I am, of course, talking about the long night Han and Luke had to endure on Hoth.

Threepio is even nice enough to hand us the odds of survival and against all of them, both Han and Luke survive. Luke's even half frost-bitten and delirious as it is, yet he still manages through the night more or less unhurt (the bacta will take care of the rest). It is a magnificent tale of survival, in my opinion the most fantastic of the whole Saga, yet it is afforded little screentime.

But that's quite understandable. Showing Luke and Han taking cover from the cold wouldn't have really furthered the plot at any point and Luke would have surely still been unconcious because of the injuries he sustained, so we can forget about Han and Luke going all philosophical and character development. But still...

But still it would've been interesting, as a fan, to see or read about what went on that long night, since we care for the characters. However, we are afforded a small clue of what went on. We see when Zev Senesca finds Han that he's managed to build a small mound and that the mound was big enough for two full grown men. It shows that Han had his wits about him when it comes to these situations. Beside the mound there's also some sensor or anntennae, so it's hinted that Han might've been sitting up all night trying to contact Echo Base. Could it be possible that our cool and collected smuggler might've been growing more and more worried as the night grew longer?

After they're found, little of it is touched upon again (that's two you owe me), no surprise considering what go through later on. So, this event or story of survival is forgotten (in story terms) and often overlooked (in fan terms).

There's not really that much more to talk about this, since so little is shown and known of what went on. I guess I'm just posting this to remind people that whilst they think about the life-threatening experiances our heroes have been through (Death Star, duels, carbonite, sarlaac, Order 66, Execution Arena, Naboo Core and so on) that there is a little forgotten one in the Star Wars Universe that happens frequently in our own world. It's also interesting that whilst other life-threatening situations are triggered by events caused by the actions of characters, this is the only time that the unstoppable force of nature is the greatest threat and that the characters are almost helpless against it.

So think about that next time you see Han bunking up for the night and later waving down Zev Senesca. How did they manage? Was the Force with them? What went through their minds?

It is truly the most amazing story of survival in the Saga.