Han Solo’s Dream – Part III

If you’ve spent any time with us here at the Indiana Jones Minute you’re probably already well aware of the theory that the Indiana Jones movies are the fever dream Han Solo has while he’s encased in Carbonite. If you aren’t yet familiar with the theory, you can find Part I and Part II of Han Solo’s Dream here. And now why don’t you sit back, relax, fluff up that pillow a little and just let those heavy eyelids slowly close…

When we last left our dreaming (and dreamy) hero, he was busy fighting his way through the streets of Mos Eisl…er, Cairo.

1. Not surprisingly, all roads from both the Mos Eisley spaceport and Cairo lead to the same place. Minute 57 has Han dreaming of a trench run.
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2. And then his dream slowly pans over to reveal his alter ego looking through a telescopic device that seems quite familiar in his waking universe… ..
3. One rarely looks through a set of macro- or electrobinoculars without shortly thereafter being thrown into a dangerous situation and this is certainly no exception. After a bit of ocular scouting, Indy makes his way to the earthly manifestation of supreme galactic power (represented by the Ark of the Covenant) and almost immediately finds himself confronted with menacing and magical blue lightning. Minute 59
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4. Unfortunately the anxiety of being encased in Carbonite keeps creeping back into Han’s dream and in Minute 60 Indy opens the Well of the Souls to hear a hissing sound and see a strange fog pouring out, highly reminiscent of hissing Carbonite steam.
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5. In Minute 66 Han Solo is undoubtedly thinking back to his first kiss with Princess Leia deep in an underground chamber as he dreams that he is finally attaining the focus of his deepest desires (the Ark). Just as Han kissed Leia to the soft thundering sounds of Tie Bombers dropping their payloads in blue explosions on the surface above, Indy runs his hands over the Ark to the sound of distant thundering explosions and blue flashes coming from above.

   As Han takes Leia’s hands she tells him they’re dirty. He says his are dirty too. So naturally when Indy first touches the sarcophagus containing the ark he runs his hands through the dust and dirt on top of it, quietly contemplating and acting as if he’s right on the verge of realizing that this is all a Carbonite dream…
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6. …Suddenly Han’s kiss is interrupted by C-3PO appearing over his shoulder. This is certainly mirrored in Minute 67 as C-3PO literally appears above Indy’s shoulder. Both R2-D2 and C-3PO appear in the form of a hieroglyph just as he starts to remove the stone sarcophagus lid. Given Han’s feelings about “the professor” the somewhat crude rendition of ol’ CPO here seems fitting.
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7. Much like the events in Han’s waking life, his dream sequences tend to cut back and forth between what’s happening to him and what’s happening to his friends. In Minute 68 we find Marion being menaced by Toht in the tent. What is Toht’s rank? He doesn’t seem to be in the military yet Colonel Dietrich and Major Gobler are quite deferential and Gobler even takes his coat like a servant. Could Han be thinking of others who don’t seem to have an official military rank yet are treated with great deference by even the highest ranking officers?
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8. Han’s subconscious really seems to be trying to break to the surface now. In Second 30 of Minute 69 yet another hieroglyph appears (this one is quite faint) that shows CPO next to R2-D2. And who do we see kneeling beside R2 but an Egyptian Leia, trying to load some kind of message into him.
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9. The dream suddenly turns scary in Minute 71. Indy slowly realizes that he’s about to be trapped inside a suffocating rectangular container in a desert world forever. And there’s even a mischievous Jawa ghost who appears to remind him of where his ultimate resting place will be!
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10. Han, obviously thinking about how his Carbonite tomb is destined to become a permanent fixture in Jabba’s desert palace, dreams that he looks up and hears Belloq saying, “Who knows…In a thousand years even you may be worth something!” Apparently Han has heard Jabba’s by now almost formulaic thousand year Sarlacc Pit threat several times before.
    And now in Minute 72, as the hissing Carbonite has completely enveloped him and he knows he’s truly trapped, Han’s thoughts turn to his friends above. Just as they’re being threatened by an evil man with a red lightsaber, Indy’s friends up on the surface seem to share a similar danger as evidenced by this red lens flare.
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11. And thus closes this section of Han Solo’s dream. In Minute 73 the Well of the Souls is sealed up again and the sound the great stone seal makes is quite like the sound Han’s Carbonite tomb makes when it hits the floor after the Ugnaughts push it over.
    

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Will our hero survive? Will he ever wake from this thrilling nightmare? Check back soon for more of Han Solo’s Dream!