damage, and we see it no longer has its front central nose piece. Even after Lando does some significant repairs, we see he either chooses to not reinstall this piece, or just hadn't gotten around to it by the time Han wins it from him. The result is that it was never replaced.

Improve this answer
2
  • Yet another retcon. Good answer tho
    – Machavity
    Commented May 26, 2018 at 2:00
  • 7
    Worth an edit to include the fact that Lando explicitly states he "installed an escape pod between the forward mandibles".
    – vynsane
    Commented May 29, 2018 at 15:56
14

To add on the answer from Mwr247:

Lando specifically mentions he placed an "escape pod between the mandibles" (i.e., the front of the spaceship) during the course of the "Solo" movie.

During the events described in Mwr247's answer, Han Solo launches this escape pod into the Maelstrom to lure the creature chasing them into the gravity well, giving the Falcon back its old signature profile.

Improve this answer
2
  • In A New Hope, the Imperials state that some escape pods were jettisoned (based on logs) upon capturing the Millennium Falcon, but the ship looks the same. Are we sure the absence of escape pods creates the characteristic appearance?
    – Todd D
    Commented Jan 8, 2021 at 5:32
  • @ToddD Escape pods have been present in multiple books with cross section drawings of the Millennium Falcon. They are much smaller than the one between the mandibles, of course, and located in the main body (think of a tiny version of the one R2 and 3PO uses at the start of ANH). I think we can also assume that Lando's escape pod is a bit more luxurious than the small ones, seeing as he is a bit vain :D
    – TheHvidsten
    Commented Jan 8, 2021 at 9:16
1

I would say that this question probably can't be fully answered until the movie releases. (As some have already mentioned in the comments, the answer to this question will probably be a rather important plot-point in the movie itself.)

However, it is possible that the Falcon was originally equipped with a small shuttlecraft that docks on the front of the main vessel, and this is what we're seeing as that extra place that is filled in on the nose of the ship.

The reason I say this is that we know other Correllian ships are made with this "accessory," such as the VCX-100 light freighter, like the Ghost from Star Wars Rebels. This freighter is equipped with the exact same type of mini-ship (the one on the Ghost is known as the Phantom), though it docks on the back of that ship.

Here's a picture of the Ghost, with Phantom intact:

enter image description here

Here's one of the Phantom itself:

enter image description here

And here's a shot of the ship as seen in Rogue One without the Phantom:

enter image description here

(apologies for the quality of this last one, it was the only shot of the Phantom-less Ghost that I could find)

[I hope this answer isn't based too much on simple conjecture or fan-speculation, and must thereby be removed; I honestly think this particular question, while very interesting, is more or less impossible to answer until Solo: A Star Wars Story officially releases unless some spoilery article somehow gets leaked before then.]

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.