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The official soundtrack listing for Solo: A Star Wars Story gives fans a basic outline of the plot trajectory, allowing us to (seemingly) map out the structure of the film. Over the past few months of Solo marketing, it’s been somewhat difficult to connect the dots, which apparently was an intentional play on the part of Lucasfilm. The trailers, which use the Conveyex heist as the big set piece, were highly misleading based on the new information that’s come out. What many thought was the third act action sequence looks to take place much earlier in the film, meaning the finale is a mystery for now.

One has to applaud this effort by the studio, as they found a way to promote Solo in a way that’s true to the spirit of the final product, but leaves the audience guessing. Of course, the finer details of the twists and turns won’t be revealed until the movie hits theaters, but composer John Powell’s surprise unveiling of the track names provide broad strokes. Taking this into consideration alongside everything else we know, we believe we’ve pieced together the narrative of Solo.

CORELLIA

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Han Solo spent his youth on the planet Corellia, where according to the first teaser he’s been running scams since the age of 10. During this period of his life, he’s close with Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra, who is working for a Corellian gang when Solo picks up. Many have assumed the earliest sequences in the film are set on this world, and that appears to be the case. “Meet Han” is a track that should introduce audiences to Alden Ehrenreich’s more idealistic version of the character, while “Corellia Chase” sounds like it’s connected to a scene from the trailers where Han and Qi’ra are speeding away from authorities.

Of course, the two friends don’t stay together forever. At a certain point in time, their paths will divert as they go their separate ways. Judging from the footage, Qi’ra moves her way up the criminal ladder, whereas Han decides it’s time to make an “honest” living working for the Empire. He enlists with the Imperials (“Spaceport”) and proceeds to form a life-altering relationship with a certain Wookiee.

MIMBAN

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For reasons unknown, Han’s job with the Empire takes him to Mimban, where classic Star Wars coincidence will set the rest of the story in motion. From the looks of things, Solo meets Chewbacca for the first time on the swamp world (“Flying With Chewie”), saving the Wookiee from captivity. A behind-the-scenes featurette teased a battle that takes place on Mimban, so perhaps Han is sent to deal with the situation (a Wookiee uprising, perhaps?) and his heart of gold gets him kicked out of the Imperial Academy. After his life debt with Chewie is established, Han isn’t done making new companions.

The same featurette also seemed to depict Han first crossing paths with Tobias Beckett and Val, two career criminals who are always on the hunt for a score. In their first scenes, they’re in Imperial disguises to blend in as they complete their mission alongside associates like Rio Durant. With nowhere else to go, Han and Chewie tag along with Beckett and become involved in the galactic underworld.

VANDOR

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The snowy planet Vandor is where the Conveyex vehicle is located, and it was largely assumed this would be Solo’s grand finale. But since the track “Train Heist” is positioned near the beginning of the score, we’re now led to believe the great train robbery factors into the first act. Given that Beckett is a Long John Silver type who’s frequently down on his luck, odds are this job doesn’t go as planned. There’s one big obstacle our “heroes” are going to have to deal with on Vandor: the Cloud-Rider gang.

As evidenced by the song “Marauders Arrive,” the attempt to steal something from the Conveyex is thwarted by the mysterious Enfys Nest and her band. Dating back to the Super Bowl TV spot, we’ve known Beckett battles Enfys, and the Cloud-Riders’ swoop bikes can be seen in other bits of footage. It remains to be seen if Beckett’s group is successful in their objective, but Nest is going to give them headaches as they try to pull the heist off. Enfys isn’t someone fans should forget after Vandor, either, since she’ll be back towards the end of the film (more on that later).

DRYDEN VOS’ DEN

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One line that’s frequently been used in Solo marketing is Beckett’s “Heard about a job. Big shot gangster putting together a crew.” He appears to be referring to kingpin Dryden Vos, a higher-up who organizes jobs for others to carry out. If the Conveyex heist doesn’t go as planned, it stands reason to believe Beckett would appeal to Dryden in an attempt to reverse his fortunes. Beckett may not be thrilled about it (he tells Han, “These people are not your friends.”), but desperate times call for desperate measures.

In their visit to Dryden’s lair, Han is reunited with Qi’ra. The full trailer includes a scene where they catch up; Han looking “rough around the edges” and Qi’ra elegant in a dress. We’ve known for some time Qi’ra serves as a link between Han and Dryden, so perhaps she vouches for her old friend to help him land the job Vos has planned. Dryden gives it to them, but first they’re going to need a pilot and an incredibly fast ship. Enter Lando Calrissian.

