Question: Did C-3PO and R2-D2 appear in this film?
Question: How is it that Han joins the empire at the beginning of Solo, and at the end Darth Maul appears in a hologram when Maul was killed in Phantom Menace, long before the rise of the empire and storm trooper army.
Answer: Not sure of the first question; This movie begins about 10 years before Episode 4. By then, the Empire is relying on conscripted soldiers as the Empire expands. Han simply enlists. For the second question, the answer is in the Clone Wars TV series: Maul didn't actually die, and even replaced his legs with cybernetic limbs.
Even this being true, Darth Maul was still killed by the end of the Clone Wars, which was still before the rise of the Empire, so being alive at the end and the Empire enlistment at the beginning does not fit with the timeline.
Answer: Official canon (Clone Wars TV show especially) establishes that Maul survived his encounter with Obi-Wan and comes back into relevancy during the Clone Wars, running crime syndicates and initiating war on Mandalore behind the scenes. Why he's still running Crimson Dawn in Solo is very strange, since his story arc in The Clone Wars and his own comic has all of his criminal allies abandon him (which is why Darth Maul is the way he is in Rebels). It's likely an oversight but has been someone patched up by season 7 of Clone Wars.
Answer: According to expanded universe materials, Darth Maul survived his encounter with Obi Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace. He goes on to build his own criminal empire. He has nothing at all to do with the rise of the Empire, in fact he is something of a rival to Palpatine. Solo takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. During this time period the Empire is relying on regular enlistments to make up the bulk of their army.
Question: Why did Qi'ra choose to kill Dryden Vos and spare Han? Was it because she loved Han, or simply because she decided that she would rather work for Darth Maul instead?
Chosen answer: Qi'ra's motivations are purposefully vague. It could be she killed Vos because she loved Han. It could be a simple power play, as she did not like being a slave to Vos. It could be a combination of both: she was able to save Han and also gain a position of power by killing Vos. We'll likely never know the answer as a follow up to Solo seems unlikely at this point.
Question: How did Han and Chewie get off the desert planet at the end?
Answer: Or they could've hitched a ride with the Cloud Riders.
Answer: By the end of the movie, Han and Chewie have been left with some items of worth, plus their smarts and charm. We don't see how exactly but we can assume that's enough to get them into their next adventure.
Answer: I would classify this as the traditional movie serial "cliff hanger" ending where the audience is purposely left pondering what happens to the protagonists and must wait until the next installment to learn the outcome. Considering Solo underperformed at the box office, there is the possibility there may not be another independent Han Solo film. However, the characters would likely reappear in another stand-alone Star Wars film, thus answering how they escaped their situation.
Answer: I was wondering about this, too. C-3PO did not appear in Solo, and I cannot find any Internet reference pertaining to R2-D2 being in it. Curiously, Anthony Daniels, the actor who has played C-3PO in all the other Star Wars movies, makes a cameo appearance in Solo as another character (Chewbacca's friend).
raywest ★