Why did she blow herself up along with the bridge?
During the train heist on planet Vandor in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Thandie Newton's character, Val, blows up the bridge railway while being on it herself.
Why does she decide to do this? The easy question to answer is "Why did the bridge need blowing up?", but the one I'm more eager to have answered is, "Why does she decide her life is worth sacrificing?"
Best Answer
This kind of thing always seems like a rash move in films where characters are frequently rescued at the last moment against overwhelming odds (hasn't she seen any of the other films?). However, she was virtually surrounded, she had almost no cover, her part of the mission was critical to its success and detonating the explosives there and then was the only way to ensure the bridge was destroyed.
She would have known from the start that the success or failure of the mission would likely mean life or death for the whole team; so it was important to destroy the bridge at all cost. Perhaps this is why she was able to make the decision so quickly?
Basically, she thought she was about to die anyway.
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Answer 2
The train line had to be blown up in order to get the cargo container off, as the cargo container essentially surrounds the train line. There might be a different mechanism to get it on and off, but they were acting fast and dirty.
Val sacrificed herself because she knew that, without this cargo, Beckett would most likely be killed by Dryden Vos, a member of Crimson Dawn whom Beckett owed a substantial debt to.
Answer 3
Val is pinned down by Viper Droids, and chooses to sacrifice herself for the mission.
In the planning, they explain how Val blowing up the track is crucial to the mission.
The train's upper and lower cars surround the track, so the track must be severed in order for them to steal the cargo. It doesn't necessarily have to be done at the bridge, that's just where they decided (probably easier to plant explosives without being seen).
BECKETT: We hit the Conveyex between the tower and the bridge. Rio drops us in, we separate the payload container, cable it up to the AT Hauler, and then--
VAL: Rio jams their distress signal, I blow the bridge, the container slides right off the track and we sail away.
When it's time to blow the bridge, Val is pinned down by two Viper Droids. She realizes that she has little chance of fighting off both droids and getting off the bridge, so she sacrifices herself for the mission (killing the droids in the process).
BECKETT: Val, you've gotta get off that bridge! We're here!
VAL: They've got me pinned. I'm gonna have to finish the job from right here.
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