While the scene between Luke and Leia in “The Last Jedi” literally puts Han Solo’s dice front and center, the golden ornaments have been an iconic piece of Star Wars lore since their introduction in “A New Hope.” However, it wasn’t until 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” that die-hard fans finally got an explanation as to how the smuggler got the gold dice.
The Han-Solo-focused spin-off reveals the dice are the smuggler’s lucky charm that he keeps close to himself, hanging them on whatever ship he finds himself piloting. Although he loses them for a few years after gifting his luck to Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), she eventually returns them to Han (Alden Ehrenreich). The smuggler then uses them in a game of Corellian Spike – a dice version of the intergalactic card game sabacc – against Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) to win the Millennium Falcon.
Chronologically, the gold dice don’t appear again until the events of “A New Hope.” However, with the added backstory of “Solo,” what started as a measly set dressing for a 1977 indie film became an iconic piece of lore for a billion-dollar franchise. Luke, then giving the gold dice to Leia in “The Last Jedi,” brings their story full circle, with Han’s lucky charm ending up with the person he was lucky enough to call his wife. It also gives “The Last Jedi,” Star Wars’ most divisive film, an emotional moment that all fans can appreciate.
