Solo: A Star Wars Story is one of the most divisive Star Wars films, mainly because of its story, but it also made a big change to Star Wars canon regarding the most beloved ship in the franchise. The Star Wars universe began back in 1977 with the film now known as Star Wars: A New Hope, which along with the sequels Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, form what’s collectively known as the “original trilogy”. Years later, George Lucas decided to expand this universe with a prequel trilogy, exploring the backstory of Anakin Skywalker and his rise as Sith lord Darth Vader.
Because there were still more stories to tell in the Star Wars universe, following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, the studio developed a new trilogy to bring closure to the Skywalker saga and introduce new characters as well. The Star Wars saga, then, is divided into three groups, but there’s one that lives between the prequel and original trilogies: the anthology films. First was Rogue One, which followed a group of Rebels on their mission to steal the Death Star plans, with its ending directly connecting to A New Hope. Rogue One was very well received, but its successor, Solo: A Star Wars Story, didn’t have the same luck.
The film focuses on a young Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich), who gets involved in a large-scale heist within the criminal underworld, leading him to meet individuals that change his life forever, among those his best friend Chewbacca. Solo went through various problems during production, with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller being fired and Ron Howard taking their place, but the film’s main problems are in its story, which many found to lack creativity and not offer anything new – except for one big change in Star Wars canon, involving the Millennium Falcon and a piloting droid associated with Lando Calrissian.
L3-37 (or simply L3) was a feminine piloting droid working with Lando Calrissian. L3 was a very special droid, as she assembled and improved herself with scraps of other droids. She was very into droid rights, freeing several that were being used as slaves by the Pyke Syndicate. These droids began to rebel, which allowed Han Solo and company to escape to the Millennium Falcon. Sadly, L3 didn’t make it back alive, as she was shot by a guard. Lando retrieved as many parts of her as possible and later removed her neural core to integrate her data into the Millennium Falcon. When Lando and L3 flew the Falcon, she plugged into the ship and was able to calculate the best routes and more, which is why Lando made the decision of uploading her.
L3 then became the Falcon’s navigational system, helping the gang escape and fulfill their mission. L3 and the Millennium Falcon are one, meaning that when Han won the ship from Lando at the end of the film, he also acquired L3. While this explains how C3-PO and R2-D2 can communicate so casually with the Millennium Falcon, it also changes everything fans knew about the famous ship, but it also expands on its backstory and adds more to its connection with Lando Calrissian, as he and L3 were very close.