ODEON Magazine 113 Nov/Dec | Page 22

9 LANDO CALRISSIAN Episodes V, VI & IX Last seen in Episode VI, The Rise of Skywalker heralds the return of the galaxy’s smoothest criminal. But will he choose Team Light or Team Dark? With Lando, you never know for sure! 6 EMPEROR PALPATINE / DARTH SIDIOUS Episodes I-III, V, VI & IX The Empire’s wizened kingpin was believed to have perished when Vader threw him into the Death Star’s reactor. But the climactic cackle in The Rise of Skywalker trailer is unmistakable. Chills! Did you know? Han is partly based on the director Francis Ford Coppola Darkest moment: Instructing Anakin to kill Dooku! HAN SOLO 8 OBI-WAN KENOBI Episodes I-VI This gently spoken Jedi is Luke’s introduction to the Force and consequently ours, too. His death at Vader’s hands is the saga’s first big shock. No one, it tells us, is safe in this universe. 7 YODA Episodes I-III, V, VI & VIII Luke’s green-skinned mentor has a comical way of dispensing wisdom but mock him at your peril. At 900 years old, he’s the wisest, most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. Love him, we do! Episodes IV-VII Shifting everything from spice to rathtars in his rough- and-ready starship, the Millennium Falcon, Harrison Ford’s scoundrel smuggler owes debts all over the galaxy. But in the real world it’s creator George Lucas who owes Han Solo a debt... of gratitude. The “scruffy-looking nerf herder” is the original trilogy’s MVP, a cocksure flyboy with charm to spare. He ‘is’ Star Wars and his death still hurts. Best moment: “I love you!” “I know!” Han in a nutshell. Jump to Episode IV: A New Hope and we’re introduced to Luke Skywalker, a farmboy who is trained by Obi-Wan for a mission to rescue Princess Leia and retrieve the plans that will help the Jedis destroy Palpatine’s nightmarish Death Star. With the help of smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, Luke 22 ODEON.co.uk succeeds, but Kenobi is killed in a duel with Vader. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is all about the daddy issues, as Luke learns Vader is his father, and there’s a sense of resolution in Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi, as Palpatine’s forces fall to the Rebels. But that peace is shattered by Episode VII: The Force