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I'm not sure of the official source, but I know that in Legends it was established that, in some way, Han saved Chewie and Chewie, owed him a life debt, which is why he followed Han through the galaxy.

In the film Solo, we are given a new canon version of their first meeting, where Han helps Chewie and him both escape from the Empire and go on the run. However, this bond between them is never called a life debt in the film, and Chewie doesn't even stay with Han throughout the whole movie. When Chewie goes off to free his fellow wookiees, he later makes the decision to return to Han.

However, in the Disney canon novel Aftermath: Life Debt (aptly named) Han references that Chewie owes him a life debt from some past event.

So — what is this event? What happened in their past that made Chewie indebted to Han? I'm looking for Disney Canon answers, not Legends.

Buzz
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LongLiveTheJedi
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  • I've closed this as a duplicate since the older question asks "how did Chewbacca come to owe life debt to Han Solo?" and the answer there seems to resolve this question. However, I'm not a Star Wars expert, so please let me know if I've made a mistake in closing (e.g. if the answer there is from a different level of canon which you've excluded?) – Rand al'Thor Oct 05 '21 at 09:33
  • @Randal'Thor the question linked only covers pre-disney story (AKA legends), this is interested in post-disney takeover (AKA Disney Canon ?), and as such levels of canon don't apply anymore I think? – AncientSwordRage Oct 05 '21 at 09:46
  • Agreed. The linked question is in a different canon now. – FuzzyBoots Oct 05 '21 at 09:58
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    Would a bounty on the linked question asking for a canon source be a possible course of action? – fez Oct 05 '21 at 10:07
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    @fez I'm more inclined to keep the answers separate, to avoid having the potential for answers with different canonicity on the same question (answer A covers legends, answer B covers disney canon, which is correct) for now. – AncientSwordRage Oct 05 '21 at 10:09
  • I thought it was because he saved him from slavery or freed him. Could be mistaken, hence why this isn’t a formal answer. – MissouriSpartan Oct 06 '21 at 00:12

1 Answers1

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The most likely candidate is in Solo: A Star Wars Story where Han helps free Chewbacca from imperial captivity. According to Wookieepedia this is confirmed in Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, but I don't have that book, so I can't confirm that reference for certain.

DavidW
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Jack
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    I can't see any references to his life debts to Han in the Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know book. It just says "The two form a strong bond" – Valorum Oct 06 '21 at 03:45
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    @Valorum thanks, a good example for not entirely trusting wookiepedia – Jack Oct 06 '21 at 04:39
  • Legends also went with "Han rescued Chewbacca from imperial captivity, leading to a Life-Debt" as the explanation. Though the details are different. It's an area where the two canonicities parallel reasonably closely. – Ruadhan2300 Nov 24 '21 at 12:57