Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a movie that is going to have significant repercussions for the events of Episode IX, but there's one item that is used in the movie that could be even more important for Solo: A Star Wars Story. A bit is made in Star Wars: The Last Jedi about a set of gold dice hanging inside the Millennium Falcon. While fans might have recognized them, from appearing in previous films, the documentary included in The Last Jedi makes a point to specify why they are important to Han Solo, which means we could see them in the next Star Wars film. A crewmember handling props explains...
We made these dice which were hanging in the Millennium Falcon cockpit. Apparently, it's what Han Solo used to win the Millennium Falcon so he's always kept them hanging up.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is going to give us a young Han, a young Lando, and the Millennium Falcon. There was already a good chance we would see the moment where Han takes possession of the ship in the film, so if we do, then we will see these dice again. It's just as likely then, that we'll see Han taking those lucky dice and turning them into the keepsake that we see Luke remembering in The Last Jedi.
Traditionally, the story of how Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon has involved a blackjack like card game called Sabacc, but the official story is that the two were playing a dice-based variant called Corellian Spike. The fact that Han Solo won the ship from Lando Calrissian is canon, it's mentioned in The Empire Strikes Back, but the details as to how have previously only been available through non-canon sources. It's possible Lucasfilm decided to make the dice, which have been there from the beginning, hanging up on unremarked on in Star Wars: A New Hope, a focal point in The Last Jedi so that fans who never noticed them before will be familiar with them when they are referenced again. The source of the dice is never mentioned in The Last Jedi, so why do they have a history at all, unless there are plans for the story to be known?
This would make a certain amount of sense. The casual fan probably never noticed the dice until Star Wars: The Last Jedi drew attention to them. It works by itself, but if there are plans to incorporate small or big easter eggs into the new movie that predates the original trilogy, it makes sense to make sure that fans are aware of the dice before showing Han Solo hang them up on his new ship for the first time.
While the "connected universe" has been around for a while now, the fact is that Star Wars is still new to the idea. Star Wars movies have all been directly related to each other, rather than simply taking place in the same universe and Solo: A Star Wars Story will be the most disconnected to date, including characters we know but, as far as we know, a plot that is unrelated to the larger story. The dice could connect Solo to the larger saga in a more direct way.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now available on Digital.
