Wookiees get the short end of the stick way too often in Star Wars, and the new LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales Halloween special is keeping that tradition alive. The recent trailer for the LEGO special showcased several spooky stories set in the Star Wars universe. One of these stories features Luke Skywalker handling a Wookiee body part.
Titled “The Wookiee’s Paw” — as a nod to “The Monkey’s Paw” — the segment will focus on a young Luke Skywalker finding a Wookiee’s paw that supposedly grants wishes or provides good luck. The idea of carrying around a Wookiee paw is terrifying enough. However, it’s not the first time a Star Wars holiday special has left Wookiees worse off.
Though it is popular among Star Wars fans nowadays, the Wookiee holiday Life Day was once infamous due to it debuting in the Star Wars Holiday Special. For years, Wookiees were associated with what is still considered to be some of the worst Star Wars content ever created. George Lucas himself was unhappy with the final product and refused to re-air the special or release it on home video.
The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special paid homage to its holiday special predecessor by bringing back Life Day and Chewbacca’s Wookiee family. This time around the special was actually quite enjoyable, though the Wookiees endure some more (lighthearted) suffering. Poe tries to set up the perfect Life Day party, but instead causes chaos that the Wookiees and the other guests have to endure. Between the holiday specials and the enslavement Wookiees faced, you’d think they couldn’t suffer any worse fates.
One of the common themes of the Age of the Empire was the mistreatment of Wookiees as the Empire did not consider them sentient beings, reclassing them as animals. With that in mind, it’s not all that surprising for the Empire to promote Wookiee paws as good luck charms. It would give intergalactic hunters even more incentive to hunt Wookiees since they could sell Wookiee paws for extra profit. On top of that, the Empire would have a threat to use against unruly Wookiees who fought back against enslavement.
The Wookiee’s paw certainly fits with the Halloween theme just with how creepy it is. Luckily the story is non-canon — meaning as of right now Wookiees may not have lost their hands in canon so people could carry them around as charms. According to the trailer, the paw will help Luke get into the Imperial Academy and work with Darth Vader, making it seem like it may be more of a “What If…?” storyline. Of course, this could just be Luke daydreaming about joining the Imperial Academy after finding the paw, but in the end the story will not be canon.
Even so, it is possible for Star Wars to adapt this disturbing idea into canon. The last LEGO holiday special featured Finn training to become a Jedi, something many fans were hoping would happen in the main timeline. If Lucasfilm does decide to pull ideas from the LEGO specials such as Jedi Finn, it’s possible other ideas like Wookiee paw charms might make the jump as well.
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