WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #1 by Charles Soule, Luke Ross, Neeraj Menon, and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.

Star Wars' War of the Bounty Hunters has officially kicked off by revealing who stole Han Solo from Boba Fett. Fett hSolad previously brought Solo to a clinic on Nar Shaddaa when he noticed the carbonite was failing. However, Solo was kidnapped while Fett was away, and War of the Bounty Hunters #1 explained that none of the usual suspects were responsible for Solo's kidnapping. Instead, the crossover event marks the highly anticipated return of some key Solo: A Star Wars Story characters.

After Solo was stolen, Fett was made aware of an open bounty that had been placed on him. This brought the bounty hunter to Tattooine, where he planned to confront Jabba about the bounty that had been placed on his head. Unfortunately for Fett, Jabba was not at his palace. Bib Fortuna explained that Jabba was currently meeting with the other Hutts after they received an invitation from a group that claimed to be in possession of Solo. Fett convinced Fortuna through threats and physical violence to allow him to view the invitation. Upon review, Fett learned that Solo had been stolen by Qi'ra and the Crimson Dawn.

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Boba Fett Crimson Dawn Jabba Palace

This surprised Fett for two reasons. First, he was not aware of Han's previous connections to the Crimson Dawn, which had not been active recently. Solo had previously run a job for the Crimson Dawn as seen in Solo: A Star Wars StoryThis mission saw Solo steal coaxium from Kessel for Dryden Vos and the Crimson Dawn. The mission ultimately ended with Beckett's betrayal which forced Han's first love Qi'ra to stab Dryden Vos. Qi'ra would go on to contact Darth Maul who ordered her to head to Dathomir. The reference book Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition revealed that Darth Maul promoted Qi'ra into Dryden Vos' former position.

However, it's worth noting that the return of Crimson Dawn likely won't feature the return of  Maul. The Sith was killed off in the Rebels episode "Twin Suns," which takes place prior to the events during War of the Bounty Hunters. While somewhere between 14 to 17 years have passed since the events of Solo, it would appear that Qi'ra has not forgotten her oldest friend.

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War of the Bounty Hunters #1 shows that Qi'ra is still the leader of the Crimson Dawn, though their influence has nearly faded completely away since Solo. While the Crimson Dawn and Qi'ra have extended familiarity with the smuggler, this does not appear to play a role in their kidnapping of Han. The Hutts were not the only group to receive an invitation from the Crimson Dawn regarding Solo. The Rebels, the Empire and even Doctor Aphra have all received invitations as well.

Qi'ra Carbonite Han Kidnap

When questioned about the worth of Solo, Qi'ra explained to her companion that Solo is much more than a man. He's an individual who has caught the attention of every major player in the Star Wars universe. This makes him the ideal candidate to serve as a symbol for unity. Solo has already proved useful for Qi'ra in this aspect. She has successfully used his presence to assemble a gathering of the greatest forces in the galaxy.

While Qi'ra's intentions may be in the best of places, she has put herself right in the crosshairs of at least one extremely dangerous bounty hunter. Boba Fett has been made aware of the group who wronged him and will undoubtedly stop at nothing to retrieve his prize and clear his own name. Not only does she have Fett to worry about, but Darth Vader has also thrown his hat in the ring. It is unlikely for the Empire to act in a fair manner, especially if she is expecting them to break bread with the Rebellion. Regardless of her actions or intents, Qi'ra has set up a showdown between all the major factions of Star Wars that could reassert Crimson Dawn as a galactic force or crush it once and for all.

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