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In the Disney+ edit of Star Wars (1977), yet another change has been made to the "Han Shot First" scene in the Mos Eisley Cantina.

Greedo now yells "Maclunkey!" before shooting simultaneously. [Video Clip]

This is the only non-subtitled word of Greedo's language.

To the ears of a Galactic Basic speaker, the line sounds like:

  • "Maclunkey"
  • "McClunky"
  • "McKlunky"

In-universe, why does Greedo say "Maclunkey" before shooting at Han Solo?

Behind the scenes, why was this new line of dialog added to the already controversial scene?

pk_
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5 Answers5

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The Complete Wermo's Huttese Transcript
http://www.completewermosguide.com/hutttranscript.html

This Huttese website lists Sebulba's lines from the Episode I script, as well as a mention of a Sebulba card from the 1999 collectible card game. I found a scan of that card, reposted below.

Episode I Young Jedi Decipher Card Game - Card #73
"Sebulba - Bad-Tempered Dug"

ma klounkee

"Neek me chawa, wermo, mo killie ma klounkee!"
(Next time we race, wermo, it will be the end of you!)

This card is a compelling answer for the in-universe question, as it fully spells out the Huttese words "ma klounkee" on an official piece of memorabilia.

The full phrase "mo killie ma klounkee!" is translated in the subtitles of Episode I as "it will be the end of you!". Perhaps a native Huttese speaker can help isolate Greedo's simple "ma klounkee".

User @anaximander in the comments says:

At a guess: "killie" is probably the verb to be or perhaps to become or to cause, while "klounkee" is somthing like death or end (with "ma" and "mo" as either particles in forming the correct tenses, or pronouns it and you respectively - note how "me" shows up earlier alongside "chawa", which presumably means race). An exclamation of "ma klounkee" therefore would translate as something like "your death!" or "(you) die!", which is a perfectly reasonable thing to shout when shooting at someone.

pk_
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    At a guess: "killie" is probably the verb to be or perhaps to become or to cause, while "klounkee" is somthing like death or end (with "ma" and "mo" as either particles in forming the correct tenses, or pronouns it and you respectively - note how "me" shows up earlier alongside "chawa", which presumably means race). An exclamation of "ma klounkee" therefore would translate as something like "your death!" or "(you) die!", which is a perfectly reasonable thing to shout when shooting at someone. – anaximander Nov 15 '19 at 10:09
  • @anaximander well done. That info would be great as it's own Answer here, want to add it? – pk_ Nov 15 '19 at 18:34
  • A great find. DId you see it yourself or did you find it somewhere else? – Valorum Nov 15 '19 at 19:11
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    @Valorum I google image searched for the the card itself after seeing the quoted reference on the Wermo site. Wermo lists the same spelling, but I was not sure how/if that spelling was "official" until I saw the card image. I removed the line about twitter because I've now seen multiple links to Wermo and the line didn't seem to be adding anything. – pk_ Nov 15 '19 at 19:34
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The scene was reportedly added in by George Lucas himself many moons ago before Disney even had the rights to Star Wars.

Han Solo may have shot first in 1977’s original Star Wars, but now Greedo gets a verbal parting shot. Lucasfilm confirmed to Vanity Fair this was a change creator George Lucas made even before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012.

Vanity Fair, George Lucas Himself Gave Greedo the Last Word in Controversial New Star Wars Edit

A representative for Lucasfilm confirmed in an email that the edits to the scene were made by Star Wars creator George Lucas himself before Disney acquired the company.

CNET, Greedo says 'Maclunkey' in Star Wars 'Han shot first' scene on Disney Plus

As for what he is saying, it appears we may have an unofficial answer here found by Bryan Young on Twitter:

@swankmotron: Also, the word Maclunkey (or however you spell it) was used by Sebulba. My Huttese is a bit rusty, but, roughly translated, it means "This'll be the end of you"

Twitter, @swankmotron

If this is indeed the correct translation, and it seems somewhat possible, then Greedo says that because he's about to shoot.

