Ben’s little head appeared in the holo, and his eyes went wide. “Dada!”
Han stepped back, and an unstoppable smile burst across his face. “Hey, kiddo! You all right?”
Ben nodded then opened a toothy grin of his own. “Unca Wanwo!”
“Hey, little starfighter,” Lando said.
“All right,” Leia said. “I’ll let you guys go. Be safe out there.” She blew Han a kiss and waved at the other two. “Say bye, Ben.”
“Come back, Dada,” Ben said, articulating each word carefully.
“Soon, son, I promise,” Han said.
Leia signed off with Ben still waving wildly at everyone.
Don’t worry, I’m not spoiling anything with these little Ben excerpts. They’re just so cute I have to share or I’ll burst. 🙂 There’s more Ben in this book than I expected.
(© Last Shot by Daniel José Older, Del Ray.)
Wayward Jedi said something to that effect, too, that this seemingly random focus on Han is to clue people into Ben’s redemption. I mean, I don’t think people were clamoring for a Han Solo movie; Obiwan, Yoda, and Boba Fett were what fans wanted more of. So why did they make one, and why now? It definitely has the potential to backfire and make fans resent Ben even more–I have to admit, the more familiar I become with Han’s character, the more disappointed I am in Ben for what he did. But I believe in Ben and would prefer to save things I love than kill things I hate, so I just tell myself that Han’s death will have deep, deep repercussions. I agree with you, I really cannot imagine they would repeatedly depict Ben as this adorable, innocent little boy if they meant to put him down like a rabid dog.
I’ve seen the theories out there that the reason for the Solo movie timing was to further engage fans in Ben’s redemption. I always felt like it was a stretch and that learning more about Han would only serve to make Ben more of the villain – after all, he killed a beloved character when he killed his father. BUT, I do have to wonder with ALL of the snippets in the recent books if that truly is the reason. The snippets make the reader see that Kylo Ren, the man who killed the beloved Han Solo, was once Ben Solo, a lonely little boy who missed his parents.