There are a lot of people that might figure that they know a lot about Chewbacca as he happens to be one of the most popular Star Wars characters ever created, but there’s more to the big walking carpet than a lot of people realize. Thanks to the prequels it’s not hard to figure out that he comes from Kashyyyk, a planet of heavy, primeval forests and a great number of swamps, but the idea of Chewie having a family is actually kind of alien to some folks since it’s something that doesn’t get covered in the movies. In the Star Wars Holiday Special, which some folks don’t wish to remember since it was considered to be that bad, it was established that Chewbacca does in fact have a family and that he’s left them for a very long time thanks to the life debt that he owed to Han Solo. More impressive than even the Gungan life debt that was established in Episode 1, a Wookie’s life debt typically means that they owe their loyalty to whoever saved them at one point, meaning that they are, by honor and by unwritten code, bound to stick around that individual until said debt is cleared. With Han’s death however one might have thought that it would be time for Chewie to head home and finally wash his hands of the wars that continued to pop up around the galaxy, but for one reason or another he stayed. In the Legends canon however it was Chewie that ended up entering the great beyond when an invading alien force began to disrupt the galaxy. In true fashion though the Wookie met his end soon after saving the son of his longtime friend Han Solo, roaring his defiance at the moon that the enemy had caused to collide with the planet he was standing on at that time. Can you really think of that many ways that are more fitting for a figure of Chewie’s legendary stature to go out? Sean Hutchinson of Mental Floss has a few more facts about Chewie that you might want to check out.
In current canon however he’s decided to stick around, though it does feel as though it might be more for the fans than anything that Disney did this since a Star Wars movie without Chewbacca just doesn’t feel entirely right, barring the first two prequels of course. Chewie does add a very comforting and familiar lean to the most recent trilogy but it also feels as though he’s the fifth wheel in a sense, someone that everyone is glad to have there but is still present just because they might need him. In the original trilogy he was a fully integrated and crucial member of the cast since he was Han’s friend and muscle but he was also one of the only people that could keep the Millennium Falcon up and operational considering that in his long life (he’s well over 200 in A New Hope) he’s learned the ins and outs of engineering and can take apart and put together quite a few things. It’s not hard to believe that he knows the Falcon inside and out just as well as Han does, as the two spent the majority of their time on the ship as smugglers and eventual heroes of the Rebellion. Perhaps it was the ship he couldn’t leave behind, or the life, but for whatever reason Chewie was kept on largely as a marketing gimmick and because he belongs with the story it feels like. The only other explanation is that Disney is once again cherry-picking from the Legends canon, as the life debt was said to have been extended to Leia and Luke, and to Leia and Han’s children. At this point though with Leia, Han, and Luke all gone, and Ben having become one with the Force, if there are any more movies moving forward from the most recent trilogy, one would have to assume that Chewie has now extended his life debt to Rey as well, or that he might finally get to return home to Kashyyyk.
The life debt is definitely a hard thing to grasp fully without going into it in a great amount of detail, but it does explain why Chewie followed Han around for so long at the expense of spending time with his own family. Some might still want to know how it is that Han can understand Chewie when others can’t, but this is pretty simple. Han was actually raised in part by a female Wookie when he was a young boy, and came to understand their language and even speak it a little. It might be hard for human ears and minds to understand the difference nuance and meaning of each growl and roar, but thankfully Han picked it up and was able to use that knowledge to not only befriend Chewie but understand him as well. There’s a lot to the life of Chewbacca that many people still don’t know, but it’s a hope that he’ll be around in the Star Wars timeline for a while to come.
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