CAUTION: This article contains minor spoilers regarding the plot of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

When it comes to Han Solo‘s lucky gold dice, the first and only time they appeared in the original Star Wars trilogy was A New Hope. They were never seen again on film until The Last Jedi, when Luke Skywalker gave a force-projected version of them to his sister, Leia Organa. Fans subsequently noticed Han’s lucky charms were making a comeback in the first Solo: A Star Wars Story teaser, yet their presence also suggested writers Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan would be altering their Expanded Universe origins.

That’s exactly what happens, as Alden Ehrenreich’s Han already possesses them when the movie begins. We’re never told how he acquired them, though it’s clearly evident he already believes in their luck-granting abilities. During Han and Qi’ra’s (Emilia Clarke) doomed attempt to flee Corellia, he gifts her the dice. “For luck?” she asks. Smiling, he says, “Damn right!” Unfortunately for the two lovers, Qi’ra is apprehended and Han is forced to join the imperial forces in order to escape — thereby crushing his belief in their good fortune.

Per The Force Awakens visual dictionary, the dice were “used in the ‘Corellian Spike’ game of sabacc in which [Han] won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian.” This is when he had previously acquired them. After Disney purchased Lucasfilm, however, the EU became Star Wars Legends and was therefore no longer canonical — including Han’s revelation in the 1983 Marvel Star Wars comic “Jawas of Doom” that they were “the dice I won her with.” This presented the Kasdans with an opportunity.

They took it by altering the gold dice’s origins, to a degree, but they also used it to change Han himself. He is far less cynical (“I’ve got a really good feeling about this”) than his older self eventually becomes, and when Qi’ra returns the dice during the Kessel Run, they restore his faith in fortune. So much so that, when Han and Lando (Donald Glover) have a sabacc rematch at the end of the film, the latter discovers his opponent’s hidden cheat and defeats him “fair and square.” They’re still “the dice I won her with,” but in a far more meaningful way.

Were you happy with the gold dice’s origins in Solo: A Star Wars Story? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Lucasfilm, Marvel

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