And I hadn’t really considered removing Lando but doing so makes sense and would make that middle chunk a little less cluttered. Any against?
For what it is worth, I am not in favor of this change. I like the Lando introduction and his exchange about sending Leia his love. Sure it is overly nostalgic and perhaps interrupts the pacing a tad, but without this scene then Lando is definitely nothing more than a glorified cameo in my opinion.
The logic of the scene has always bothered me. Lando is the choice to go with Luke to track down a Sith assassin? And when Luke gives up to go train the next generation of Jedi, Lando just stays there? For ~30 years? Not continuing to track down the assassin, nor continuing his search for his daughter… just decides to chill the the desert, and wait 30 of the 42 years for the festival?
So many Story and logic issues.