Was Chewbacca Left Out?
The year was 1977. Star Wars: A New Hope hit the theaters giving us one of the greatest movie endings ever. The Death Star has been destroyed. Our heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca are standing in front of the whole Rebel Alliance, recognized for their achievements by Princess Leia. When the medals were presented Luke and Han stood there proudly with theirs and Chewbacca… well, he stood there with nothing. That’s right Chewie was left hanging. The poor Wookie, arguably one of the most important characters in Star Wars, didn’t even get a high five. Or so we thought. Over 40 years later people still are asking…where is Chewbacca’s medal? Well George Lucas actually gave a response to this question back in 1977. An article from Screen Rant tells us what Lucas said:
“Chewbacca wasn’t given a medal because medals don’t really mean much to Wookiees. They don’t really put too much credence in them. They have different kinds of ceremonies. The Wookiee Chewbacca was in fact given a great prize and honor during a ceremony with his own people. The whole contingent from the Rebel Alliance went to Chewbacca’s people and participated in a very large celebration. It was an honor for the entire Wookiee race.”
Chewbacca Was Recognized
So, does this mean poor old Chewie never got a medal? Well, the truth is, he did receive a medal to call his own. He just didn’t want to wear it. We learned this in the 2015 Chewbacca comic book series, issue #5. This series was set just after A New Hope. In this series our favorite wookie befriends a girl named Zarro who learned how to speak Shyriiwook. At the end of this series Chewie gives Zarro a Rebel Alliance medal. Zarro turned it down, but he insisted he never wanted it.
So, after all these years we can put this controversial ending to rest. Chewbacca was honored in a way he liked and did receive a Rebel Alliance medal afterwards. Even though he never wanted a medal do you think they will find a way to honor him in Star Wars: Episode IX? Could we see him get another ceremony in front of his family that we met during the Holiday Special? Let us know how you would like to see Chewie honored on the big screen. You can do that by hitting us up on twitter @thathashtagshow or myself @starwarsnerd574. Just make sure to use hashtags #chewiemedal and #thathashtagshow.
