I long ago lost track of how many times I’ve seen Star Wars — or Episode IV: A New Hope as the Damn Kids(tm) insist on calling it — so it kind of shocks me that I’m just now thinking about this, but then my recent viewing of that Despecialized bootleg the InterWebs have been buzzing about really was almost like seeing the movie for the first time again…

Anyhow, you know those four Imperial guys Han Solo (presumably) kills aboard the Millennium Falcon while it’s held captive on the Death Star? Remember, the Falcon has been captured, and the initial Imperial boarding party fails to find our heroes because they’re hiding in the smuggling compartments under the floor. So Vader insists on sending a couple of guys in with heavy scanning equipment… we hear that equipment fall to the floor, and then Han’s voice calls down to two stormtroopers at the foot of the ramp, asking for help. They go inside… and we hear blasterfire. So, four (most likely) dead Imperials… whom we never hear about again. What do you suppose happened to their bodies?

I think it’s a pretty fair guess that Han dumps them in the secret compartments for safekeeping until after the Falcon escapes from the Death Star… but I find myself wondering if, in all the excitement, maybe he forgot they were down there. Did Han haul them all the way to the rebel base? And did he remember them there, or was he too eager to get the heck out of Dodge before the DS showed up and turned the fourth moon of Yavin into a new ring around the gas giant? It’s sort of amusing to think that maybe he didn’t get around to dealing with them until well after the movie’s final battle and the award ceremony were over, when all of a sudden a lightbulb went on in his head — no, in Chewie’s head! — and… well, let’s hope the rebels had a hose somewhere in that big hanger.

Yeah, I’m thinking maybe I need to turn in now. It’s been one weird-ass weekend.