Warning: spoilers ahead for Star Wars #18!
In Marvel Comics' new issue of War of the Bounty Hunters may be over, the plans of Crimson Dawn and Solo: A Star Wars Story's Lady Qi'ra have only just begun. While the first phase of her plans was to use the smuggler she once loved to further her own goals, Star Wars #18 reveals that Qi'ra always intended to give Solo back to Leia, Han's current love. That plan having failed, it seems as though Qir'a has decided to finally meet with Leia to talk about Han and what the future holds for the two of them.
Prior to Qi'ra coming aboard the Millennium Falcon, Leia and Chewbacca were mourning the loss of Han, believing that he died in the chaos Crimson Dawn created between the Hutt Clans and the Empire. However, the new Star Wars #18 from writer Charles Soule and artist Ramon Rosanas sees Qi'ra revealing the truth that Boba Fett recovered Han and is delivering the carbonized smuggler to Jabba the Hutt as he always intended. Furthermore, Qi'ra its to Leia that she has always meant to return Han to her, though she ultimately failed despite doing the best she could (while not sacrificing her own goals).
As the two powerful women talk, it's clear that Leia doesn't think very highly of Qi'ra, believing her to be a simple crime boss. While the leader of the new Crimson Dawn does concede that Han is better off with Leia than he'd have been with her, it's also clear that Qi'ra is more benevolent than she appears. She always knew that Han could be a hero, a fact she's known since she and Solo were just children trying to survive on the planet of Corellia. Furthermore, while her methods may be dark and morally questionable, it does seem as though her goals are the same as Leia's: bringing about the end of the Empire.
While Leia still doesn't trust Qi'ra, this issue makes it clear that they're two sides of the same coin (and not just because they both loved the same man). Qi'ra offers Crimson Dawn's resources to save Han when the time comes, and she also claims that she and the Dawn can help the Rebellion in many ways beyond that. As such, it seems as though the beginnings of an alliance between Leia and Qi'ra's Crimson Dawn have been formed by the issue's end.
While the future of Crimson Dawn remains unclear as Marvel's Star Wars comics head for the Crimson Reign event, it does look like Qi'ra interests are aligned with Leia's as far as the Empire is concerned, even if the woman who will become General Organa doesn't think much to the syndicate's leader. As Princess Leia and Lady Qi'ra finally meet and find an anti-Imperial common interest, it will no doubt be fascinating to see the two major loves of Han Solo working together during the events of Star Wars set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
