Obi-Wan says he is looking for passage on a fast ship. The problem with the Kessel Run claim is the fact that Han says the line as an answer to a question about speed. His assertion about his deftness as a pilot is really for the audience Obi-Wan is desperate to get to Alderaan without drawing any attention, so Han’s résumé is for us to get to know him, learn that he is no friend of the Empire, and to set up the reasons why Lucas wants us to believe Han’s help is needed to destroy the Death Star. The Millennium Falcon is fast enough to get away from Imperial ships, and Han is probably able to maneuver the ship quickly in order to get away from the Empire. I’m talking about the big Corellian ships, now.” By adding more details about his skills, we get a better picture of Han’s piloting abilities. “I’ve outrun Imperial Starships,” Han says, “Not the local bulk cruisers, mind you. You’re a good navigator, so what? What else you got?” Han, realizing he is not dealing with a foolish old man, backs up his Kessel Run statement with more boasts about his piloting ability. After Han makes his claim, Obi-Wan looks at him, and his expression says, “I’m not an idiot. Not knowing how long it took him to travel the Kessel Run explains Obi-Wan’s reaction. How long did it take Han to complete the Kessel Run? A week? A month? A year? Did Han travel straight through or did he stop somewhere? Navigating the 12-parsec route successfully is an accomplishment, but without knowing the time, the accomplishment may not be one worth boasting about. He fails to tell Obi-Wan and Luke how long it took him to travel the 12 parsecs. The vital piece of information he omits is time. Han proves with his statement that he is a great navigator, but his statement doesn’t sell him as a great pilot. Traveling a direct route in space can be risky, and it takes a skilled navigator to plot a course that will get a ship to its destination in one piece.
A black hole has a strong gravitational pull, and getting too close to one could result in the ship either being destroyed or pulled into the black hole to face an unknown fate. For Han to have completed the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, he would have had to travel near this cluster of black holes, which is dangerous. The safest course is approximately 18 parsecs. Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it?” According to the material in the expanded ‘Star Wars’ universe, the Maw is a cluster of black holes on one of the possible routes to Kessel. When Han has to get away from Tatooine, he tells Luke, “Traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops, boy. Planets, asteroids, comets, meteors, and black holes are just a few of the features a pilot has to navigate around in order to arrive at a destination safely. On Earth, certain obstacles prevent a straight course instead, a path around these impediments is the best way to travel. Again, driving five miles is the best way for me to go to Target. To walk directly there, I would have to swim across a lake (a different one I live in Minnesota) and walk across a freeway. The same applies to the closest Target, which is a little over a mile away. To get to this house, I have to walk or drive. The direct route from my house to this house is to swim across the lake, but swimming is not an option for me because I can’t swim. For example, I live next to a lake, and there is a house across this lake. In most cases, there are several different paths from point A to point B. This would be a legitimate criticism if the Kessel Run was a set distance like a marathon. Han saying that he made the run in 12 parsecs is like a runner saying she ran a marathon in 26.2 miles. The main criticism of the line is that a parsec is a distance. However, Han’s claim may have some merit because space travel has a unique set of obstacles that one does not encounter on the surface of a planet. To convince them to hire him, Han Solo claims his ship, the Millennium Falcon, “made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.” Many have scoffed at the line, saying George Lucas used the term “parsec” incorrectly because it is a distance a parsec is a unit of measurement in Astronomy that equals the distance light can travel in 3.26 light years. Obi-Wan and Luke go to Mos Eisley, the “hive of scum and villainy” on Tatooine, to find a pilot to take them to Alderaan. If you have seen ‘Star Wars,’ then you know the scene.