WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars #11 by Charles Soule, Jan Bazaldua, and Rachelle Rosenberg, on sale now.
Of all the characters in the Star Wars Universe, few are as beloved as Lando Calrissian. Charming, calculating, and cool under fire, the former Administrator of Cloud City has plenty of qualities that make him a fan favorite. While Calrissian has a penchant for deals and scheming, the mostly self-serving rebel hero is still a loyal friend when it counts the most. But in the latest issue of Star Wars, the Rebellion’s loyalty to the galaxy’s most notorious gambler is put to the test when the well-being of his only friend is the price for the successful completion of their mission.
The issue opens with Calrissian held at gunpoint by Kes Dameron, father of the Resistance hero Poe Dameron, as Princess Leia Organa looks on. With their codes cracked by the Empire, the Rebellion are using an ancient droid to encrypt their communications into a dead language unknown to the Imperials, but the droid’s mental state is only kept stabilized through Lobot’s efforts. The strain is killing the cyborg, but with Dameron’s wife, Shara Bey, and the rest of Starlight Squadron surrounded by Imperials with the ancient droid acting as their only communications link, the Rebellion are keeping the process going, despite Lando’s pleas. Calrissian sucker-punches Kes but still fails to get the droid to release Lobot before being locked up on Leia’s orders.
By the time C-3PO manages to learn the dead language the damage has already been done. This incident leads Lando to the realization that the Rebellion is more concerned with the successful completion of their mission that the well-being of either him or his friend. In this moment, Lando realizes that he and his friends are going to have to start looking out for themselves.
Earlier in the series, when Lando investigated Jabba’s Palace for any news of the gangster’s carbonite captive, Han Solo, he made a deal with the Hutt to save his own skin. In exchange for his life, he promised to pass on anything he learned about the Rebellion’s plans so that Jabba could pass them on to the Empire. Up until this point, Lando had been avoiding keeping his side of the bargain, even attempting to leave the Rebellion early on so that he wouldn’t know enough to betray them. But after their treatment of Lobot, he contacts Bibb Fortuna and promises to get the droid that created the Rebellion’s new codes into Jabba’s hands.
This incident wasn’t the first time the Rebellion put its mission over its people. While there is still a drastic difference between the fascism of the Empire and the lengths to which the Rebellion will go, the rebels' willingness to sacrifice their allies to the cause is questionable.
Lando’s disillusionment recalls some of the sentiment expressed by Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. It was the arrogance and militancy of the Jedi that led to the rise of the Empire, eventually inspiring Luke’s extended sabbatical from the Jedi Order decades later. And when Finn and Rose learned that the weapons of the Resistance and the First Order were supplied by the same war profiteers, it painted the opposing forces as two sides of the same coin.
Despite his seemingly duplicitous nature, Lando Calrissian is loyal to a fault. Aside from his allegiance to Lobot, Lando went to extreme lengths to protect the droid L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story. And although he appeared to betray Han in The Empire Strikes Back, he made the deal with the Empire only because he thought it would protect the citizens under his leadership. Once he realized the Imperials had no intention of honoring their bargain, he freed and aided Leia, Chewie, and the others.
Taking place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the ongoing Star Wars series depicts Lando’s early days with the Rebellion. They have yet to earn his loyalty the way Lobot has, and their treatment of his friend didn’t do much to endear them to the gambler. While he’ll eventually become a hero of the Rebellion, Lando and the Rebels have a long way to go before they can fully trust one another.