Warning: This article contains spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Newer standalone Star Wars films like Rogue One and Solo contain plenty of unexpected appearances to tie the expansive galaxy together, but they just as often reward rewatches of older movies like a throwaway line about its most iconic ship that now has new meaning.
L3-37, Lando Calrissian’s co-pilot, met her end after staging a revolution on Kessel while Han Solo, Qi’ra, Beckett, and Chewbacca stole unrefined coaxium from Kessel’s mines. But she lived on well beyond the scope of the newest Star Wars movie due to some ingenuity, not to mention a somewhat-cruel twist of fate for the droid who dreamed of equal rights: A still-mourning Lando and Qi’ra uploaded her mind into the Millennium Falcon itself, which not only helped the crew get out of the Kessel Run but has helped provide navigation ever since.
Last week, the Star Wars Twitter account posted a graphic featuring a quote from C-3PO in Empire Strikes Back, where he makes mention of the Millennium Falcon’s communication skills. For close to 40 years, the line hasn’t meant much for more casual viewers except to maybe comment on the ship’s unique nature. But now, thanks to Solo, we now know why the Millennium Falcon has a “peculiar dialect.” (For additional effect, the Star Wars Twitter account spelled Millennium Falcon with “L3.”)
MilL3nnium Falcon. #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/FVbkqCJIu5
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2018
Thanks to Solo infusing that part of the puzzle into the older canon, we can now determine that C-3PO was communicating with L3-37. And the Star Wars account confirmed it even further after a young fan picked up on the reference while watching Solo.
The Force is strong with her, Nico!
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2018
Because L3 is part of the Millennium Falcon, she’s been witness to the ship’s many adventures while being flown by Lando, Han, Chewbacca, and Rey over the years. But just because she’s within the ship doesn’t mean she always peacefully co-exists with it.
A passage from the Last Jedi novelization, which is told from R2-D2’s point of view, has another meaning because we now know that L3 is one of the three droid brains that run the Millennium Falcon. (And we can definitely guess, based on her conversation with Qi’ra, which one she is.)
The Falcon had always been cantankerous, its three droid brains quarreling endlessly unless forced to work together. Still, R2-D2 usually got along with the ship well enough. For one thing, none of the brains could stand C-3PO; for another, one of them had a fondness for both romantic gossip and dirty jokes, both of which R2-D2 had learned to provide in large quantities.
Yep, that sounds like L3 alright.
H/T io9