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TheLethalCarrot
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    Could you add a line credentialing Bryan Young's authority in the matter? I had no idea who he was until I Googled him. (Lucas needs no such introduction). – gowenfawr Nov 14 '19 at 14:13
  • @gowenfawr As far as I can tell he isn't very authoritative at all but from comparing the sound clips and the subtitles in the Sebulba scene it seems correct. I am crediting him here because he was where I found the information. – TheLethalCarrot Nov 14 '19 at 14:21
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    So now Greedo yells "Ima kill you!" before he shoots Han!? What's next? Greedo shoots himself!? – DavidW Nov 14 '19 at 17:25
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    @DavidW I believe the next planned edit is Greedo kills Han, then reflects on his own life choices before sacrificing himself to revive Han. Greedo killing himself by the blaster bolt bouncing off the wall is the edit after that. – TheLethalCarrot Nov 14 '19 at 17:26
  • It's a fairly common trope nowadays for the main characters to get rid of some villain and then find out later on that that triggered some other, worse event. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn comes to mind. Greedo could mean "this will be the end of you--because the cops will come arrest you for publicly murdering someone/because Jabba will come after you/..." – user3067860 Nov 14 '19 at 17:53
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    Is there any reason to believe that Greedo and Sebulba are speaking the same language? They're clearly different species, this could just be a false cognate. – Darrel Hoffman Nov 14 '19 at 18:57
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    @DarrelHoffman, they're on the same planet, speaking a language named after the gangster-tribe-species that runs the planet (when the Empire/Old Republic isn't looking)... One typically deals with the Hutt ran gambling rings, and the other is employed directly by a Hutt, so... They might know a few choice phrases in that language. Especially since a slave and a smuggler on that planet can also understand the same language... While I expect a smuggler to know multiple languages, I would expect a slave to know only the local, necessary languages. – Ghedipunk Nov 14 '19 at 20:40
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    'The Mandalorian' is also kind of showing that Hutteese is a commonly spoken language in the underworld – NKCampbell Nov 15 '19 at 01:11
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    @TheLethalCarrot that’s before they realize than Han carrying a weapon is already offensive, so then, he won’t have a weapon and when Greedo considers that to be unfair and tries to hand him over a weapon, it fires by accident. Poor Greedo, it all was an accident… – Holger Nov 15 '19 at 09:48
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    @Holger That's the edit just before they join forces and go and kill Jabba together right? – TheLethalCarrot Nov 15 '19 at 09:51
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    @TheLethalCarrot not killing… convince him to give up his bad habits. – Holger Nov 15 '19 at 09:52
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    @Holger No that's the edit after it where it goes full PC and they all sing a merry song and walk off into the distance linking arms. – TheLethalCarrot Nov 15 '19 at 09:55
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    @TheLethalCarrot so… they end up replacing all movies with the Holiday Special? – Holger Nov 15 '19 at 09:58
5

Out of universe answer

According to Lucasfilm sound editor Matthew Wood on Twitter, the line "Maclunkey!" was chosen because it was the only word from the original Greedo audio reel that hadn't been used in the final 1977 movie.

Twitter screenshots, transcribed below

@matthewood - @matthewood - Nov 12, 2020

It’s the little things...

Blast Points Podcast - @blast_points - Nov 12, 2020

Today we celebrate one wonderful year of Maclunkey. Our lives and and the well being of so many others has been enriched by the sweet sound of Maclunkey. ❤️

https://twitter.com/matthewood/status/1326914370245373952

Craig Underwood - @Tsophika - Nov 12, 2020

Replying to @matthewood

Would you divulge where the audio came from? I wondered if it was unused original dialogue or a new creation?

https://twitter.com/Tsophika/status/1326927140831555584

@matthewood - @matthewood - Nov 12, 2020

Replying to @Tsophika

It is from the original 1/4” reel for Greedo, as performed by Larry Ward. It was the only word I could find that was not already used in the ‘77 release. Fate? Macklunkey indeed.

https://twitter.com/matthewood/status/1326991077258133504

Milo P
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Star Wars released a branded hashtag campaign on Twitter shortly after the release of Disney+.

A Greedo emoji was purchased for the hashtag #maclunkey.

No emoji for #maklounkee, #mcclunky, #mcklunky, etc.

This seems to settle the official Galactic Basic translation/spelling of Greedo's line.

#maclunkey Greedo emoji

pk_
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  • This is an out-of-universe viral marketing campaign. I'm not sure you can read that much into it, other than that they want to get people talking (hence the lack of an official subtitle). – Valorum Nov 21 '19 at 00:18
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    @Valorum maybe, but I doubt anyone will go back to another spelling now. If they had used some other spelling for the hashtag, I'd update the title of the Question. Not to say that it's not ma klounkee in Huttese, but Maclunkey is now the Basic. – pk_ Nov 21 '19 at 00:23
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As has already been answered by @Pk_, "ma klounkee!" has been identified as meaning "the end of you!" (ie "your death") in Huttese, as it was spoken in Episode 1 during the pod race by the character Sebulba. Spoken in isolation it would appear to be some kind of threat.

The most logical reason for it being added into this already controversial scene is perhaps to try and redress some balance to the arguments.

In the original cut of New Hope, Han shot first. This is seen as an important plot element, as it paints him as a rogue, and the film's arc is something of a redemption story for him. The controversy began when, in an updated edition, this was changed to show that Greedo shot first. It is believed this was done in order to make the character of Han Solo a more inherently moral character, perhaps for a younger audience in more modern times.

Having Greedo issue a verbal threat to Han's life would perhaps give Han a reason to shoot first while still maintaining moral integrity. This could be a "happy medium" between the two previous cuts - one that does not remove Han's instinct to take offensive action but gives him a moral reason to do so.

Astralbee
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