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In the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon decides to shoot one of the Darth Vader's wing man TIE fighters instead of shooting Darth Vader's TIE fighter. Is there a Star Wars canon explanation for this?

It seems to me that the most logical thing for Han Solo to do at that moment would have been to shoot the lead TIE fighter that is about to shoot at Luke's X-Wing fighter.

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    Did he know Vader is in the lead ship?
    – Hans Olo
    Mar 29, 2020 at 15:31
  • @Rebel-Scum, I don't know, yet that shouldn't matter because I think the most logical thing to do would be to destroy the lead fighter especially if you are attacking from above which Han did.
    – user126715
    Mar 29, 2020 at 15:33
  • From watching the clip and the angle of the shot I don't think he could have possibly hit Vaders ship.
    – Eike Pierstorff
    Mar 29, 2020 at 15:34
  • @EikePierstorff, from the clip I had watched, the Millennium Falcon is coming out of the sunlight and there is nothing but space and stars behind the Falcon indicating that he attacked from above the trench on the Death Star.
    – user126715
    Mar 29, 2020 at 15:41

1 Answer 1

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We see the scene from Han's perspective in the short animated film Han Solo - Taking flight for his friends. In short, Han (or rather Chewie since he's manning the guns from the cockpit) targets the closest ship. Our view suggests that their target appears to be pulling slightly ahead of Vader's ship (and in front of it, from Han's POV), meaning that it presents the cleanest shot.

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    @user255577 - Well, we know from TLJ that blaster shots can curve :-)
    – Valorum
    Mar 29, 2020 at 17:32
  • @ Valorum, don't get me started on TLJ, oy!
    – user126715
    Mar 29, 2020 at 17:33
  • If you base it on this animated video, then this is the reason why he did what he did.
    – user126715
    Apr 30, 2020 at 17:22
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    @user255577 - It's the best (canon) view we've got.
    – Valorum
    Apr 30, 2020 at 18:28
  • I understand. Thanks for finding and posting that video.
    – user126715
    Apr 30, 2020 at 18:50

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