We Need to Talk About L3
This post features spoilers for a large chunk of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
I love L3. She's easily one of the best characters in Solo, and a fantastic addition to the universe. Finally, I thought, a droid revolutionary--a perfect vehicle through which to shine a spotlight on the frankly absurd treatment of droids by rebels and Imperials alike. But Solo didn't share my enthusiasm for L3. Where I saw a path toward a new paradigm, Star Wars saw a one-off joke character built to suffer.
When we are introduced to L3, the first thing we learn about her is that she's a proponent of droid rights. She attempts to interrupt a pair of droids fighting for others' entertainment and he speaks out against the cruelty they face, calling for them to flee. Lando talks her down from violence, and the crew returns to the ship. L3 is characterized as clever and witty, snarking in much the same way as Rogue One's K2-SO. She's also the best navigator ever, and has immense navigational data in her brain.
On Kessel, L3 stages a droid revolt as part of a distraction for the team's heist. She tears off restraining bolts and encourages the droids to fight back against their oppressors. For the first time in the film, L3 seems jubilant. Finally, she's pursuing her dreams. Finally, she's making good on all her bitter snark. Finally, she's given a moment to shine and usher in a glorious revolution.
She is struck down in her moment of triumph, torn apart by blasterfire. How dare she, asks Star Wars. How dare she call for equal rights and treatment? How dare she think she and her droid siblings deserve that? L3 dies in the arms of a sobbing Lando.
Then, it gets worse.
In a desperate moment, Lando and Qi'ra rip her apart and plug her brain into the Falcon, integrating her with the ship's navigational computers so she can calculate an escape path from the Maw. It is at this moment that the characters not only stop mourning L3, but stop thinking of her as a person. She's become a component of the Falcon. It is established that Lando has feelings for L3, feelings she didn't reciprocate, but he never mentions her name after this scene.
Han deciding to help the rebels on Savareen is presented as a virtuous part of his character arc, while L3's droid revolt is a joke. These silly droids and their struggle for autonomy and independence. Look at them smash things and run rampant. The movie punishes L3 for daring to take a stand against injustice and in the same breath praises Han for doing the same.
In the end, she becomes nothing but a literal object like all the other droids, but this time without even a voice or a name. She is only a piece of the Falcon, wagered between Han & Lando in a card game. Solo, not content with playing her activism for comedy, proceeds to strip her of her body, her agency, and her personhood--and you’re expected not to care.
But why would you? She’s just a droid.
