'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Easter Eggs: Aurra Sing and Bossk Explained

You’ll be forgiven if you didn’t catch every single reference in Solo: A Star Wars Story, because some of these nods were seemingly thrown in there just to make hardcore old-school fans feel awesome. For example, at one point Lando (Donald Glover) mentions that Tobias Beckett (Woody Harreslon) killed a certain someone. You’re forgiven if you didn’t catch the reference. It’s not any easy one to remember. But, here’s what it meant.

Spoilers head for *Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Early in the film, when Qi’ra, Han, Beckett and Chewbacc meet Lando, it turns out Lando is totally aware of Beckett. He mentions that Becket killed Aurra Sing, which was a good thing for Lando. But, how and why? And who the hell is Aurra Sing?

Aurra Sing only appeared in one Star Wars movie and only for like a second. During the big podrace in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, she can be seen peering over a ledge, checking out the action of the race. But, for fans of the expanded universe, Sing’s backstory was extensively explored in the Dark Horse Comic books published after 1999. In one storyline line called “The Hunt for Aurra Sing”, she was revealed to be the former Jedi padawan of mysterious Jedi Knight called “The Dark Woman,” later revealed to be named An’ya Kuro.

Anyway, Aurra Sing was a difficult Jedi learner and eventually was kidnapped by pirates, who told her that her Jedi master sold her off into slavery. And so, Sing entered a life of crime, and became famous for being a bounty hunter, and killing Jedi. In The Clone Wars, Sing was buddies with Jango Fett, Bossk, Cad Bane, and all sorts of other criminal badasses. In fact, Bossk — a reptilian bounty hunter seen briefly in The Empire Strikes Back — is referenced by name at one point in Solo when Val (Thandie Newton) asks why Beckett didn’t just hire Bossk to help them finish the job.

Well, if Beckett killed Aurra Sing, and that happened close to the events of Solo, then it stands to reason Bossk would be pissed about Sing’s death since they were bounty hunter buddies. And so, the deep-cut reference to to Aurra Sing in Solo actually not only reference The Clone Wars cartoon, but also The Empire Strikes Back, too.

On Tuesday, the Hollywood Reporter announced that a new Marvel comics series would explore the backstory of Tobias Beckett and you can bet everything you’ve got that this stuff with Bossk and Aurra Sing will definitely be explained in that series.

-Solo: A Star Wars Story is out in wide release now.