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MEETING LANDO

Qi’ra is the one with all the connections, as she knows one of the best smugglers in the galaxy: Lando. She puts the two scoundrels together, where they trade friendly banter over a game of sabacc (“Is This Seat Taken?”) and Han learns about all the attributes of the Millennium Falcon. Obviously, Lando agrees to join their crew, introducing Han to his droid co-pilot, L3-37 (“L3 & Millennium Falcon”) before they embark on their journey. Meanwhile, Han and Qi’ra explore the ship and all it has to offer (“Lando’s Closet”).

What’s interesting here is that in the footage from the trailers, Lando and L3 are flying the Falcon to Kessel (where we believe the big job takes place), but Han bets for it during is first encounter with Lando. It’s possible Solo loses that hand in an instance of overconfidence before redeeming himself later on. There’s a track at the very end titled “Dice & Roll” that indicates another Falcon bet takes place at the end of the film, with Han using his lucky gold dice to emerge victorious.

KESSEL MISSION

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In one of his famous social media set photos, Ron Howard confirmed Kessel is a planet we’ll visit in Solo. Based on the song “Mine Mission,” it would seem Dryden’s job involves taking something from Kessel. Since the world is known for its spice mines, it’s reasonable to assume Han and crew are trying to get some of the substance to Vos so he can send out a supply to interested parties. Knowing this clears some bits of footage up. We’ve seen Qi’ra (with L3 flanking her) dressed in a rather elaborate costume, so the gang could be in disguise as part of a plan. Han and Chewie are posing as prisoners in handcuffs, mirroring a sequence from A New Hope.

Star Wars canon has hammered home Kessel is where enslaved Wookiees were sent at the behest of the Empire, so odds are Chewie is going to encounter some of his kind there. There could be a side quest that isn’t part of the main mission. The song “Break Out” could imply some sort of rescue operation where Chewbacca frees more Wookiees (including his wife) and helps them get off-planet. Our theory is this is where “The Good Guy” comes in, as Han has aspirations of being a slick criminal, but has too big of a nice streak. Solo can separate right from wrong, and especially after getting closer with Chewie, he’d be inclined to save additional walking carpets.

THE MAW

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As the main group makes a daring escape from Kessel (an on-ground firefight leads to a space chase), we get to the other key Solo set piece (aside from the Conveyex) that’s been a lynchpin of marketing. Whenever the Millennium Falcon has a meaningful role to play in a Star Wars movie, you can bet there’s a sequence where it flees from TIE fighters. Previous famous examples include the asteroid field chase, the skies of Jakku, and Crait’s salt mines. For Solo, Ron Howard is taking us “Into The Maw” for one of Han’s most dangerous rides yet.

It’s no secret Solo is drawing heavily from Legends, and the Maw is one of the many elements the film is cherrypicking. It has not appeared in “official” canon yet, but in the Expanded Universe, the Maw was a black hole cluster near Kessel that proved highly difficult to navigate. In the movie, the Maw not only has debris to make things perilous, there’s also a tentacle monster to deal with. Circling back to EU connections, the Kessel Run route was located around the Maw, and it was how Han’s claim of 12 parsecs was proven correct. It’ll be fascinating to see how the Maw is integrated into Solo, and if the Kessel Run is actually as impressive as we thought.

ENFYS NEST SHOWDOWN

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One of the more recognizable bits of Solo imagery to emerge from the trailers is the Western-inspired face-off between Han and Enfys Nest. It looks like this scene takes place on the planet Savareen, which is located in the Outer Rim. Quite matter-of-factly, there’s a song titled “Savareen Stand-Off,” so whatever story thread that involves Enfys gets resolved here. Nest is one of the most secretive Star Wars characters ever (we don’t even know who played her), so it’s hard to pinpoint any more details beyond that. There are, of course, fan theories that attempt to figure it out.

Solo hasn’t been subject to nearly as much hypothesizing as Force Awakens or Last Jedi, but viewers are still speculating some plot twists. Arguably the most popular theory to gain traction is that Qi’ra is Enfys Nest in disguise, though there isn’t a whole lot of concrete evidence to support the claim. Still, Lucasfilm is keeping Enfys under wraps on purpose, which certainly makes it seem like she’s not just a second-rate villain who shows up for a couple of scenes. Something had to have happened to Han to make him a jaded cynic, and getting betrayed by a friend would definitely do that. But Solo will always have Chewbacca by his side, and the two go off together, looking for whatever work they can find.

It’s important to point out that this is entirely our conjecture going off of the soundtrack list and nothing more. Solo could possibly turn out different, but this sounds like a logical structure for the narrative to follow. Star Wars soundtrack albums essentially play chronologically, so the track names and order seem to reveal all. Fans should just be thankful there are no real plot spoilers among the titles, and the finer points are still preserved as surprises.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Solo: A Star Wars Story release date: May 25, 2018
Star Wars 9 / Star Wars: Episode IX release date: Dec 20, 2019